I-PIN

Pinyin Yibin, city in southern Szechwan sheng (province), China. It is situated at the junction of the Min and the Yangtze rivers at the southwestern corner of the Szechwan Basin. Above I-pin the Yangtze is called the Chin-sha River. Junk traffic can reach Le-shan, to the north on the Min, and P'ing-shan, to the south on the Chin-sha, and there is heavy river traffic with Ch'ung-ch'ing (Chungking) downstream. It has traditionally also been a staging post of the main route from Ch'eng-tu to K'un-ming in Yunnan province and a commercial and collecting centre for goods from northern Yunnan and southwestern Szechwan. The city stands in a good defensive position on a high bluff above the river. A county administration was set up there in the 2nd century BC, and it first received the name I-pin in 742. Until the Sung dynasty (9601279) the minor frontier prefecture there was called Jung, but, with the rapid expansion of Szechwan in Sung times, it grew rapidly, receiving its modern county name and becoming the seat of the prefecture of Hs. In Ming (13681644) and Ch'ing (16441911) times, it became Hs-chou superior prefecture, known to Europeans as Suifu. In 1912 it reverted to the status of a county as I-pin. In 1913 steamship communication with Ch'ung-ch'ing was opened, and it subsequently grew into a major collection and distribution centre dependent upon Ch'ung-ch'ing. Its commercial development progressed during World War II, when there was an influx of eastern merchants; some industry was also founded. From 1949 I-pin's importance as a communication centre has increased. A railway joins it to Nei-chiang, on the Ch'ung-ch'ingCh'eng-tu railway; the highways of the region have also been improved. Industry has been greatly expanded. The area has been known at least since the 7th century AD as a source of subterranean salt, which now supplies a large chemical plant. There is also a large paper mill. Pop. (1990) 241,019.