Shèxiàn

She County was the seat of Huizhou, set among the mountains of southern Anhui on the Xin'an River. Its merchants travelled widely, while wealth returned to build halls, houses and carved stone gateways. The town was also a centre of ink making, a craft closely tied to the writing and painting prized by its scholars.

Huizhou ink drew on techniques associated with the master Li Tinggui and was made in numerous workshops in She. By the Ming, it was sold across the empire. In 1584 a stone archway was erected in the county town for Xu Guo, a native son who had risen to the Grand Secretariat. Its eight pillars made it a conspicuous monument to the standing of a Huizhou scholar at court.