yamen
Yamen is a term used in imperial China to denote the administrative office and residence of a local government official, most notably the magistrate of a county or the head of a prefecture. Derived from the Chinese 衙门 (yá mén), the yamen functioned as the center of local governance, combining executive, judicial, and police functions in one compound.
Within the yamen, petitions were received, records created and stored, and orders issued. The magistrate’s audience
Functions encompassed tax collection, census work, maintenance of public order, and civil and criminal adjudication under
With modernization in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the traditional yamen system declined as administrative