Huayuan Village Filial Piety Memorial Archway

Huayuan Village Filial Piety Memorial Archway

Huayuan Village Filial Piety Memorial Archway is a cultural relic protection unit of Suining City.

Huayuan Village Filial Piety Memorial Archway

13th year of the Tongzhi reign (1874)

Location: Huayuan Village 1st Group, Laochi Township, Chuanshan District, Suining City, Sichuan Province

Ancient architecture

Built in the 13th year of the Tongzhi reign (1874), the Huayuan Village Filial Piety Memorial Archway faces west and is a four-pillar, three-bay, three-story stone archway. It has a double-eaved, pavilion-style structure mimicking wood, constructed from mountain gorge (bluestone) stones. It covers an area of approximately 60 square meters. The archway is massive in size, sturdily built, beautifully shaped, grand and solemn. It features nearly a hundred relief carvings, with 18 inscriptions in regular script, running script, and clerical script. It combines painting, calligraphy, and carving arts, making it not only an exquisite work of art, but also a valuable artifact for studying the folk culture of the late Qing Dynasty.

The archway, facing west, is a four-pillared, triple-bayed, double-eaved structure mimicking wood, with a mountain gorge (bluestone) construction. It stands 10 meters tall and 7.25 meters wide. The square stone pillars have sides of 0.57 meters, covering a total area of 80 square meters. The central ridge of the archway roof is carved from a single piece of stone. The top is in the hip-and-gable style, with a carved gemstone finial at the center of the ridge. On each side, hollowed-out dragons guard the apex, while on both sides of the ridge, coiled-tail "chiwens" (mythical animal ornaments) are carved. These correspond to the four upturned corners of the archway roof, together forming the rooftop ensemble with the gemstone finial, chiwens, and lively upturned corners.

On the front, under the archway roof, the stone beams are carved with line-engraved scroll and grass patterns. At the center below the beams hangs a vertical plaque inscribed with the two characters “Shengzhi” (“Imperial Edict”), framed by a carving of “Five Dragons Holding the Edict.” The trapezoidal stone pillars, larger at the top and narrower at the bottom, are adorned with flower, auspicious cloud, and lotus petal designs. The central stone beam features one of the Twenty-Four Paragons of Filial Piety, “The Dog-Slaying Wife,” which, even after over a hundred years, remains clearly detailed with no signs of weathering. At the center of the stone wall is the inscription “Ren Duan” in regular script. On either side of the archway pillars are carvings of ancient-costumed figures. The stone pillars also bear deeply carved reliefs of lion pairs, vivid and lifelike. The lower part of the stone wall is inscribed with the official title and name of the Zhengtang (chief magistrate) of Tongchuan Prefecture. The large horizontal stone beam is inscribed with a commendation from the Sichuan Provincial Military Examinerate: “Cheng Qi, in his youth a Confucian scholar, later achieved rank in the Imperial University, awarded the sixth-rank official position. His virtuous wife Xu lived to 67 years. He was known for his filial piety, friendship, diligence, and thrift. Erected in the autumn of the 13th year of the Tongzhi reign (1874), in the cyclical year Jiawu.”

The entire stone archway is massive in scale, firmly built, elegant in shape, majestic and solemn. It features nearly a hundred relief sculptures and 18 inscriptions in regular, “xing” (running), and clerical scripts. Integrating painting, calligraphy, and carving arts, it is not only a refined artwork but also a tangible artifact for studying the folk customs of the late Qing era.