The ancient county government office, also named Gu Xianya(古县衙) in Chinese, is located in the center of Pingyao. It was built firstly in North Wei Dynasty(386-534), and formed into sacle during Yuan , Ming and Qing Dynasties. Now, the ancient building here is the one which built in 1346, with a history of more than 660 years. It’s hard for you to imagine how well-preserved it is unless you arrive there.
County government office is a grass-roots unit of administration in Feudal China, and the head of it is considered as Fumu guan(父母官,local magistrate, literally means father and mother officials )to the local people. Based on the same function ----judgment, the county government is a little similar to today’s court. If you get there on the right time, fortunately you will get the chance to pass the time tunnel and be a witness for a court trail (a performance played by some professional actors).Believe me, this kind of performance has already attracted many visitors halt foot.
The entire office is north-south, axial symmetry, occupying more than 26,000 square meters. According to the feudal social institutions, the left part is for preparing official documents and letters while the right part is for practicing Wushu. The front hall is a court and the back hall is a bedroom. No matter from the layouts or the functions, it deserves to be called small palace.
After the eleventh Panchen paying a visit here on May 19th in 2004, he wrote an inscription as bellow: “Among all the ancient county government offices in China, the one in Pingyao is the number one.”
The trial performance time: Monday to Friday: 10:00 am 11:00am 3:30pm Saturday & Sunday: 10:00am 11:00 am 3:00pm 4:00pm You are warmly welcomed to join them.