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衙门 (yá men) — yamen (government office in imperial China)

Definition

A historical government office in imperial China where a local magistrate handled judicial and administrative affairs. A normal modern Chinese person today would meet this word mainly in period dramas, novels, and history books.

noun
yamen (government office in imperial China)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 衙门。
    Tā céng zài xiàn yá men dān rèn shī ye.
    He once served as a private secretary at the county yamen.
  • 衙门。
    Zhè zuò yá men shì qīng cháo liú xià de gǔ jiàn zhù.
    This yamen is an ancient building left from the Qing dynasty.
  • 衙门。
    Gǔ dài de lǎo bǎi xìng hěn shǎo zhí jiē zǒu jìn yá men.
    In ancient times, common people rarely walked directly into the yamen.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

衙yácourt
门méngate

衙门 is a 门, a gate, of 衙, a government court, hence an office.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
行行xíng
Sound part声符shēngfú
吾
吾wú衙yá
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape 衙 combines 行, which is connected to its meaning, with 吾, which gives a sound hint.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 門; 门 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 門 pictures a gate as two door shapes side by side; the simplified 门 is a later shorthand.

Open 门 →
Appears in
Government & PoliticsHistory

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