But Han culture did not spread out evenly from its cradle in the Yellow River valley. While the culture of the central plains was already well developed by 1000 B.C., many parts of the South continued to be regarded by most Chinese as barbaric and pestilential right up to the end of the sixteenth century.
以黃河流域為中心的中原文化雖然在公元前一千多年已經相當發達，但大陸西南邊緣的部份地區，直到明末仍被視為蠻夷之鄉，瘴癘之氣四處瀰漫。