This term is an alternative designation for China. According to The Book of

History, the country consisted of nine zhou (州), namely Jizhou, Yanzhou,

Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Yuzhou, Liangzhou, and Yongzhou.

There are similar references to the nine zhou in classic works of the same or later

period, such as The Rituals of Zhou, Er Ya, and Master Lü's Spring and Autumn

Annals. The nine zhou were never adopted as actual administrative divisions of

the country, but they did show the general geographical area inhabited by the

Chinese people since the late Spring and Autumn Period.