aeeble

The "Three Virtuous Women's Archway" in Qionglin is located on the ancient official road at the western suburb outside Qionglin Village in Jinhu Town. It is the most tragic story among the three remaining Qing Dynasty archways in Kinmen. This stone archway, built in the 11th year of Daoguang (1831), seems to symbolize glorious achievements, yet it hides a touching story of three widows in one family. It has now been designated as a county-level historic site. During the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, Cai Zhonghuan's wife, Chen Shi, became a widow at the age of 29 when her husband died. She took on the responsibility of managing the household and raised her sons Fanggui, Shangwen, and the posthumous son Shangshen with great hardship. Later, Cai Shangwen married the daughter of Chen Wenxin from Doumen. However, when Chen Shi was only 21 years old, Cai Shangwen passed away, and she followed her mother-in-law's path of becoming a widow. Later, when the third son, Cai Shangshen, married the daughter of Huang Zhichuan from Wenshui, Huang Shi became a widow when she was only 29 years old. However, the women of the Cai family remained loyal and virtuous, managed their households frugally, and eventually saw their hardships turn into happiness. Chen Shi had five generations living together, with more than 80 descendants. The local authorities reported this to the ministry, and an archway was built to honor them. The "Three Virtuous Women's Archway" in Qionglin was constructed using Quanzhou white stone and blue stone. The stone pillars are inscribed with couplets written by officials, each character beautifully sorrowful, expressing the icy and proud virtues of the three generations of mother-in-law and daughters-in-law.