Gongshi Memorial Archway

Gongshi Memorial Archway

The Gongshi Memorial Archway is a cultural relic protection unit of Heping County.

The Gongshi Memorial Archway is located in the central walled village of Xinglong Management District, Xiache Town, Heping County. It was built in the seventh year of the Qianlong reign (1742) by Xu Tingfang. The archway faces south and is situated to the north. Constructed from granite, it features four pillars, three gates, and three stories, with an overall width of 6 meters and a height of 7.5 meters. The horizontal stone plaque on the central gate’s second level bears the bold regular-script characters “Gongshi” (Imperial Scholar) in large characters, while the right side vertically inscribes small regular-script text reading “Seventh Year of Qianlong, Renxu Year, Metropolitan Examination,” and the left side vertically inscribes “Xu Tingfang, the 72nd Ranked Imperial Scholar in the Examination, Erected This Tablet.” The third level has a vertically inscribed, raised regular-script plaque bearing the two characters “Enrong” (Imperial Favor). The eaves are constructed with grey bricks in a corbelled fashion, and the roof is a hip-and-gable design covered with grey tiles.

Xu Tingfang, a native of the central walled village in Heping County, passed the imperial examination as a Jinshi (Imperial Scholar) in the Renxu Year of the Qianlong reign (1742). He served successively as a professor in Zhaoqing and Nanxiong, and as the magistrate of Fufeng County, Shaanxi Province. His grandson, Xu Tingtai, ranked 196th in the 31st year of the Qianlong reign (1766) as an Imperial Scholar. His great-grandson, Xu Xuzeng, ranked 67th in the fourth year of the Jiaqing reign (1799) as an Imperial Scholar. A single family produced three Imperial Scholars.

In 1986, the Heping County People's Government designated it as a cultural relics protection unit.

Xiache Town: Located in the northeastern part of Heping County, Xiache Town borders Dingnan County of Jiangxi Province to the west and is adjacent to Xie’ao in Longchuan County to the east. Covering an area of 143.1 square kilometers, the town mostly consists of mid-to-low hilly terrain. It administers 13 administrative villages and one neighborhood committee, with a total population of 21,301, approximately 95% of whom are engaged in agriculture. In 2003, the total agricultural output value reached 76.82 million yuan (current price). The town’s economy is primarily agricultural, with 14,000 mu of high-quality arable land that produces abundant rice. The region is also rich in rare-earth resources. The mountainous area spans over 105,000 mu, yielding timber, shiitake mushrooms, wood ear fungus, tea oil, and bamboo—products that have earned the area recognition as one of the province’s bamboo forest bases. There is... More detailed information about Xiache Town++