Covered bridge, the eternal landmark of Shouning, beautiful prose

I have heard about covered bridges for a long time.

About twenty years ago, I learned about covered bridges from the movie "Covered Bridges". But after I personally saw several wind and rain covered bridges in Shouning, I felt that the wooden bridge in Madison County in the United States in the movie has the name of a covered bridge but not the reality of a covered bridge.

The wooden arch bridge is an arch bridge made of beams interspersed and pressed together. It looks like a rainbow. It is the category with the highest technical content among the traditional wooden bridges of the Han nationality. my country's wooden arcade bridges are concentrated on the border between Fujian and Zhejiang, mainly distributed in Shouning and Pingnan in Fujian and Taishun and Qingyuan in Zhejiang. It is said that there are only more than 100 existing wooden arcade bridges in the country, and there are 54 in Ningde, Fujian. In Shouning County alone, there are 19 well-preserved and distinctive wooden arcade bridges. The best in the country. Judging from the years of construction, Shouning wooden arcade bridges are the most complete. From the Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, Tongzhi, Guangxu in the Ming and Qing dynasties to the Republic of China, they were still built after liberation. This is unique in the country. "History of Science and Technology in China" calls the covered bridge "the only one in China in the history of bridges in the world" and praises Shouning's wooden arcade bridge as "the best bridge in central Fujian".

The wooden arcade bridge I saw in Shouning is really called a covered bridge, and it is genuine.

The wooden arcade bridge is commonly known as Cuoqiao in Shouning County. Cuo refers to a house in many Fujian dialects. As the name suggests, houses are built on bridges. Shouning people refer to bridges with houses, pavilions, pavilions, temples and other buildings as covered bridges. When you walk into Shouning, you can see the covered bridge. The covered bridge is an eternal landmark of Shouning.

Bridges erected over streams and rivers were originally used to cross rivers and streams to facilitate transportation.

The clever Shouning craftsmen combined the construction of bridges with the construction of corridors and houses (houses). As long as there is a bridge in the deep mountains and old forests, in the wilderness, above streams, or under cliffs and dangerous rocks, business travelers can hide from wind and rain, avoid wild animals, and rest for the night. Later, bridge construction and temple construction were combined. A shrine was set up in the middle of the bridge and a statue of a god was placed, either Guan Gong, Guanyin Bodhisattva, or a local god known only to locals. This not only made it easier for travelers to pray to gods and protect them along the way It is safe and convenient for people in nearby villages to carry out religious activities. Whenever there is a sacrifice, the villagers will bring wine, food, incense and candles, gather on the covered bridge from nearby villages, and go to the shrine one by one to burn incense, kowtow, and pray for their families.

I carefully visited the Dabao Bridge built in the Ming Dynasty, one kilometer southeast of Xiaodong Village, Kengdi Township, Shouning. The bridges at both ends of the bridge are built with stones. It is about 40 meters long, 5 meters wide, and the hole span is 33.1 meters. Running southeast, there are 19 bays, 80 columns, and the arched arc of the bridge deck is large. It is covered by the overhanging mountain top and two slopes, the magpie tail ridge. The parts from under the eaves to the upper beams of the bridge at both ends are painted with whitewash and painted. There is a larger shrine in the middle of the bridge. The locals said that the shrine was dedicated to Lady Linshui. There are two places in the middle of the bridge, which are also made of wooden boards to look like beds, for business travelers coming and going to lie down and rest. On the upper beam in the middle of the bridge, there are also rich humanistic materials written in ink, which seem to be well preserved. However, it is almost evening and the light inside the covered bridge is dim, so it is difficult to see what is written.

The close integration of bridges and houses, temples, pavilions and pavilions is really a great creation of wooden arcade bridges. It adds a lot of functions to the bridge that originally only had the single function of crossing rivers and streams, making it more practical. It also makes the appearance of the Cuo Bridge, which looks like a rainbow from a distance, more beautiful and spectacular. On several Cuoqiao bridges in Aoyang Chengguan Town, I saw people enjoying the cool air, playing cards, playing the piano, singing, making tea, chatting and setting up dragon gate formations. On the Cuoqiao bridges in the countryside, I saw people trading mountain products. I also saw people holding banquets on a Cuoqiao. In addition to facilitating transportation, the Cuoqiao in Shouning also serves as a place for leisure and entertainment, information exchange, goods trade, religious beliefs, etc. Comprehensive effect. This is incomparable to the wooden bridge in the movie "Covered Bridge".

The above functions are of course carefully designed by the builder and are what they originally wanted.

However, the functions of cultural relics and tourism resources were beyond the imagination of the builders of Cuoqiao. In many places, due to the construction of modern highway bridges, the role of covered bridges as convenient transportation is weakening or disappearing. However, the villagers with scientific and development awareness did not demolish the original covered bridges. Instead, they protected and cherished them more. We know that this is a precious cultural relic left by our ancestors, an important tourism resource that can be developed, and a permanent landmark symbol that cannot disappear in Shouning.

For a long time, people have thought that the beautiful and unique "Bianshui Rainbow Bridge" technology in "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" has been lost. Who would have thought that it is still hidden deep in the mountains of Shouning? There are so many amazing wooden arcade bridges. Today, these covered bridges still have cultural relic, technical value and tourism development functions. It not only attracts many experts and scholars who come here for inspection, but also attracts a large number of tourists from all over the country. Each covered bridge here has its own story. Nowadays, many covered bridges have become cultural relic protection objects and popular tourist attractions in Shouning.

Let’s talk about Dabao, the wind and rain covered bridge lying in the green water and green mountains, lying on the deep stream, and the lush Feng Shui forest that was planted when the bridge was built. Coupled with the small mountain villages, the smoke from cooking, and the tourist minibuses and cars slowly approaching from time to time, it is a vivid and beautiful picture of Shouning's rural scenery that is both simple and fashionable. Such beautiful covered bridge scenery and fresh air attract tourists to linger here.

Standing by the Dabao Bridge, while admiring the exquisite bridge-building technology, I thought about a question: How can the bridge-building technology of wooden arcade bridges be developed in Shouning, a small mountainous county? Development, reaching the pinnacle and occupying the status of "the best in the world"? At this moment, a group of primary school students who had just finished school walked across the bridge carrying backpacks and happily singing the song "Beautiful Rainbow Bridge" and passed me. My thoughts were disturbed, and I was completely attracted by the singing of these children covered in sunset. If I still have the opportunity to come to Shouning, I will leave my questions to find and think about the answers next time I come here! At this moment and here, I love this sweet children's voice echoing by the covered bridge, on the stream and in the mountains:

Uncle Shan's wine and food are fragrant

Nunt Shan's craftsmanship is skillful

Folk songs on the bridge float outward...