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.