Mianhe Ancient Town

　　The ancient town spans the provinces of Shaanxi and Hubei and is the foremost town in southeastern Shaanxi. It is often said to have been “a Qin territory in the morning and a Chu one by evening.” Existing cultural relics and historic sites include the Caravan Guild Hall, the North Guild Hall, the Wuchang Guild Hall, the Thousand-Buddha Cave, the Manwang Cave, and the Qiaocun Ancient Cultural Site, covering an area of approximately 35,000 square meters. It houses the most complete and largest collection of Ming and Qing dynasty ancient architecture in Shaanxi Province. In particular, the Caravan Guild Hall features a meticulously structured double theater building with soaring eaves, upturned roof corners, carved beams, and painted rafters, presenting a grand and majestic atmosphere. It holds significant value for the study of China’s Ming and Qing architectural art and has been designated, along with the Qiaocun Ancient Cultural Site, as a provincial-level key cultural relic protection unit by the Shaanxi Provincial Government.

　　A small alley paved with bluestone, rows of ancient buildings with carved beams and painted rafters on both sides of the street, gentle and tender greetings, and groups of graceful young women strolling through the lanes create the unique charm of Mianhe Pass Ancient Town. Stepping into Mianhe Pass is like entering the misty willows and painted bridges of Tang poetry and Song lyrics, or like walking into a modern city bustling with neon lights and nightlife. It's akin to today’s special economic zones.

　　Located 95 kilometers southeast of Shanyang County in Shaanxi Province, Mianhe Pass was historically known as Fengyang Pass or Fengyang Chuan, and also referred to as the Land of the Man People. According to the *Shanyang County Annals*, in the second year of the Taishi era of the Western Jin Dynasty (266), Fengyang County was established with its county seat located in Fengyang Chuan. Before the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Former Qin Dynasty set up the Jingzhou administrative region in Fengyang Chuan. As recorded in Zheng Qiao’s *General Records*: “During the Huangshi era (351–354) of Fu Jian of the Former Qin, Fu Rong sent Fu Jing to raid Shangluo and established Jingzhou in Fengyang Chuan to attract southern treasures, exotic goods, bows, bamboo, lacquer, and wax, facilitate border trade, and attract distant merchants. This enriched national resources and filled the treasury with diverse wealth.” From this, it can be seen that Mianhe Pass at the time was equivalent to a special economic zone in today’s reform and opening-up context.

　　According to the *Imperially Commissioned General Gazetteer of Shaanxi*, in the second year of the废帝 (Abdicated Emperor) era of the Western Wei Dynasty during the Northern Dynasties (553), the seat of the Shangyong Commandery was moved to Mianhe Pass. A new Mianhe County was created by dividing part of Fengyang County’s territory, but in the third year of the Baoding era of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (563), it was merged back into Fengyang. In the twelfth year of the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty (1475), an inspection office was established here, and in the Qing Dynasty, it became a township; in the Republican period, it was a town.

　　In November 1947, the Shangguan County Committee, the County Democratic Government, and the subordinate Mianhe Pass District Democratic Government were established in Mianhe Pass. The Party committee, county government, and district democratic government offices were all located in Jiedao Village of Mianhe Pass Town. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Mianhe belonged to the Mianhe District under the jurisdiction of Shanyang County, with the district government stationed in Jiedao Village.

　　In 1997, after the restructuring of districts, towns, and townships, the former Wanfu and Tong’an areas were merged to form the new Mianhe Pass Town People’s Government. Today, the 104-square-kilometer land of Mianhe Pass still follows the topography of “eight parts mountain, one part water, and one part farmland.” Its 4,104 households and 15,710 residents are scattered across thousands of gullies and mountains. The Jiedao Village, where the town government is located, currently hosts the largest and best-preserved collection of Ming and Qing dynasty ancient buildings in Shaanxi. Since liberation, after decades of continuous development, in 1995, Mianhe Pass Town was awarded the title of “Civilized Market Town” by the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government. In October 2005, it was honored as an “Advanced Village/Town in National Efforts to Build Civilized Villages and Towns” by the Central Civilization Commission. In 2007, Mianhe Pass Town was listed as one of the national key small town construction towns and one of the county’s three major tourist attractions. In 2009, it was included in the list of 107 key towns in Shaanxi Province. Since the founding of the nation, 22 people have left this small street to study abroad. Cheng Quande, a farmer entrepreneur from Shuimatou Village in Mianhe Pass, who led local residents to prosperity through hard work, has appeared on CCTV multiple times. War-Torn History

