Sichuan (help·info) (Chinese: 四川, known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan) is a province of the People’s Republic of China, located in thesouthwest of the country. The current name of the province, “四川”, is an abbreviation of “四川路” (Sì Chuānlù), or “Four circuits of rivers”, which is itself abbreviated from “川峡四路” (Chuānxiá Sìlù), or “Four circuits of rivers and gorges”, named after the division of the existing circuit into four during the Northern Song Dynasty.^[1] The capital is Chengdu, a key economic centre ofWestern China.

Kham (Tibetan: ཁམས, Wylie: khams, ZYPY: kam; Chinese: 康; pinyin: Kāng), is a historical region covering a land area largely divided between present-day Tibetan Autonomous Regionand Sichuan province, with smaller portions located within Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan provinces of China. During the Republic of China‘s rule over mainland China (1911–1949), most of the region was called Xikang Province (西康省). It held the status of “special administrative district” until 1939, when it became an official Chinese province. Its provincial status was nominal and without much cohesion, like most of China’s territory during the time of Japanese invasion and civil war.