Tradition beats on Taiping Road

He says that the most symbolic among them is called Zhuangyuan Fang, and was erected in memory of Lin Daqin (1511-45), who achieved the highest scores in a final keju exam in the mid-Ming Dynasty period. Zhuangyuan was the name given to the top tier of imperial exam candidates, with the overall winner being called jinshi.

"Historical records show that Lin became the top candidate at just 22, a very young age. In comparison, another of the paifang on the street was put up to commemorate Qing Dynasty official Liu Qizhen (1648-1751), who became jinshi at the age of 87. This demonstrates Lin's ability," he says.