The fourth Baogong archway, known as the first brick house in China, is located in the new town of Huantai County, which is the hometown of Wang Shi, a literary leader and poet in the early Qing Dynasty. Height15m, width 9.2m and depth 3.32m, covering an area of more than 30 square meters. Since its completion, it has experienced nearly 400 years of human vicissitudes and is the only surviving archway among 72 ancient new cities.
Since ancient times, archways are mostly made of stone, and the four Baogong brick factories located in the northern Shandong plain are famous for their outstanding and unique characteristics. Its simple and elegant shape, magnificent momentum, exquisite structural layout and meticulous carving make it a masterpiece of classical architecture in Zibo.
Bao Fang, the fourth palace, was founded in the forty-seventh year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 16 19) to commend Wang Xianggan, a senior minister of the Ministry of War, for his outstanding achievements in serving as governor of Jilin and Liaoning, and was named Prince of Taibao by the court. Wang Xianggan was born in the 26th year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1547) and died in the 3rd year of Chongzhen (A.D. 163 1). Qin Long was a scholar for four years (A.D. 157 1) and Qin Long was a scholar for five years (A.D. 1572). When the workshop was built, Wang Xianggan was in charge of the Ministry of War.
At that time, the imperial court pursued the it runs in the family, namely Wang Zhiyuan, the father of Wang Xianggan, who had been an official to Zuo Assistant Minister and was also a minister of rites; Wang Xianggan's grandfather, Zeng Leiguan, went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guizhou to be a member of Zuo Shen (Guizhou Shen), and died because of the contribution of Pingman to Shao Qing, the King of Sogo in Taibu Temple. Wang Xianggan's great-grandfather Zeng Guan and Professor Yingchuan. Because of their outstanding contributions to the Ming Dynasty, their successor Wang Xianggan was named the military affairs minister of Prince Guanglu, so this archway was called the Fourth Palace.
At that time, the Fourth Gongbaofang was built outside the south gate of the ancient city wall in Xincheng County, at the southern end of the suspension bridge on the moat, and stood facing the street. Before the establishment of this brick and tile workshop, there were stone workshops nearby, such as Father and Son Shangshu, Temple State Veteran, Ming Zuo of Western Dynasties, Qing Xiang of Jiangbei, Daizong Embroidery and so on. There are huge brand workshops scattered along the street, and different construction techniques and inscriptions have become an ancient landscape on Qilu since the Ming Dynasty.
The workshop of the Fourth World Gongbaofang is all masonry structure, and its four bases are made of three layers of square stones. There are lotus petal reliefs around the lower layer, moire reliefs around the middle layer, and four square stones on each side of the upper layer, engraved with patterns such as walking clouds, flowing water, unicorn, loose deer, galloping horse and ganoderma lucidum. There are two square stone pillars on each pedestal, about one meter high, which support an arched square door with two large and three small blue bricks. The big arch in the middle spans four meters, and vehicles and pedestrians can pass smoothly. The arches on both sides are very narrow, probably for the beauty of the whole building. There are four pairs of stone lions sitting in front of the square. Four of them look back with hydrangeas, and the other four females hold their cubs back to their necks, with different expressions, beautiful shapes and vivid charm. The roof of the square is shoulder-back, high in the middle and low on both sides, with arches and cornices, simple tiles, an octagon protruding and wind chimes. The breeze is blowing gently, and the bells are sweet. At the top of the archway, there is a unicorn carrying a vase, which is magnificent, simple and lovely; There are eight inclined bases on the upper part of the archway, and each base is equipped with two round animal-shaped carvings, which are also lifelike.
When visitors come to the workshop, the first thing they see is four striking block letters of Bao Gong IV, which are elegant and solemn, and are said to have been written by Dong Qichang, a great calligrapher in the Ming Dynasty. Four big characters are carved on a huge banner forehead stone, and there are two graceful gold characters above the forehead stone, indicating that the archway was chartered by the emperor to show his favor, and it is said that it was also written by Dong Qichang. Under the four characters of Bao Gong IV, the original titles and gifts of Lin Wang, Chongguang Wang, Wang Zhiyuan, Wang Xianggan, grandparents and grandchildren, as well as the official titles, names of local officials at that time, and the completion time of the archway were engraved in dignified regular script.
On the blue stone pillars on both sides of the forehead of the fourth palace, there are a pair of official script couplets in relief before and after, and the top of each couplet is marked with the word "lingering sound". The front couplets are: Yuemu Gonggu, a wandering son, a world-renowned scholar at home and abroad; At the end of the day, the children are quite arrogant. They praised Wei Xiang for jumping the queue in Changming. The antithetical couplets on the back are: Old is just a tooth, and grace _ shows little; Qing county involved, Zhu Shurong. There are patterns and reliefs around the couplets, and two or more pairs of convex figures are decorated on the brick grinding cylinders at the four corners of the archway and painted, which adds a lot of color to the whole building.
Brick and tile workshops are rigorous, dignified and beautiful, which embodies the superb artistic level of China's Ming Dynasty architecture, is the crystallization of the wisdom of the working people, and is the historical witness of Zibo's ancient civilization. It records the epic deeds created by the Wang family in the new city in the process of defending the frontier of the motherland and stabilizing people's lives, which will certainly inspire future generations to devote themselves to the cause of the country and the people. During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period, Baogong No.4 Brick Factory was seriously damaged, the northwest corner collapsed, the top tile ridge was loose, and weeds were overgrown. When the cars of the Japanese invaders passed by, the bricks falling from the brick factory almost hurt the Japanese officers. The Japanese army and traitors became angry from embarrassment and wanted to tear down brick houses. Fortunately, the Wang family in Xincheng gathered to discuss the argument, and people of insight in the city also urged immediate repair, which made this brick and tile workshop that stood for 300 years avoid a catastrophe. In the late 1930s, the Wangs sold a part of the pine and cypress trees in the genealogy, and invited craftsmen from Hanjiazhuang in this county to repair them in one year. In the next few decades, the brick factory experienced two liberation wars and the Cultural Revolution. Although it left traces of bullet holes and hammers, it was still protected by the people of Huantai and ushered in a new era of reform and opening up.
1982, Shandong Provincial People's Government allocated special funds to invite Qufu Ancient Construction Team to carry out construction. The archway and cornices were rebuilt, the roof tiles were all replaced, and all kinds of sculptures were basically restored. 1992, the fourth Baogong memorial archway was listed as a key cultural relic protection unit in Shandong Province and became an important part of the Wang Shi Memorial Hall. This well-known artistic treasure of ancient buildings has revived its vitality and become an indispensable tourist attraction in northern Zibo.