Ms. Siao Chastity Archway, Stone memorial archway in West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan
The Ms. Siao Chastity Archway is a stone monument in Tainan, Taiwan, made of two pillars supporting a central chamber. It is built from cut stone and displays traditional Chinese architectural forms with carefully carved details across its surface.
The arch was built in 1800 during the Qing Dynasty to honor a widow named Xiao Liangan, who had remained faithful for forty years after her husband's death. Raising such a structure was a formal act by the authorities to recognize conduct considered exemplary at the time.
The carved characters on the north face of the arch speak directly to values that Qing-era society chose to honor in stone. Standing in front of it, a visitor can read the couplets and get a sense of what public recognition meant in old Tainan.
The monument stands behind Yonghe Hospital along Fuqian Road and can be visited freely during daylight hours. Because the site is small and compact, a short stop is enough to take in the structure and read the inscriptions.
This arch is the last of what were once seven such monuments standing in Tainan, and it is considered the smallest stone arch of its kind in Taiwan. The survival of this single example makes it a rare witness to a tradition that has disappeared everywhere else.
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