Nánzhèng

Nanzheng stands in the Hanzhong basin, between the Qinling to the north and the mountains leading into Sichuan to the south. A county since ancient times, it became the seat of Hanzhong commandery under the Eastern Han. Its position made it the administrative centre of a fertile basin and a stopping place on the roads between the Wei valley and Sichuan.

During the Tang, the prefecture was renamed Xingyuan in 784 while the emperor was staying in the region. Nanzheng remained its seat under later dynasties. In 1370 the Ming changed Xingyuan's administrative name to Hanzhong prefecture, still governed from Nanzheng. A Qing county gazetteer described the county as the prefectural seat and recorded its boundaries against Chenggu, Baocheng and the mountains toward Sichuan.