Interior Decoration of County Government in Qing Dynasty
An official department in power.
Establishment of yamen
The setting of yamen at all levels in Qing Dynasty, from architectural layout to yamen structure and even painting, was very different due to the different levels, levels and functions. The Qing Dynasty stipulated: "Civil and military officials in all provinces have official positions, which are the lobby and the second hall, and the gate and the instrument door are outside. Banquet is the inner room and the group room, and the official position is the office. The officials who are big have rules, and the officials who are small are reduced in turn. " Usually, a perfect yamen should meet all kinds of office and residential needs at the same time. As the main buildings, the lobby and the second hall are located on the central axis. In addition, there is a cabinet library in the yamen, which is used to keep files. Warehouse, armory and prison are also essential. Most local government offices also have official residences of officials and their families.
Most of the ancient urban construction in China was laid out according to Zhou Li Kao Gong Ji's design ideas, and was also influenced by Feng Shui theory. The yamen is the master of a party or a city. According to the concept of feng shui, the office of yamen is usually located in the center of the city, which is the so-called "punctuality". Point is the focus of gathering gas, and the South is right, respecting the center means "ruling from the center". Therefore, there is a saying that the entrance of the yamen faces south. This design idea of sitting north facing south and ruling in the middle requires that the main building must be concentrated on a north-south central axis, and from south to north, there are zhaobi, gate, instrument gate and stone pavilion in turn. There are generally six rooms around the stone pavilion. The main building consists of the lobby, the second hall and the third hall, where the Chief Executive and his subordinate staff work. Auxiliary officials and secondary officials can not be located on the central axis, but only on the east and west sub-lines, to reflect the difference in status. In addition, the office building should also embody the design concepts of "Wen Zuo is carefree" and "Hou Di is elegant". The prisons of the local yamen are all located outside the instrument gate in the southwest of the lobby, because according to the Book of Changes and the eight diagrams theory, this position belongs to the "Kun position", the so-called "cathode", so it is called "South Prison".
According to the concept of "auspicious land can't be without water", the yamen should be built on a high place, so that it can command the overall situation and prevent floods at the same time. Therefore, there is a saying that "the Chaodian is the main cave in Kyoto, the public hall (lobby) is the main cave in counties, the nave is the main cave in houses, and the Jinjing is the main cave in graves".
As far as the pattern and system are concerned, local government offices are shrinking palaces, while palaces are expanding palaces. In this regard, Feng Youlan has a profound explanation in the preface to Sansongtang. He said that the "clean door" of the palace means that the owner of this yamen is the supreme ruler of the Qing Dynasty. Outside the avant-garde wall between Tiananmen Square and Daqingmen, there are three big yamen in the east, three for officials, three for households and three for rituals in the west, which is equivalent to six rooms on the east and west sides of the county yamen. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the "lobby", the Hall of Zhonghe is the "second hall", the Hall of Baohe is the "third hall", and the Gan Qing Gate is behind the Hall of Baohe, which clearly distinguishes the outer court from the inner court.
The Qing dynasty followed the regulations of the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty. Officials are not allowed to use mountain corners, double arches, six to nine officials, three halls and seven frames. Dong Liang is decorated with khaki, and each door has a black iron ring, so the county yamen is a black painted door. The author of Tongzhi's "You County Records" specially explained the meaning of the county government, saying that the county is a string, and hoped that the politicians in a county would not bend like a string. The purpose of the official office is to make people feel awe. The county government of Youxian county also lives in the center of the county, with Confucian Temple and Discipline Department in the east and Yuan Di Palace and Sanguan Hall in the west. In front of the mansion, the south is the zhaobi, the opposite is the head door, and the entrance is a door. On the east side of Yimen are the Land Temple and Bibliography and History Department, and on the west side are prisons and warehouses. Further inside is the archway, and on both sides are the offices of small officials, facing the lobby (purlin). Behind the purlin is Tang Chuan, and behind it is Fang, which is the family of the county magistrate.
The yamen of "ruling in the middle" (2)
Chen Tianxi, a screen friend in the county government office in Qing Dynasty, specifically described the building regulations of Mayang county government office in Hunan Province:
The yamen faces south, and there is a wall in front of the gate, painted with a four-legged beast, whose name is homophonic "greed", which means warning officials not to be insatiable. Later, in the southeast, there were archways with east and west iron gates. Come in by Yuanmen, and the gate is in the middle. There are three main doors, one main door and two side doors, and the door gods are painted on the doors. There is a plaque above the door with the words "Mayang County" written on it. Opposite the gate, at a considerable distance, is the second and third door. There is a plaque at the main entrance with the word "Yi Men" written on it, which means "Yi Ke Ru". Inside Yimen is a big yard with a memorial arch in the middle. The banner reads, "My salary is high and the people pay. It is easy for the people to abuse, but it is difficult for the sky to bully. " This is what is usually called an inscription. On both sides of the patio are clerk's offices, which are generally arranged in the order of six rooms: clerk, household, ceremony, soldier, criminal and worker. In addition to six rooms, some counties have added two or three rooms, such as houses, grain houses and warehouses. If there is a vacant room, the officers will use it. Go straight from the archway, and the lobby is after a considerable distance. In the center of the lobby is a warm pavilion with a case-solving and high-backed chair. There is a table in front of the case, with common office supplies such as inkstone, pen container and signature container on the table.
There is considerable space in front of you and on both sides. There is a small table and stool on the right, which is used by the scribe to take notes when asking questions. There is a wooden frame on the left with a big drum on it. When the magistrate comes to the hall, he will beat the drums. The space in front of NuanGe is for the parties and witnesses to listen on their knees. The chief also stood here and served on both sides.
From the center of the hall, enter another door, which is the second hall. On the right side of the gate is a chime, through which the first mate goes to the lobby, and there are officers singing here. The NuanGe in the middle of the second hall and the cases solved on NuanGe are exactly the same as those in the lobby, except that there are no drums. In fact, there is only one set of case-solving, the pen container, inkstone and Yin He, and the screw shaft are placed directly above, and they are often placed on the second hall NuanGe. When the chief official asked questions in the hall, he moved them to the hall. From the middle of the back wall of the second hall, there is another door, that is, the third hall, which is the inner hall, and the families of the main officials are here.
Adjacent to these buildings, there are usually several other houses and courtyards for officials to manage affairs, receive guests, live in wooden houses and repair, but there are no certain regulations. (See Zhang: "Local Justice in Qing Dynasty-An Interview with Mr. Chen Tianxi", in the sixth volume of Foodstuffs Monthly. )
During the Dingge period in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, many county government offices were destroyed, and they were rebuilt around the middle of Kangxi. However, in remote provinces, until the Qianlong period, there were still many yamen renting private houses for office. According to "Collecting Wind", most county yamen in the south of the Yangtze River were destroyed in the late Ming Dynasty, such as the county yamen. It was not until the 24th year of Kangxi (1685) that it was rebuilt. The lobby was built first, and then the official soap room was built. In the second year of Shunzhi in Kunshan County, it was destroyed by soldiers, and the residence of county officials was built for more than twenty years. It was not until the sixth year of Kangxi that construction began, and then watchtowers, instrument doors and tunnels were added, including stone pavilions, main halls, main halls, back halls and inner halls. In the tenth year of Kangxi, the Zunxian Hall and 50 official residences in the East Gallery were rebuilt.
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