yamen

1 9.9

A local official's office and home in imperial China where they ran government and held court

noun
/jɑːˈmɛn/

Archaic

: yamen

Residents could visit the yamen to file complaints about local issues.

Examples

The local yamen was responsible for managing the administrative affairs of the district.
And what would the yamen official do when he heard that the foreigners had been robbed by their own?

Fiction book (1996)
The nearest yamen for reporting big crimes in Jintian is many hours' walking distance from Changmian.

Fiction book (1996)
Moreover, many of these raiders had their tax bureaus to collect the ransom and tribute payments for conspiring with soldiers, officials on their payrolls, and yamen underlings.

Blog text (1)
The British, however, were driven to exasperation, for it seemed to them that in staffing the new office, the Tsung-li Yamen, the Chinese must have diabolically scoured the imperial bureaucracy to find the most dimwitted of officials.

Academic text (1990)
The village council gathered at the yamen to discuss community matters and resolve disputes.

Surface Forms

yamen singular

yamens plural

Etymology

Yamen comes from the Chinese words yá and mén, which mean 'official' and 'gate' or 'door'. Think of an official's gate or house where people go to ask for help or make requests, which is why a yamen was the office and home of a local government official.