To better elucidate his ideas, Huangfu Shi mentions two refutations of his conclusion. The first one concerns the definition of the central realm, the synonym of the legitimate state in ancient China. One might tell Huangfu Shi that the Northern Wei is legitimate since it had dominated the territory of the central realm. The Central Plain is the allegedly rightful territory of the central realm as ancient Chinese believed. Just as mentioned in 2.2.3, both the Northern Wei and the southern dynasties adopted various ways to manifest their dominance of the Central Plain thereby to ensure their territorial legitimacy. Huangfu Shi, however, has a different view towards the central realm. As he argues, the central realm did not possess any fixed
