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中原

Mandarin · pinyin Zhōng yuán

Central Plain, the middle and lower regions of the Yellow river, including Henan, western Shandong, southern Shanxi and Hebei

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Characters in this entry

中: zhōng · central; center, middle; in the midst of; hit (target); attain
原: yuán · source, origin, beginning

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–2 · Zhong1 yuan2

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 5 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zung1 jyun4

Cantonese word readings for 中原. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

name

the Central Plain (area on the lower reaches of the Yellow River which formed the cradle of Chinese civilization)
China
(literary) middle of a plain
(～區) Zhongyuan (a district of Zhengzhou, Henan, China)
(～街道) Zhongyuan (a subdistrict of Fancheng district, Xiangyang, Hubei, China)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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