Ancient County Magistrate's Residence Well PreservedA refurbished ancient county head's residence has been re-opened as a museum, attracting streams of visitors.The county Magistrate's residence, or yamen as it was called in feudal China, is located in Neixiang County in central China's Henan Province. The residence was used during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, when thousands of yamens existed before social changes lead to their disappearance. "It is miraculous that the Neixiang Yamen has been well preserved. It is a historical databank and gives valuable hints to the prefectural research of that time," the expert said. The yamen covers an area of 20,000 sq.m. and has 250 rooms. Yamen was multifunctional compounds in feudal China. Other than functioning as a county magistrate's residence, Yamen served as governmental offices and courts, where the magistrate ruled lawsuits, as well as prisons. The Neixiang Yamen was built in accordance with the strict symmetry style of a traditional Chinese Siheyuan, or compound with houses around a courtyard. It retains the basic layout and architectural plan of when it was built. |
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