A banner pole planted at the center of a camp, streamers flying, the drum-square at its middle. Where the flag stands is where the center is. From that battlefield picture grew the biggest idea in this course: 中国 — the Middle Kingdom — China, the country at the center of the world.
A piece of culture
The Middle Kingdom China calls itself 中国, "the Middle Kingdom" — a name over 3,000 years old, from when Zhou kings believed they ruled the center of the civilized world. The idea of the harmonious middle runs deep: the Confucian classic "Doctrine of the Mean" (中庸) teaches balance in all things, and 中 still means "exactly right" in expressions today.