Shaanxi province in the context of "Shangluo"

The Liupan Mountains (Chinese: 六盘山; pinyin: Lìupán Shān) are a mountain range in northwestern China, located mostly in southern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The range marks the southwestern boundary of the Ordos Basin.

Its southern section is known as Mount Long (Chinese: 陇山; pinyin: Lǒng Shān), which strides southeast through eastern Gansu and western Shaanxi province before joining into the Qinling Mountains, giving rise to regional names like "Longxi" (陇西, lit. "west of Mount Long"), "Longdong" (陇东, "east of Mount Long", referring to the Jing River valley basin region around eastern Pingliang, southern Qingyang and northern Xianyang) and "Longnan" (陇南, "south of Mount Long"). It is the western boundary of the Guanzhong Plain, and is also the source of the Qian River (千河), a left tributary of the Wei River that flows through the prefectural city of Baoji.

Northern Shaanxi or Shaanbei (陕北) is the northern portion of China's Shaanxi province. More specifically, it refers to the region north of the Huanglong Mountain and the Meridian Ridge (the so-called "Guanzhong north mountains") within the province. Being both a geographic area as well as a cultural area, it makes up the southeastern portion of the Ordos Basin and forms the northern part of the Loess Plateau. The region includes two prefecture-level cities: Yulin, which is known for the Ming Great Wall traversing through its northern part; and Yan'an, which is known for being the birthplace of the Chinese Communist Revolution.

Shaannan (simplified Chinese: 陕南; traditional Chinese: 陝南; pinyin: Shǎnnán) or Southern Shaanxi refers to the portion of China's Shaanxi province south of the Qinling Mountains. Its name derives from the province's abbreviation "Shaan" (陕) combined with the word "Nan" (南, lit. "south"), its geographical location within the province.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the area began to be merged with what is the Guanzhong Plain to form Shaanxi province. The Qinling Mountains, as a geographic barrier, has also created major differences in climate, cultural traditions and dialects between Shaannan and the other parts of Shaanxi, and thus there is some similarity between Shaannan and Sichuan.

Dong Zhuo (pronunciation) (c. 140s – 22 May 192), courtesy name Zhongying, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. At the end of the reign of the Eastern Han, Dong Zhuo was a general and powerful minister of the imperial government. Originally from Liang Province, Dong Zhuo seized control of the imperial capital Luoyang in 189 when it entered a state of turmoil following the death of Emperor Ling of Han and a massacre of the eunuch faction by the court officials.

Dong Zhuo subsequently deposed Liu Bian (Emperor Shao) and replaced him with his half-brother, the puppet Emperor Xian to make him become the de facto ruler of China in the boy-emperor's name. The Eastern Han dynasty regime survived in name only. Dong Zhuo's rule was brief and characterized by cruelty and tyranny. In the following year, a coalition of regional officials (刺史; cishi) and warlords launched a campaign against him. Failing to stop the coalition forces, Dong Zhuo sacked Luoyang and relocated further west to the former Western Han capital at Chang'an (modern Xi'an, Shaanxi province). He was assassinated soon after in May 192 by his subordinate Lü Bu in a plot orchestrated by Interior Minister Wang Yun.

The Predynastic Zhou or Proto-Zhou (/dʒoʊ/; Chinese: 先周) refers to the ancient Chinese state ruled by the Ji clan that existed in the Guanzhong region (modern central Shaanxi province) during the Shang dynasty, before its rebellion and subsequent conquest of the Shang in 1046-1045 BC led to the establishment of the Zhou dynasty. According to histories, predynastic Zhou rose as a western frontier vassal state of the Shang, acting as its ally against the Xirong barbarians until their influence surpassed that of the Shang dynasty.

Records about predynastic Zhou came from two sources. The Shang dynasty kept records about Zhou in oracle bones. The texts about Zhou inscribed by the Shang court are mainly those from the reign of Wu Ding and the last Shang monarchs. After the fall of Shang, the Ji clan established the Zhou dynasty and started their own narrative about previous generations. The Book of Documents and the Bamboo Annals are two major historical sources. Later, Sima Qian wrote about the country using those texts as reference.