Xu Guo Stone Archway in Shexian County: The only remaining eight-legged archway from the Ming Dynasty

Located within the ancient city of Shexian, the Xu Guo Stone Archway, also known as the Grand Scholar Archway, consists of four connected arches with eight legs standing side by side, commonly referred to as the "eight-legged archway." It is a typical stone archway construction from the Ming Dynasty and is a key national cultural heritage site. If one were to say that in the "Archway Museum" of Shexian, you could only see one archway, it would be this Xu Guo Stone Archway. This unique archway in the country was erected in feudal society to honor achievements, scholarly success, virtuous governance, and the virtues of loyalty, filial piety, chastity, and righteousness. 【History】 Established in the twelfth year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, in October (1584 AD). The owner of the archway, Xu Guo, was a native of Shexian, a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations during the Jiajing era, and a high-ranking official during the Jiajing, Longqing, and Wanli reigns, serving as the Crown Prince's Tutor and Grand Scholar of the Wenyuan Pavilion. For his 'decisive contributions' in pacifying rebellions in Yunnan, he was promoted to Junior Guardian and conferred the title of Grand Scholar of the Wuying Hall. In ancient times, ordinary citizens could only build four-legged archways, while only the imperial family could build eight-legged archways; otherwise, it was considered an offense. It is rumored that Xu Guo, to reflect his prestige and achievements, built this 'presumptuous' archway without prior approval, acting first and reporting later. 【Structure】 The entire archway is composed of two three-bay, four-pillar, three-story stone archways in the front and back, and two single-bay, two-pillar, three-story stone archways on the left and right sides (shared by the front and back arches), with a total height of 11.4 meters. The stone material used is hard and greenish 'Hui return' stone. The stone archway is covered with carvings, with shallowly engraved ruyi heads at the ends of the beams and lintels, and designs of intertwined branches and brocade patterns with openwork. The central diamond-shaped frame features deep relief carvings, such as 'soaring dragon,' 'auspicious crane in the clouds,' 'fish leaping over the dragon gate,' 'majestic phoenix and auspicious qilin,' 'dragon court eagle dance,' 'three reports of joy,' 'qilin playing with colored balls,' 'phoenix passing through peonies,' and more. Inscriptions on all four sides of the stone archway include 'Grand Scholar,' 'Junior Guardian and concurrently Crown Prince's Tutor, Minister of Rites, Grand Scholar of the Wuying Hall, Xu Guo,' 'Scholar before Official,' 'Senior Statesman,' and other large characters carved out of the stone, which are the work of Dong Qichang, a Ming Dynasty painter and calligrapher. The stone archway stands at the east side of the Yang Gate in the ancient city of Huizhou, straddling the street, accessible from all sides, resembling a divine cauldron standing within the city, signifying the once glorious Xu family and the long-standing culture of Huizhou. Visitors are invariably amazed by its towering grandeur and the exquisite and varied carving skills. Within the ancient city of Huizhou, there are also other Ming Dynasty archways such as the Chongguang Archway and the Ye Family Chastity Archway (wooden structure). Address: Inside the ancient city of Huizhou, Shexian County, Anhui Surroundings: Huizhou ancient city, Doushan Street, Yuliang Dam, Yuliang ancient village, Tangyue Archway Group, etc