中原 (zhōng yuán) — Central Plains (the middle and lower Yellow River basin, especially Henan province); (literary) China (as a whole)

Definition

Literary noun for the Central Plains — the Yellow River's middle and lower basin, especially Henan. In classical texts it can also stand for 'China' as a whole.

noun
Central Plains (the middle and lower Yellow River basin, especially Henan province)(literary) China (as a whole)

Examples

  • 中原。
    zhōng yuán Dì qū shì zhōng huá wén míng de fā yuán dì zhī yī.
    The Central Plains region is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization.
  • 中原。
    Gǔ dài xǔ duō wáng cháo dōu zài zhōng yuán jiàn dū.
    Many ancient dynasties established their capitals in the Central Plains.
  • 中原。
    Tā xiě le yì běn guān yú zhōng yuán lì shǐ wén huà de shū.
    He wrote a book about the history and culture of the Central Plains.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

中zhōngmiddle
原yuánplain

中 means middle and 原 means plain, naming the central plain.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The original picture showed a flagpole with a drum in the middle, set up in the center of a field.

Open 中 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

原 combines 泉 (spring) and 厂 (cliff), picturing a spring bursting from a cliff-side, which gives the sense of origin or source.

Open 原 →

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