Why does Xiangyang dare to be called "the first city in China" and what is its origin?

Because Xiangyang is the waist of the world, it is located in the core of Nanyang Basin and Jianghan Plain, which means that it is the most important traffic transfer station in the north and south of the Central Plains.

This is the key node connecting the Central Plains and the Yangtze River waterway, and the importance of Xiangyang's geographical location is clearly marked in Sun Tzu's Art of War. Xiangyang, a small third-tier city, is called the first city in China for a reason.

Xiangyang is located in the low mountain of Qinling Mountains. By land, Xiangyang is an important hub for traffic gathering, among which Jingxiang Avenue is the most famous. It is also one of the most important official roads in ancient times. Xiangyang occupies an important position in the transportation hub, whether by water or land. To the north of Xiangyang, Tangbai River, a tributary of Hanshui River, can enter the Hanjiang River and the Yangtze River. In case of war, it can not only keep balance, but also serve as a military command base. Xiangyang is an excellent command center to quell chaos in case of war in local separatist regimes.

A scholar in the Qing Dynasty once said that since the Han Dynasty, anyone who wants to compete for the world will inevitably list Xiangyang as a battleground for military strategists. Because it guards the north-south traffic throat and faces the river on three sides, its military value is self-evident. From the classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms, we can see that the Romance of the Three Kingdoms has a total of 120 times, of which 3 1 time is related to Xiangyang, especially after Battle of Red Cliffs's defeat, Cao Cao abandoned Jingzhou to protect Xiangyang, from which we can see how important Xiangyang's geographical position is.

In ancient times, Guanzhong, Bashu, the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River can be described as the four major economic zones in the Central Plains. As long as we can master them, we can almost turn the world into a thing in the palm of our hand, and Xiangyang is right in the middle of these four economic zones. It can resist the north and the south and promote reunification. What is the name of Xiangyang? The first city in China? Well deserved.