The term has been widely used in China for centuries, but appeared in English during the Qing dynasty[citation needed].

Typical responsibilities of the bureaucrat includes local finance, capital works, judging of civil and criminal cases, and issuing decrees and policies.

This was especially so during the Qing dynasty, when imperial law forbade a person from taking government office in his native province.

Yamens varied greatly in size depending on the level of government they administered, and the seniority of the bureaucrat's office.

'the Three Great Laws') controlled the legislative and executive, the judicial, and the military affairs of the province or region.

Zao usually served around the court, Zhuang provided physical labor and Kuai were in charge of inspection, investigation, and arrest.

Their main job was to guard the critical areas such as castle gates, the court, prison, and warehouse.

[4] In the Ming Dynasty, due to their duties, yamen runners were considered as a debased class (jianmin, 贱民), which is even lower than good commoners (liangmin, 良民) such as farmers.

[4] While the salary was not enough to live or raise a family on, working for the law enforcement department gave yamen runners some power that could be taken advantage of.

It's unclear when the paper yamen runner was created, but literature about it can be found during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

For serious crimes such as murder, theft, gambling, and fights, the magistrate would still send yamen runners directly for the arrest.

Sun Yat-sen tried to establish a form of self-government, or home rule, on a regional (or local) basis, but he found that he needed bureaucracy to run a country as big as China.