In ancient times, what areas did the Central Plains refer to now?

Historically, the Central Plains refers to the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, including north-central Henan Province, southern Shanxi Province, Shaanxi Province and Shandong Province.

The Central Plains, also known as Middle Earth, Zhongzhou and Huaxia, refers to the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River with Luoyang to Kaifeng as the center. In a narrow sense, it refers to today's Henan Province. Corresponding to foreign countries, the Central Plains also refers to China.

The Central Plains, which originally meant "Yuan Ye under heaven", is the birthplace of Chinese civilization and Chinese civilization, the cradle of the Chinese nation and regarded as the center of the world. With the great integration of the Chinese nation and the expansion of the Central Plains civilization, the Central Plains region gradually spread outward, expanding the communication between the Han nationality and all ethnic groups with the Central Plains culture as the core. The reason why the Chinese nation with relatively advanced culture is called China is because it is different from overflowing.

The word Zhongyuan first appeared in The Book of Songs. For example, "Xiao Yanan visited Shi Jiayu Ji Day": "Where the paint falls, the place where the son of heaven lives. Looking at the Central Plains, its pores have been "; Xiao Ya explained that Nanshan governs Xiaowan: "There are cymbals in the Central Plains, and Shu Ren adopts them"; The Book of Songs Xiaoya Jiri says, "Looking at the Central Plains, there is uniformity and holes". These are the earliest origins of the word "Central Plains", but they did not form a complete and unified regional concept, including the meanings of "Yuan Ye" and "Central Plains".

The north, west and south of the Central Plains are surrounded by Taihang Mountain, Funiu Mountain, Xiong 'er Mountain, Waifangshan Mountain, Tongbai Mountain and Dabie Mountain, and the middle and east are endless North China Plain. The Yellow River, known as the cradle of the Chinese nation, flows through the territory from west to east.

The mainstream of Huaihe River system and Haihe River system and Danjiang River, a tributary of Yangtze River system, also flow here. The Central Plains has been a throat area since ancient times and is regarded as "the hub of China and the world".

References:

Zhongyuan _ Baidu Encyclopedia