Tianbo Jieshi Stone Memorial Archway

Tianbo Jieshi Stone Memorial Archway

The Tianbo Jieshi Stone Memorial Archway is a cultural relic protection unit of Meizhou City.

The Tianbo Jieshi Stone Memorial Archway is located in Longtan Village, Lanfang Town, Jiaoling County, Meizhou City, Guangdong Province. It was built in the third year of the Daoguang reign during the Qing Dynasty (1823). Facing south and backed by the north, the archway consists of a base, main body, and top. It has four pillars, three bays, three stories with three eaves, and features symmetrical east–west layout with two major facades on the north–south axis. The entire structure is made of granite stone, standing 7.30 meters tall, 6.90 meters wide, 1.35 meters deep, and covering an area of 10 square meters. The whole archway is supported by four square pillars, each 0.32 meters in width, which also divide the archway into a central gate and side gates to the east and west. At the base of the pillars, on the east and west sides, there are gourd-shaped stone drums embracing the columns. The body of the archway tapers inward and converges at the top into a gourd-shaped finial about 0.5 meters high, standing atop the central ridge of the roof. Cloud-patterned flying eaves decorate the ridge ends and branching ridges on each level. The four large supporting stone pillars are inscribed with commendatory couplets such as “My heart is truly no stone” and “The grace of the sage matches the heavens.” The front of the uppermost story (minglou) describes the reason for constructing the archway, while the back is inscribed in intaglio with “Pine-like Integrity, Ice-like Heart.” The front and back of the middle bay of the secondary story (cenglou) are inscribed in intaglio with “Tianbo Jieshi” (Heavenly Commendation for Chastity and Filial Piety); the side bays feature shallow-relief carvings of a phoenix on the front and a qilin on the back. The front and back of the side stories’ middle bays are inscribed in intaglio with “Imperial Edict”; the side bays have carved stone figures of officials on the front and carved stone vases with floral designs on the back. During the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty, Jiang Nengshu, a villager from Longtan Village, Lanfang Township, Zhenping County (now Jiaoling County), and Madam Wu from Chengguanjing Village, Gaosi Township, were lifelong friends. They arranged a prenatal betrothal for their unborn children: if both were male, they would become sworn brothers. Later, Jiang Nengshu had a son (his second child), named Zhuanying, who unfortunately died young from illness. Madam Wu’s daughter grew up and, in accordance with her parents' wishes, decided to marry into Jiang’s family and devote herself to lifelong chastity. After marrying into the Jiang family, Madam Wu remained steadfastly chaste, never complained, and lived a life of virtue. She toiled diligently in the fields and mountains, cared for her in-laws with meticulous devotion, maintained harmonious relations with her sisters-in-law, and managed the household with dedication. The Jiangs later adopted their third son’s second son, Yue Ding, as the heir of Madam Wu (their second sister-in-law). Yue Ding was exceptionally intelligent from childhood, and as he grew, he worked hard to build a successful career. He was deeply filial to his adoptive mother, Madam Wu, never forgetting her kindness. He reported her virtuous deeds—her devotion to her parents-in-law and her unwavering chastity after her husband’s death—to the imperial court, deeply moving the emperor. In the third year of the Daoguang reign (1823), the emperor bestowed the “Tianbo Jieshi” memorial archway, erected in Longtan Village, Lanfang Township, Zhenping County, Guangdong, to honor Madam Wu’s chastity and filial piety, so that future generations could admire her virtues. This archway is a moral monument erected during the Qing Dynasty to commend the chastity and filial virtues of Madam Wu, a local woman. It is the only well-preserved stone archway commemorating chastity in Jiaoling County and holds significant value for studying Qing-era Hakka archway architecture and local cultural history. In 2010, it was designated as a fourth batch county-level cultural relic protection unit by the Jiaoling County People’s Government.

On February 5, 2015, the Meizhou Municipal People’s Government announced the Tianbo Jieshi Stone Memorial Archway as a third batch municipal-level cultural relic protection unit of Meizhou City.

Source: Jiaoling County Museum

Longtan Village: Longtan Village in Jiaoling County, Meizhou City, comprises 10 villager groups, with 276 registered households and a population of 1,103. The village has a total of 642.5 mu of arable land. Annual rainfall is approximately 1,630 mm. Major cash crops include moso bamboo, economic forests, and ginger, while the village’s featured income comes from passion fruit. The total rural economic income of the village in the previous year was 900,000 yuan. 1. Develop moso bamboo mixed-use forests. 2. Cultivate economic forests to increase income from pine and fir. 3. Strengthen power station maintenance and management to boost revenue. … Detailed information about Longtan Village++

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Meizhou Municipal Cultural Relic Protection Units