Zhongyuan: The main root and vein of Chinese civilization
The two Chinese characters for "China",中(zhong)国(guo) literally mean "the central country". Ancient Chinese people believed that they were at the center of the world (in fact, people in any place thought so in ancient times). Before this land was called "China", its center was known as the Central Plains, in chinese it is called 中(zhong)原(yuan).You may have noticed that these two "zhong" characters are the same. That's right, it represents the center or the middle. This shows just how important the Zhongyuan is to China.
Four thousand years ago during the Western Zhou Dynasty, the capital was located in Luoyang, which is in present-day Henan Province. The Zhou kings regarded Luoyang and its surrounding areas as the center of the world. Later, "Zhongyuan" evolved into a geographical concept, encompassing the middle reaches of the Yellow River, namely the central and western parts of Henan Province and the southern part of Shanxi Province today. For thousands of years, Henan Province has remained the main part of the Zhongyuan region.
Five thousand years ago, before the Xia Dynasty, there was already civilization in the Central Plains region. Not only did it have its own outstanding representative, the Yangshao Culture, but also the surrounding Liangzhu Culture, Hongshan Culture, and others had an impact on it. It is said that the birthplace of the Yellow Emperor, the ancestor of the Huaxia people (the chinese), was here, so this place has always represented the orthodox civilization.
From the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties to the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhongyuan was always at the forefront of trends, with great prosperity in various fields such as ideology, academia, literature, art and science and technology. After the Southern Song Dynasty moved its capital southward, the region began to decline. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the development here was slow. From the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China period, Zhongyuan began to transform towards modernity and laid the initial foundation for its revival.
Emperor Huang is one of the symbols of Zhongyuan. The ongoing Ancestral Worship Ceremony at the Hometown of Emperor Huang has a profound influence both at home and abroad. The slogan "One Root, One Ancestor, One Origin; Peace, Harmony and Amity" is widely supported by Chinese people all over the world. It can be said that inheriting and promoting the excellent traditional culture of the Zhongyuan provides a solid ideological foundation for enhancing the sense of identity and belonging of the Chinese people to traditional culture and improving national cohesion.
The Zhongyuan region is the homeland of many Chinese people. Here, "homeland" means that their ancestors set out from here to reach every corner of the country. Therefore, one of the tourism slogans of Henan Province is "Henan, the Hometown". Relying on large-scale migrations, people, as carriers of culture, have promoted the wide spread of Central Plains culture. As a long-term political center, the Zhongyuan has had a profound influence on the cultures of other regions. Thus, the two characters have now become a synonym for the center of power.
