File:A PAI-LOU, OR TRIUMPHAL ARCH.jpg

English: Drawing by William Alexander, draughtsman of the Macartney Embassy to China in 1793. A Pai-Lou, or triumphal arch, erected before the city gate of Ning-po, November 17, 1793. Alexander noted that such monuments were erected for the purpose of transmitting the meritorious actions of good men through generations. The usual subjects were the magistrates who have executed the duties of their high office with justice and integrity; heroes who have distinguished themselves in the field of battle; and others of meaner station in life, whose moral virtues or superior learning entitled them for glorification. The Pai-lous with inscriptions were built from wood or stone at the public expense. Image taken from The Costume of China, illustrated in forty-eight coloured engravings, published in London in 1805.