Why is the Yellow River (Huang He) called the “Mother River” (Mu Qin He)?
You should know that there are 2 main rivers in China: Huang He and Chang Jiang. Huang He is more to the north, and Chang Jiang is more to the south. Thousands of years ago (5 thousand is the RECORDED history; unrecordered goes all the way back), civilization began to develop along the Huang He. When I say “along”, I mean to the south of the river. We call it the “Zhong Yuan” (Middle Land). Why? Because there were water and food sources. All civilizations start at a water source, such as the Niles of Egypt. It makes sense, right? Agriculture requires lots and lots of water. Early Chinese view places above Huang He as the Middle Kingdom, because civilization revolves about it. Even though Chang Jiang is also a water resource, it is seen as the “outskirts”, as with places too far from Huang He. Again, it is called the Mother River because that’s where the culture began!
