What area does "Central Plains" specifically refer to?

The narrow sense of the Central Plains refers to the present area of Henan Province;

The Central Plains in a broad sense refers to the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River or the whole Yellow River basin.

The Central Plains is "joining the Party in the north, Hongnong in the west of Sizhou, Huainan in Yangzhou in the east, Xincai and Anfeng in the middle." This scope mainly includes Henan now, and also includes some places in southern Shanxi, western Jiangsu and northwestern Anhui.

"The source of Hakka dialect is in the whole ancient Central Plains, specifically the vast area south of the Great Wall and north of the Yangtze River." In this way, the Central Plains mentioned above is a "small plain". In the three great migrations of more than 900 years, Hakka ancestors "passed through other vast areas except Heluo area". Influenced by Qin Long culture, Zhao Yan culture, Zhao Jin culture, Qilu culture, Jingchu culture and Wuyue culture. "Visible" ancient central plains "area.

The period of Five Emperors is the period from the origin of Central Plains civilization factors to the formation of Central Plains civilization society, which can be divided into two stages: the middle and late Yangshao culture and the Longshan culture.

In the middle and late period of Yangshao culture, the origin and accumulation of civilization factors, the development level of Central Plains culture and surrounding cultures are the same, and they are in a parallel development period. At this time, the central plains occupied the position of geographical center, but it has not yet achieved the position of political and cultural center. During the Longshan culture period, the primary civilization was gradually formed, the comprehensive strength was obviously enhanced, and the central position of the Central Plains civilization began to be clear.

From Yangshao culture to Erlitou culture and then to Longshan culture, the civilized factors in the Central Plains showed a rapid growth trend during this period, which was in obvious contrast with the cultures in the surrounding areas at the same time. Majiabang-Liangzhu culture, which was once brilliant, was driven to the end by Maqiao culture. Dawenkou culture in Shandong experienced the decline from Longshan culture to Yueshi culture. During Yangshao culture period, Dawenkou culture in Shandong and Qujialing culture in Jianghan area both extended to the east and south of Henan in the Central Plains. This situation changed after entering the Longshan culture period. Dawenkou culture in Shangqiu, Zhoukou, Xuchang and Zhengzhou, Henan, either returned to Shandong or merged with the local area, and was completely replaced by Longshan culture in Henan. Qujialing and Shijiahe cultures in southwest Henan also suffered the same fate. This phenomenon reflects the historical truth of the strong expansion of Central Plains culture. On the basis of constantly absorbing the surrounding civilization factors, the Central Plains culture has further improved social productivity and has always been ahead of other cultures. Marked by the establishment of Xia Dynasty, it established Wang Zhongwang's position in Chinese civilization.

Taking the elements of civilization as an example, bronze smelting, which can be used as a symbol of the new era, gradually became popular in Longshan period. Many bronze smelting and casting relics have been found in the Central Plains, including the bronze measuring pieces unearthed in Wang Chenggang and Dengfeng and the bronze chimes of Taosi site (northeast of Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province), which represented the highest level of bronze casting technology at that time. Subsequently, a large number of bronze weapons and ritual vessels were unearthed from Erlitou cultural site, showing the elegance of Central Plains civilization.

During the Yangshao culture period in the Central Plains, only an ancient city in Xishan, Zhengzhou was discovered. The ancient city of Longshan era is only in Henan province, and there are six places that have been discovered, such as Anyang Hougang, Huaiyang Pingliangtai, Dengfeng Wang Chenggang, Yancheng Haojiatai, Huixian Mengzhuang and Xinmi Ancient City Village. There may be more discoveries of contemporary urban sites in the future. Behind the appearance of a large number of castles in Longshan era is the drastic change of the whole society and the concentration of war, plunder, power and wealth. A primary civilized society in which many countries coexist has emerged in the Central Plains.

From the tortoise shell carving in Peiligang, Xinzheng County (the early Neolithic culture) and the carving symbols in Yangshao, to the Wen Tao and bone carving characters in Taosi, Wang Chenggang, Chang 'an, Shaanxi Province, there is a continuous connection with Oracle Bone Inscriptions in later generations. There is no doubt about Wen Tao's writing function in Erlitou site.

The ancient civilization in the Central Plains was born on the basis of the strong comprehensive strength of Longshan culture in the Central Plains. The appearance of Erlitou cultural large palace in the Central Plains is the continuation and development of the "big house" architecture in the Central Plains and a symbol of the strong political authority in the Central Plains. In the late Longshan culture and Erlitou culture stage, the Central Plains region, with its own strength, came to the forefront of the times and became a well-deserved center of civilization.