Adapted from a story in Lin Yu-tang's Chinese Legends, The Arch is set in a remote village in southwest China, where a 34-year-old widow lives, dutifully supporting her mother-in-law and raising her only daughter--as workers build a traditional arch attesting to the widow's faithful and self-sacrificing behavior.
「董夫人」故事取材自作家林語堂「中國傳奇小說」中的「貞節坊」，說的是中國西南部的偏僻村落裡，住著一個卅四歲的年輕寡婦，她克盡婦道，服侍婆婆，撫育獨生女。