Anyi County Yamen

Anyi County Yamen

The Anyi County Yamen was first built in the first year of the Duan'gong era of the Song Dynasty (988 AD), destroyed in the year Renchen of the Yuan Dynasty (1352 AD), and rebuilt in the first year of the Ming Dynasty. It was repeatedly damaged or destroyed during the wars of the Ming and Qing dynasties but was always reconstructed or restored. After a large-scale renovation and expansion in the second year of the Daoguang era, the Anyi County Yamen had grown considerably in size and included a Chuantang, main hall, front gate, rear yamen, and left and right administrative offices. The main hall was inscribed with the plaque “Heavenly Principle, Human Sentiment, and National Law,” while the left and right sides of the archway outside the front gate were inscribed with “Scholarly Excellence” and “People’s Simplicity,” respectively. By the Xianfeng era of the Qing Dynasty, parts of the yamen buildings had been destroyed. It was restored again in the sixth year of the Republic of China (1917 AD). The restored yamen faced south and covered an area of 5,000 square meters, consisting of five courtyards in sequence: the main gate (an eight-character gate tower), side rooms (with a covered passageway pavilion), main hall, long hall, and living quarters, with a prison located on the west side. The covered passageway pavilion was bombed and collapsed by Japanese aircraft during the War of Resistance and was restored in 1945 with donations from local gentry. It was later destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Today, only the main gate (eight-character gate tower), side rooms, main hall, and some sections of the prison building remain. In 1984, it was listed as a county-level cultural relics protection unit and is one of only two relatively well-preserved ancient county yamens remaining in the province.

Source: People's Government of Yingtan City