Talk:North China Plain

Untitled

'This article desperately needs some pictures or maps'. -- Prophet121 03:53, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

There is a tendency for Chinese academics to carelessly project their own idiosyncratic constructs onto academic works to be transmitted to the Western world. I am afraid you have picked up this habit. "Yellow Plateau" is always referred to the hight plateau west of the Middle Plain. ち き

Proposal to merge "Central Plain" to "North China Plain"

This proposal was made back in September 2005. There have been no comments but it was clear that the two articles referred to the same area. In fact, the North China Plain article used the term 中原 but referred to it in English as Middle Plain, a term that does not appear to have any usage outside of Wikipedia.

I have moved the material from the original Central Plain to the North China Plain article, where it fitted in perfectly and filled out a gap in the text. The addition of a section title on the "Historical and Cultural Significance" of the plain added a bit of focus. I believe the modifications result in a much improved article.

In the meantime, the term "Central Plain" is applied to several other plains, most notably that in Wisconsin but also the central part of Thailand. I therefore converted the original Central Plains page into a disambiguation page, which again cleans things up considerably.

Bathrobe 09:05, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Having done this, it appears that something is seriously wrong. The Chinese term 'Zhongyuan' isn't synonymous with 'North China Plain'. For instance, Beijing is at the top end of the North China Plain but is not regarded as belonging to Zhongyuan according to my understanding. Zhongyuan refers, I believe, to a narrower area: the area near the Yellow River, which was the cradle of Chinese civilisation (according to the textbooks, anyway). The northern part of the plain doesn't belong to Zhongyuan, it might be better referred to as the Hebei Plain. So either the article has to be rewritten, or the article on Zhongyuan (Central Plain) has to be reinstated. Suggestions?

Bathrobe 12:15, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

As a categorist, I think it makes sense to have Zhongyuan and North China Plain as two separate article; Zhongyuan is an informal reference to a specific region, while North China Plain is a geographic feature.--Confuzion 01:39, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

Vandalism

It is now September. Back at the end of January, some moron, apparently from the State of Illinois, removed a few lines which changed this passage:

(simplified Chinese: 华北平原; traditional Chinese: 華北平原; pinyin: Huáběi Píngyuán), the North China Plain, also called the Central Plain(s) (Chinese: 中原; pinyin: Zhōngyuán), is based on the deposits of the Huang He (Yellow River) and is the largest alluvial plain of eastern Asia. The plain is bordered on the north by the Yanshan Mountains and on the west by the Taihang Mountains.

into this:

(simplified Chinese: 华北平原; traditional Chinese: 華北平原; pinyin: Huáběi Píngyuán), the North China Plain, also called the Central Plain(s) (Chinese: 中原; pinyin: Zhōngyuán), is based on the deposits of the [[Huang the west by the Taihang Mountains.

No one noticed. For eight months, a Wikipedia article started out with a nonsensical statement and it didn't even get fixed! I'm not blaming anyone in particular, but is this really how an encyclopaedia should be? The forces of random, mindless vandalism definitely seem to be winning the war!

I also notice that a lot of activity nowadays appears to be directed at adding tags (all kinds of tags) and noting the lack of sources. Additions to the "sum of human knowledge" are harder and harder to find.

Bathrobe 04:38, 11 September 2007 (UTC)