Chapter 4
A yamen is a collection of various buildings ranged along a parallel line, which is cut across perpendicularly by a second line of kiosks and pavilions. Usually the yamen serves as a dwelling for mandarins of high rank, and belongs to the emperor; but wealthy celestials are not forbidden to have one. It was in one of these sumptuous hotels that the opulent Kin-Fo lived.
Wang and his pupil stopped at the principal gate, which opened on the vast enclosure surrounding the various structures of the yamen, and its gardens and court-yards.
If, instead of being the dwelling of a private individual, it had been that of a mandarin, a great drum would have occupied the best place, under the carved roof of the porch over the door, and where, in the night as well as in the day, those of h
