China and foreign countries; civilized and uncivilized lands
A classical Chinese concept contrasting the civilized central land (華) with surrounding barbarian regions (夷). In Japanese, it appears mainly in historical or literary discussions of Sino-centric worldviews.
Confucian scholars of the Edo period debated the distinction between civilized and barbarian lands.
この地図は華夷思想に基づいて描かれている。
This map is drawn based on the Sino-centric worldview.
From Chinese 華夷 (huáyí), combining 華 (civilized, often referring to China) and 夷 (barbarian). The term entered Japanese through classical Chinese texts and was used in pre-modern scholarly discourse.