In antiquity, the area of modern Sichuan including the now-separated Chongqing Municipality was known to the Chinese as Ba–Shu, in reference to the ancient state of Ba and the ancient kingdom of Shu that once occupied the Sichuan Basin. Shu continued to be used to refer to the region to the present day; several states formed in the area used the same name, for example, the Shu of the Three Kingdoms period (220–280), and Former Shu and Later Shu of the Ten Kingdoms period (907–979). Currently, both characters for Shu and Chuan are common abbreviations for Sichuan.
In antiquity the area of modern Sichuan including the now-separated Chongqing Municipality was known to the Chinese as Ba–Shu, in reference to the ancient state of Ba and the ancient kingdom of Shu that once occupied the Sichuan Basin. Shu continued to be used to refer to the region to the present day; several states formed in the area used the same name, for example, the Shu of ,the Three Kingdoms period (220–280), and Former Shu and Later Shu of the Ten Kingdoms period (907–979). Currently, both characters for Shu and Chuan are common abbreviations for Sichuan.