衙门

government office in feudal China / yamen

surname Ya

office / yamen 衙門|衙门

gate / door / CL:扇[shan4] / gateway / doorway / CL:個|个[ge4] / opening / valve / switch / way to do something / knack / family / house / (religious) sect / school (of thought) / class / category / phylum or division (taxonomy) / classifier for large guns / classifier for lessons, subjects, branches of technology / (suffix) -gate (i.e. scandal; derived from Watergate)

the Qing dynasty equivalent of the Foreign Office

lit. the yamen is strong as iron, the officials flow like water (idiom) / fig. government officials come and go