Jian Shan Filial Piety Memorial Archway

Jian Shan Filial Piety Memorial Archway

Jian Shan Filial Piety Memorial Archway is a tall and majestic stone archway. It is located on a slope about 1 kilometer south of Jian Shan Town in Hechuan District, Chongqing, approximately 15 kilometers northwest of downtown Hechuan. The archway was built in the 28th year of the Daoguang reign during the Qing Dynasty (1848), making it 160 years old to date, and is a district-level cultural heritage conservation unit.

Jian Shan Filial Piety Memorial Archway is a relatively well-preserved stone archway. The archway stands 12 meters tall and is 9.20 meters wide, featuring a four-pillar, three-bay, three-story design with a double-eaved hip-and-gable roof. At the center ridge of the roof is a three-tiered pagoda carved from a single piece of stone, with openwork carvings as edge decorations. The base of the pagoda is shaped like a tripod incense burner, symbolizing the supreme authority of Confucian rites. Below the pagoda base are bas-relief landscapes; at both ends of the main ridge are outward-scrolling chi dragons, corresponding with the four upturned corners at the ends of the archway. The roof ridge is adorned with stone carvings of auspicious beasts, treasure vases, mythical animal heads, and other ornaments, all symbolizing good fortune, warding off evil, and bringing peace.