Pinigyao County Office was first built in 1346. It is the miniature of the emperor palace at the basic level and is the important material for studying ancient political system and civil service system. There are very few Yuan style buildings left in the courtyard.

Most of the halls were renovated in Ming and Qing (1368-1911) Dynasties. The courtyard is composed of archway, ceremonial gate, six divisions, the prison, the court, meeting room, residential area and gardens. In contrast with Chenghuang Temple, it is responsible for governing "Yang" world meaning the human world, while Chenghuang Temple taking care of "Yin" world meaning the spiritual world, which showed the goodwill of the people.

The seat of the county government faces south and is over 200 meters long and over 100 meters wide with an area of over 20,000 square meters. Although Pingyao has been the seat of the county government since the Qin Dynasty, the complex was built in 1346 (Yuan Dynasty). Except for one remaining Yuan Dynasty building, the existing buildings were built in the Ming Dynasty. The compounds are arranged with the principal buildings on the north-south axis and subordinate buildings along the sides. The east side held civil offices and the west side held the military ones; the front of the complex contains offices and the back held residences. The compound has 299 full-sized rooms and one small room, called a half room in Chinese. These numbers reflect the administration organization of feudal times.