A Mandarin was a bureaucrat in imperial China. The term originates from the Portuguese word mandarim, meaning "minister" or "counselor", and from the older Sanskrit word mandari (commander) used to translate the Chinese word guan (官). The term is also used to refer to the northern spoken variety of Chinese because it was the language used among officials during the Ming and Qing dynasties. A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy, usually within an institution of the government. ... China is the worlds oldest continuous major civilization, with written records dating back about 3,500 years and with 5,000 years being commonly used by Chinese as the age of their civilization. ... Mandarin, or Guanhua (Traditional Chinese: 官話; Simplified Chinese: 官话; Hanyu Pinyin: ; literally official speech), or Beifanghua (Chinese: 北方方言; Hanyu Pinyin: ; literally Northern Dialect(s)) is a category of related Chinese dialects spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. ... The Míng Dynasty (Chinese: 明朝; Pinyin: ) was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644. ... The Qing Dynasty (Manchu: daiching gurun(warrior country in Mongolian language); Chinese: 清朝; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: ching chao), sometimes known as the Manchu Dynasty, was a dynasty founded by the Manchu - a nomadic nation of over two million people. ...

Mandarins are also known as scholar-officials because they immerse themselves in poetry, literature, and Confucian learning in addition to performing civil service duties. They obtain their positions through rigorous imperial examination. The imperial examinations (Chinese: 科舉; Hanyu Pinyin: ) in dynastic China determined positions in the civil service based on merit and education, which promoted upward mobility among the population for centuries. ...

China has had civil servants since at least the Zhou Dynasty however most high ranking positions were filled by relatives of the sovereign and the nobility. It was not until the Tang Dynasty when the final form of the mandarin was completed with the replacement of the nine-rank system. The mandarins were the founders and core of the Chinese gentry. The mandarins were replaced with a modern civil service after the fall of the Qing Dynasty. The Zhou Dynasty (Chinese: 周朝; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: chou chao; 11th century BC to 256 BC) followed the Shang (Yin) Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty in China. ... Wang (King) and Huangdi (Emperor) The King or Wang (王 wang2) was the title of the Chinese head of state from the Zhou dynasty until the Qin dynasty. ... For the band, see Tang Dynasty (band). ... The Nine rank system (ch. ... In imperial China, gentry were the class of landowners who were retired mandarins or their descendents. ... The Qing Dynasty (Manchu: daiching gurun(warrior country in Mongolian language); Chinese: 清朝; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: ching chao), sometimes known as the Manchu Dynasty, was a dynasty founded by the Manchu - a nomadic nation of over two million people. ...

The wardrobe of a mandarin during the Qing Dynasty involved Manchu official headwear and a mandarin square. Mandarins lived in yamen. The Qing Dynasty (Manchu: daiching gurun(warrior country in Mongolian language); Chinese: 清朝; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: ching chao), sometimes known as the Manchu Dynasty, was a dynasty founded by the Manchu - a nomadic nation of over two million people. ... The headwear of an official during the Manchu Dynasty in China consisted of (in winter) a black velvet cap, or (in summer) a hat weaved in rattan or similar materials, both with a finial on top. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... A yamen (衙門, yámén) is any local bureaucrats, or mandarins, office and residence of the Chinese Empire from the Qing Dynasty (and possibly earlier Chinese dynasties). ...