Where does the Central Plains refer to, and what geographical areas are in the Central Plains?

1. The Central Plains, also known as Zhongtu, Zhongzhou, and Huaxia, traditionally refers to the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River centered around the area from Luoyang to Kaifeng, roughly the entirety of today's Henan Province.

2. Broadly speaking, it included all of present-day Henan Province, southeastern Shanxi Province, southern Hebei Province, southwestern Shandong Province, northern Anhui Province, and northwestern Jiangsu Province. In today's terms, it is the entire central region plus the edges of Shandong Jiangsu. And in contrast to the northern foreigners, the Central Plains refers to China in general.

The Central Plains, which originally means "the wild place in the middle of the world", is the birthplace of the Huaxia civilization and the Chinese civilization, the cradle of the Huaxia nation, and is regarded as the center of the world. With the great integration of the Chinese nation and the expansion of Chinese civilization, the Central Plains region gradually spread outward, expanding the exchanges between the Han Chinese and various ethnic groups with the Central Plains culture as the core. The more culturally advanced Huaxia people were called Zhonghua to distinguish themselves from the four barbarians.

The Central Plains are surrounded on the north, west, and south by the Taihang, Funiu, Xiong'er, Waifang, Tongbai, and Dabie mountains; in the center and east is the endless North China Plain; and the Yellow River, which is regarded as the cradle of the Chinese nation, crosses the border from west to east. The Yellow River, known as the cradle of the Chinese nation, runs through the area from west to east. The main streams of the Huaihe River and Haihe River systems, as well as the Danjiang River, a tributary of the Yangtze River system, flow through the area. Since ancient times, the Central Plains has been a key location, and has been regarded as "the center of China and the hub of the world".

The Central Plains, in a broader and narrower sense. The broad sense of the "Central Plains" refers to the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, including most of Henan Province, as well as Henan's neighboring northern Anhui Province, southern Hebei Province, southern Shanxi Province, eastern Shaanxi Province, and part of western Shandong Province, which is the birthplace of Chinese civilization and the cradle of the Chinese nation. In the narrow sense, "Central Plains" refers to Henan Province. The term "Central Plains" is usually used to refer to the narrower sense of the term, i.e. Henan.

References:

Central Plains_Baidu Encyclopedia