Dream Jiangnan Series: Jiangnan Archway

Author: Xue Bing (text), Zhang Xichang (photography)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Travel enthusiasts in today's society are no longer satisfied with simple sightseeing. The continuous enhancement of cultural depth has become their new pursuit. Self-guided tours and specialized themed tours are increasingly popular among many of them, especially the younger generation. This series of books is a new attempt to meet their needs. The first batch of this series introduces six types of cultural heritage in Jiangnan: memorial archways, ancient (stage theaters), ancient bridges, old houses, ancestral halls, and ancient pavilions. This book provides a comprehensive and vivid introduction to the memorial archway, a unique architectural element in China. Originating from the ancient city gates (), memorial archways were also commemorative structures during the 500-600 years of the Ming and Qing dynasties. They include honorific archways honoring the achievements of esteemed figures, ancestral archways commemorating ancestors, spiritual archways symbolizing "communication between heaven and earth," and tragic chastity archways. These wooden and stone memorial archways are epitomes of China's millennia-old traditional culture. Today, when travelers stand before the remaining ancient archways, reconstructed replicas, and newly built artistic archways, apart from appreciation, they should perhaps gain a deeper understanding as well.