Zhongyuan

For other uses, see Zhongyuan (disambiguation).
Zhongyuan
中原
Central Plain
Map showing the province of Henan and two definitions of the Central Plain or Zhongyuan
Map showing the province of Henan and two definitions of the Central Plain or Zhongyuan
CountryChina

Zhongyuan (Chinese: 中原; pinyin: Zhōngyuán), the Central Plain(s), also known as Zhongtu (Chinese: 中土; pinyin: Zhōngtǔ, lit. 'central land') and Zhongzhou (Chinese: 中州; pinyin: Zhōngzhōu, lit. 'central region'), commonly refers to the part of the North China Plain surrounding the lower and middle reaches of the Yellow River, centered on the region between Luoyang and Kaifeng.[1] It has been perceived as the birthplace of the Chinese civilization.[2] Historically, the Huaxia people viewed Zhongyuan as 'the center of the world'.[3] Human activities in the Zhongyuan region can be traced back to the Palaeolithic period.[4]

In prehistoric times, Huaxia, a confederation of tribes that later developed into the Han ethnicity, lived along the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River.[5] The term 'Zhongguo' (Central State) was used to distinguish themselves from the Siyi tribes that were perceived as 'barbaric'.[6] For a large part of Chinese history, Zhongyuan had been the political, economic, and cultural center of the Chinese civilization, as over 20 dynasties had located their capitals in this region.[7]

In the modern concept, the term 'Central Plains Region' is used to define the Zhongyuan area. In a narrow sense, it refers to the present-day Henan Province in the central part of China. A broader interpretation of the Central Plains' measure would also include Henan's neighborhood province, Shaanxi, Hebei, Shanxi, and Shandong, as well as the northern part of Anhui and the northwestern part of Jiangsu.[8]

  1. ^ Yeqiu, Wu; Zeyan Huang; Qiuyun Liu (1996). Ciyuan. Shangwu Yinshuguan. pp. 5–11. ISBN 7-100-00124-2. OCLC 475148039.
  2. ^ Duara, Prasenjit (2003). Sovereignty and authenticity: Manchukuo and the East Asian modern. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 7. ISBN 0-7425-2577-5. OCLC 50755038.
  3. ^ Zhang, Xin-bin; 张新斌 (2007). "中原文化与商都初论 Initial Remark on the Central Plains Culture and the Shang Dynasty-Capital Culture". Journal of Huanghe S&T University (4): 17–24. doi:10.19576/j.issn.1008-5424.2007.04.006.
  4. ^ Bar-Yosef, Ofer; Wang, Youping (2012). "Paleolithic Archaeology in China". Annual Review of Anthropology. 41: 319–335. doi:10.1146/annurev-anthro-092611-145832. ISSN 0084-6570. JSTOR 23270714.
  5. ^ Cioffi-Revilla, Claudio; Lai, David (1995). "War and Politics in Ancient China, 2700 B.C. to 722 B.C.: Measurement and Comparative Analysis". The Journal of Conflict Resolution. 39 (3): 467–494. doi:10.1177/0022002795039003004. ISSN 0022-0027. JSTOR 174577. S2CID 156043981.
  6. ^ Holcombe, Charles (2011). A history of East Asia: from the origins of civilization to the twenty-first century. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-51595-5. OCLC 643762927.
  7. ^ Zhaoguang, Ge (2018-01-02). "The "interior" and the "exterior" in historical China: A re-clarification of the concepts of "China" and the "periphery"". Chinese Studies in History. 51 (1): 4–28. doi:10.1080/00094633.2018.1467668. ISSN 0009-4633. S2CID 165289885.
  8. ^ Xianglong, Yu; 喻湘龙 (2004). 中国民间图形创意设计 Chinese Folk Graphics Creative Design. Guangxi Fine Arts Publishing House. p. 10. ISBN 7-80674-440-1.