Zhongyuan

The Central China Plain (also: Middle China Plain Chinese 中原, pinyin Zhōngyuán) refers to the lowlands along the lower reaches of the Yellow River, from which the first Han Chinese are said to have originated. It is part of the North China Plain.

In a narrow sense, the Central China Plain includes present-day Henan Province, the southern part of Hebei Province, the southern part of Shanxi Province, and the western part of Shandong Province. The broader term would additionally include the Guanzhong Plain in Shaanxi, the northwestern part of Jiangsu, parts of Anhui and northern Hebei.

Since the beginning of historical records, the Central China Plain has been of great importance to the Chinese people - both politically and strategically. In the period before the Qin Dynasty, from the Chinese perspective, Luoyang Province and the surrounding areas were seen as the "center of the world". For this, the headquarters of the Xia Dynasty was located around Songshan near the Luo River. Inscriptions of some bronze objects from this period describe this area as the "land of the center". (中國 / 中国, Zhōnggúo)

The Book of Song, an official historical source from the Song Dynasty states, "Capable ancient emperors originated from the northwest [of China] and were able to conquer the Central Plain and later the southeast [of China]." Zhuge Liang, a military strategist, claimed that he would lead an army to conquer the Central China Plain. This may explain the location of capitals of later dynasties in Luoyang or Kaifeng.

Footnotes

1. The first part of the book is a book on the history of China. 1930, p. 81, and China, eine Großmacht im Wandel der Jahrtausende. Verlag Kultur und Fortschritt 1957, pp. 20, 44, 64.
2. ↑ Ernst Neef: Das Gesicht der Erde (The Face of the Earth), p. 301, and Günter Dietrich: Große Illustrierte Länderkunde. 1965, p. 301, and Günter Dietrich: Große Illustrierte Länderkunde. 1963, S. 1511.