This term is an abbreviation of the compound word formed by Zhongguo (中

国) and Huaxia (华夏). Here, hua (华) also means "flower" or "flowery," which

was used as an analogy for a splendid culture. The ancestors of the Huaxia

people established their state in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow

River, which they thought was the center (zhong) of the world and which had

a flourishing culture (hua), so the state was called Zhonghua. This multi-ethnic

state, with the Huaxia people as the predominant group of its population, later

began its territorial expansions, and the places where it extended to became

part of Zhonghua. In modern times, Zhonghua became a term denoting China,

the Chinese people, and its culture.