Which city is the "Land of Covered Bridges"?
Zhejiang·Taishun
Covered Bridge Culture
Speaking of covered bridges, people tend to think of the American movie "Covered Bridges" and those in the movie The famous covered bridge in Madison County is the "Pig's Back Bridge". Indeed, this movie calls people's attention and love for the art of bridge architecture called "covered bridges". Since ancient times, "covered bridges" have a very long history and are widely used in the history of Chinese and foreign architecture and garden landscape design. Especially in our country, it has a history of about 2,000 years, and there are records of "covered bridges" as early as the Han Dynasty. