The Wan Family Jiao’s Chastity and Filial Piety Archway

The Wan Family Jiao’s Chastity and Filial Piety Archway

The Wan Family Jiao’s Chastity and Filial Piety Archway is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangxi Province.

Era: Qing Dynasty

Type: Ancient Architecture

Address: Wanjiacun Village, Caomengkedui, Sanli Township, Jinxian County, Jiangxi Province

Introduction:

The Chastity and Filial Piety Archway was built in the 14th year of the Qianlong reign (1749) when high-ranking officials of the Qing court, including Yin Jishan, Sai Lenge Hui, Jin Deying, and Jiangxi Provincial Administration Commissioner Pang Jiaping, submitted a memorial to the imperial court commending Jiao, a woman from the village who remained chaste after her husband’s death. The archway was then decreed by the emperor. It is constructed with blue and red stone blocks joined using mortise-and-tenon techniques, featuring four pillars, three bays, and three tiers, forming a mountain-like shape. The central section is 7.9 meters tall, the sides are 5.12 meters tall, and the overall width is 7.7 meters. On the front (south) side, between the middle and lower crossbeams, there is an inscribed stone plaque bearing the characters “Chastity and Filial Piety Archway.” Between the middle and upper crossbeams, there is a vertical plaque inscribed with the characters “Imperial Edict.” The back (north) side has the words “Chastity and Filial Piety Archway” on the middle crossbeam along with the official titles and names of those who commissioned the archway. The upper part features relief carvings. The roof of the archway is a stone-carved hip-and-gable roof with a stone gourd placed at the center. It underwent renovations in 1992, 1994, and 2004.

In December 2006, it was designated as part of the fifth batch of provincial-level cultural relic protection units in Jiangxi Province.

Sanli Township: Located at the northern end of Jinxian County, the eastern gateway to Nanchang City, Sanli Township sits on the shores of Poyang Lake. To the northeast, it borders Yugan County across the Xin River, and to the northwest, it faces Nanchang County across the Jinxi Lake, situated in a lakeside hilly area. The township administers 17 village committees, 121 village groups, and 90 natural villages, with a total of 8,160 households and a population of 40,000, of which 38,000 are agricultural residents. It covers a total area of 137.2 square kilometers, of which 69 square kilometers consist of water surfaces (mainly Chenjia Lake, Jinxi Lake, Xin River, Xi Lake, and Kange Lake), making it a natural freshwater fishery. Sanli Township is renowned in Jinxian for... More details about Sanli Township++

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Jiangxi Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units