　　For a thousand years, the flames of war never ceased. Even before the dust of the “Battle of Dan River,” where Yao subdued the southern Man tribes, had settled, the battle for supremacy between Qin and Chu reignited. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, within just a hundred years, the commanderies and counties of Mianhe changed names six times—each change tied to warfare. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Mianhe was a contested site of strategic maneuvering among the Song, Jin, and Yuan dynasties. In August 1142, the Song Dynasty erected a boundary marker “ceding half of Shangyu to Jin” on the peak of Huling Mountain north of Mianhe. The peasant rebellion army of Li Zicheng and the revolutionary forces of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom engaged in continuous battles in Shanyang, frequently clashing in Mianhe Pass. During the Republican period, movements such as “River and Lake Turnaround,” the “Big Sword Society,” and the “Red Spear Society” rose and fell in succession, with warfare occurring year after year. Mianhe was shrouded in the smoke and dust of war.

　　From November 11 to 14, 1932, over 20,000 soldiers of the Fourth Red Army, led by Chen Changhao, arrived in Mianhe and were besieged by more than 40,000 troops of five divisions in a 10-li-long gorge. After three days and nights of fierce fighting, they finally broke through the encirclement. In the battle of Mianhe Pass, which determined the survival of the Fourth Red Army, over 800 officers and soldiers, including Regiment Commander Han Liangchen of the 219th Regiment, sacrificed their lives heroically. From November 25 to 29 of the same year, the Third Red Army, led by He Long and Guan Xiangying, passed through Mianhe on their way to Hubei. The passage of revolutionary armies through Mianhe planted the seeds of revolution, making it a revolutionary base area and a red ancient town.

　　“Once the border between Qin and Chu, now the boundary between Shaanxi and Hubei,” the little northern Jiangnan of Mianhe Pass is known as a “water and land hub” connecting “southern Wu and Chu in the south and the north...” The idiom “morning Qin, evening Chu” originates from here.

　　In the past, Mianhe Pass boasted the glory of “a hundred boats docked at the water hub and a thousand horses at the land hub.” After the Song and Yuan dynasties, when the Qianshui River became navigable, local produce and mountain goods, as well as handicrafts from the south, were all distributed through Mianhe. After the Qing Dynasty, due to the development of water transport, Mianhe Pass naturally became a key commercial town in southern Shaanxi. The *Shanyang County Annals* recorded the bustling commerce of Mianhe Pass at the time: “At Mianhe Pass’s water hub, boats stood like a forest and goods piled like mountains.” Shanghai-made “national goods” and foreign “imported goods” were transported to Mianhe via Hankou or Laohekou, then distributed to Xi’an, Henan, and Shanxi by pack animals. Local residents “had nine out of ten households engaged in trade,” so the commercial awareness of Mianhe residents was cultivated over 1,600 years ago. The preserved ancient buildings in the town area, such as the Caravan Guild Hall, Wuchang Hall, North Guild Hall, and the Twin Theater Buildings, along with...

　　...residential buildings with Ming and Qing architectural styles such as the Huang Family Pharmacy and Lotus Mansion, as well as “slatted doors,” “scorpion streets,” and “cobblestone roads,” all tell the story of Mianhe Pass’s former prosperity and its unique blend of Qin and Chu charm.

　　The land hub was the central market for trade between the caravan and boat guilds. Every year on the third day of the third lunar month, the Caravan Guild Fair was held, featuring opera performances in the Twin Theater Buildings. On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Boat Guild Fair took place, with dragon boat races at the water hub and opera performances at the land hub, boosting commerce. Trade and circulation allowed the cultures of the north and south to fully integrate in Mianhe, forming its unique cultural characteristics. Today’s Mianhe Pass residents embody the boldness and straightforwardness of northerners as well as the gentleness and tenderness of southerners. They are warm and generous in their interactions, eloquent, filial, family-oriented, and value etiquette. Every household has handsome and talented young men and beautiful, intelligent girls. The famous writer Jia Pingwa couldn’t help but praise, “The beauties of Shaanxi are in Mianhe.”

　　Inquiry phone: 0916-8564559

　　Postal code: 726406

　　Scenic spot address: Mianhe Town, Shanyang County