Triumphal Arches.
MOst of the Cities in China, both small and great, are adorn'd and beauti∣fi'd with Triumphal Arches, stately Towers and Pyramids, made of Stone or Marble, with great Art, Cost, and Ingenuity, and adorn'd with Ima∣ges, being generally erected in honor of some famous Act, Thing, or Person. Those who have done their Country any signal Service, have some of these set up to eternize their Memory, almost after the same manner as was formerly practis'd by the ancient Romans. So also if any have been more excellent in Learning, or if any Magistrate hath signaliz'd himself by his good behavior in his Employment, in honor of such, Arches, Towers, Pillars, or Pyramids are built, and commonly plac'd as Ornaments in the chiefest Streets, and most populous places. Their fashion is this; they have three Roofs, the biggest in the middle, and on each side a small one, underneath which Men pass as it were through a very broad Gate; the sides are adorn'd with Lions and other Images, curiously cut out of Marble, and fix'd thereto, or otherwise very arti∣ficially bor'd through, and sometimes adorn'd with small Images cut out of Stone; so that it is indeed a thing deservedly to be admir'd, which way they can bore through such great Stones, and cut Images out of them, as they lie fix'd in the Building. The whole Arch for the most part consists of three Stories, and is on the Front and Back alike for fashion; so that when you look upon the one side, you have in effect seen both sides. Upon the top of all lies a blue Stone, upon which the Emperor's Name, in whose Government the same was erected, is curiously Engraven in Letters of Gold: In the mid∣dle also lies a very large flat Stone, upon which is writ in gilt or blue Letters, the Name, Country, and Dignity of him in whose behalf this Edifice was erected.