If one asks, is the geographical map of China today the same as that of the Western Zhou Dynasty? The answer is no. Then if you ask again, is the present Nakahara the same as the ancient Nakahara? The answer is also no.
Through all the historical documents, we find the earliest origin of the word "Zhongyuan", which originated from the Book of Poetry, which reflects the life of the people in the Western Zhou Dynasty. In the "Xiao Ya" section of this book, it is described as follows: "The descent of lacquer depression, the place of the Son of Heaven." Zhan Pi Zhongyuan, its Qi Kong has". We know that the capital of the Western Zhou Dynasty was in Guanzhong, Shaanxi, and Qishui and Frustrated Water were located in Guanzhong. Although the term "Zhongyuan" originally referred to the wilderness under the heavens, that field was the wilderness of the "Place of the Son of Heaven", the "Guanzhong Plain", where zhou Tianzi lived. Hojing was also the political, economic, and cultural center of the Western Zhou Dynasty, located in the southwest of present-day Xi'an.
Since the Book of Poetry, there are many sources of literature on the ancient "Central Plains" that is, the Guanzhong Plain. For example, in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms: "The Shu soldiers have arrived at Qishan, the people in the Central Plains, and Qing An can't bear to sit back and watch"? (Qishan is located in the area of Longnan and Tianshui in Gansu Province, and the presence of soldiers on Qishan means invading the Central Plains);
Song Xie Caibo's "Notes on Secret Zhai": "Guanzhong, a great place of victory in the Central Plains";
Song Xue Jixuan's "Collection of Langyu": "On the situation in the Central Plains, Guanzhong is often the head of the Xia";
Song Luyou: "The Central Plains will begin in Chang'an";
Yuan Fanghui's "Yingkui Law Essence": "Jinling can look north to chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty in the central plains, so Taibai is covered by floating clouds, and it is sad not to see Chang'an";
Ming Miao Xiyong's "Burial Wing": "Guanzhong, the Ridge of the World, the Dragon Head of the Central Plains";
Qing Wang Youding's "Four Zhaotang Poetry Collection": "With Tongcao Shi Guanzhong as the first of the manager Zhongyuan".
The ancient "Zhongyuan" was by no means the "Central Plains" in the sense of geographical location, it originally referred to the political, economic and cultural center of the dynasty, and later extended to the place where the vast number of Han Chinese lived. Therefore, we cannot see the word "Zhongyuan" and confuse the ancient "Zhongyuan" with the present "Zhongyuan", nor can we simply equate the Central Plains culture with the Henan culture.