Yamen
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A yamen (衙門, yámén) is any local bureaucrat's, or mandarin's, office and residence of the Chinese Empire from the Qing Dynasty (and possibly earlier Chinese dynasties). Within the yamen, the bureaucrat and his staff conducted government business of the town or region, settling disputes, maybe jailing a lawbreaker or two, issuing decrees and policies, and living daily life.
Yamen varied greatly in size depending on the level of government they administered. However, all yamen typically had similar features: a front gate, a coutyard and a hall (typically served as a court of law); offices, prison cells and store rooms; and residences for the bureaucrat, his family and his staff.
The institution of the yamen fell victim to the Wuchang Uprising and the Xinhai Revolution, after which warlords often wound up becoming the ultimate authorities, in spite of Sun Yatsen's best efforts to establish a Republic of China covering all of China. Sun Yatsen tried to establish a form of self-government, or home rule, on a regional (or local) basis, but he found that he needed bureaucracy to run a country as big as China. Hence, new bureaucratic offices arose, thus replicating the functions of the Imperial yamens in many ways.
Well-Known Yamens
- The yamen at Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong
- The Zongli Yamen (Wade-Giles: Tsungli Yamen), China's de facto ministry of foreign affairs during the late Qing Dynasty