Zhili governor's office: the most complete surviving provincial government office from the Qing dynasty

The Zhili governor's office is located on Yuhua Road in Lianchi District, Baoding City. The building faces south and is divided into central, east, and west sections. The central section is the main part, consisting of a five-courtyard, four-sided compound. Construction began in the seventh year of the Yongzheng reign (1729) and was completed the following year. A total of 74 people served as Zhili governors in 99 terms here. Famous Qing officials such as Li Wei, Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, and Yuan Shikai worked here. Zhili was named because it was directly under the capital’s jurisdiction. By the Guangxu period, its territory included present-day Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, and parts of Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Liaoning, and Inner Mongolia. As the highest-ranking of the nine Qing governors, the Zhili governor oversaw military and civil affairs. Li Hongzhang served three terms totaling nearly 25 years, the longest tenure for a Zhili governor, during which he established the Beiyang Navy and promoted the Self-Strengthening Movement. The most notable parts of the Zhili governor's office are: the main hall, the center of power, where the governor handled military and political affairs, received imperial edicts, and judged major cases. The front screen features paintings of cranes and tidal waves, with the Yongzheng emperor’s calligraphy plaque “Respectful and loyal first shepherd” hanging high above the hall. The second hall was the council chamber, with a wooden screen carved with a qilin in the center and cranes on both sides, symbolizing the governor’s dual role in military and civil administration. The Gongshengming archway, located just past the ceremonial gate, bears the inscription “Gongshengming” on the front and a 16-character Qing official admonition on the back, a standard anti-corruption warning for government offices. In the backyard living quarters, one bedroom is quite luxurious, yet an elderly woman is calmly spinning thread by the window, attended by a maid—what could this mean?