Huangshan Mountain in Anhui Province is a great place to avoid the
summer heat. But few know there is a small county named She County in Huangshan
city, which can provide a good alternative for quiet folk.
She County is famous for its well preserved Hui style architecture, villages
and historic sites. The high Hui-style horsehead walls (named so because the
white wall and tiled roof resemble a white horse and its mane flying in the
air), houses, the foursquare ancestral temples, and deep and serene
streets-these have marked She County a historic location. Most impressive of
all, is the traditional Chinese memorial archways.
*Traditional Chinese memorial archway
Chinese memorial archways have existed since the Zhou Dynasty (BC1046-256).
They symbolize honor, showing glory and achievements, and memorializing
important people or events.
In ancient China, it was a glory for a person to have an archway built for
him. People who had achieved an official rank higher than Juren (a successful
candidate in the imperial examinations at the provincial level in the Ming (AD
1368-1644) and Qing Dynasties (AD1644-1912)) could establish an archway with the
permission of local government. It was even more difficult to build archways
praising one's success, achievements, fealty or chastity. The applications neeed
to be approved by the emperor.
Memorial archways are usually made of stone, bricks, wood or cement. There
were also archways built for officials of high level, important historical
events, and the construction of famous temples.
*Tangyue memorial archway cluster
Tangyue memorial archway cluster in Tangyue Village, at the west side of She
County is one of the most famous archway clusters in China. These memorial
archways were built by the Bao family, a famous Hui business family that lived
through the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Tangyue Village is more than 800 years old. Most of the villagers' family
name is Bao. They ranbusiness generation by generation and emphasize filial
obedience.
The famous archway cluster is at the entrance to the village, arranged in the
order of Zhong (loyalty to the court), Xiao (filial obedience), Jie (virginity
kept for a husband) and Yi (faith to friends). There are seven memorial
archways. Three of them were built in the Ming Dynasty and the other four in
Qing Dynasty.
The Mashi Archway was built during the Jiajing period (AD 1522-1566) of the
Ming Dynasty. It is more than 450 years old. This archway was built for praising
Bao Can, famous for educating his children. His offspring made a great
contribution to protecting the country. The emperor ordered this archway for
praising him.
Among the seven memorial archways, two out of them were specially built for
highlighting women's chastity in the Qianlong period (AD1736-1795) of Qing
Dynasty. The two women kept widowhood, and led a poor lie and brought their
children up after their husbands died. They earned their two stone archways
through their loneliness and hardship.
