Pingyao has been the seat of the county government since the Qin Dynasty, and this complex was built in 1346 A.D., during the Yuan Dynasty. The existing buildings were built in the Ming Dynasty Except for one remaining from Yuan Dynasty building. The compounds are arranged with the main buildings on the north-south axis and the less important buildings situated on the sides. On the east side, civil offices are situated and on the west side are the military ones. The front contains offices and the back held residences. The compound has 299 full-sized rooms and one small room, called a "half room" in Chinese.
The seat of the ancient county government is over 200 meters long and over 100 meters wide with an area of over 20,000 square meters.
