Ningbo Enrong Archway

Ningbo Enrong Archway

Located at No. 70 Minzhu Road in Cicheng, this archway was built in the 41st year of the Qianlong reign during the Qing Dynasty (1776 AD) under the decree of Hengsheng, a descendant of the Xiang family, to commemorate their ancestor Xiang Tengjiao.

Xiang Tengjiao, courtesy name Wenchi, passed the martial arts examination in the 18th year of the Shunzhi reign, rose through the ranks from garrison commander to guerrilla general in Taizhou, Jiangsu, and served in official posts for more than thirty years before retiring in his old age. The Qianlong Emperor honored his achievements by bestowing upon him the title of Yaqi General and issuing an imperial edict to construct this archway.

This single-eave hip-and-gable roof–style archway stands 6 meters tall and 3.5 meters wide. It is constructed from bluish and reddish stone materials. The rooftop features carved tubular tiles and a central ridge adorned with two fish-tail ornaments. At the top front section, a central horizontal beam is inscribed with the plaque “Imperial Edict,” with the two characters in the center, while the lower beam features a bas-relief of a dragon head in the middle. The upper beam on the back also displays a plaque with double dragons chasing a pearl. A vertical plaque bears the engraved inscription “Enrong” (“Imperial Favor”), and the middle beam horizontally engraves the words “Imperial Decree for Three Generations.” The northern end of the beam is inscribed with “Qianlong Year of Bing Shen (1776), Early Autumn, First Ten Days, Auspicious Day,” and the southern end is signed “Constructed by Sun Xiang Hengsheng, Candidate Prefectural Administrator of Confucian Literati Rank.”

This is the most intact Qing-era stone-carved memorial archway in Ningbo.