<br><br>Mianxian ( 勉县, pinyin Miǎn xiàn) – a county of the of Hanzhong, Shaanxi (PRC). The name of the county comes from the .<br>Story<br>Under the Han Empire, the Mianyang county was created (沔 阳县, „on the yang side of the Mianshui River”).<br><br>During the era of the Southern and Northern dynasties, these lands passed from hand to hand more than once, and their administrative structure changed frequently. Under the Northern Wei Empire, in 505, the eastern part of Manyang County was allocated to Huayang County (华 阳县), and Bozhong County (嶓 冢 县) was created in the western part of Manyang County; all three counties were subordinate to Huayang County (华阳 郡).<br><br>Under the Sui Empire in 581, Mianyang County was annexed to Bozhong County. In 583, Huayang County was disbanded, and Huayang County was also annexed to Bozhong County. In 607, Bozhong County was renamed Xixiang (西 县).<br><br>After the Mongol conquest in 1258, Doshui County (铎 水 县) was established. In 1267 Xixiang County was subordinated to the Mianzhou Region (沔 州), and in 1283 the authorities of the Mianzhou Region moved to Doshui County. Xixiang County was annexed to Lueyang County.<br><br>Under the Ming Empire, the Doshui county was disbanded in 1370, and its lands came under the direct control of the regional authorities. In 1374, the region was demoted in status and became a county – this is how the Mianxian county appeared.<br><br>During the civil war, the region was occupied by communist troops in December 1949. In 1951, the Nanzheng Special Region (南郑 专区) was established and the county became part of it. In October 1953, Nanzheng Special Region was renamed Hanzhong Special Region (汉中 专区). In 1958, Baocheng County (褒 城县) was disbanded, and its lands were divided between Mianxian County and Hanzhong City. In 1964, as part of a nationwide program to simplify characters, the spelling of the county name was changed from 沔 县 to 勉县. In 1969, Hanzhong Special Region was renamed Hanzhong County (汉中 地区).<br><br>In 1996, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China disbanded the Hanzhong County and Hanzhong City, and the Hanzhong City District was formed.<br>Administrative division<br>The county is divided into 1 street committee and 17 villages.<br>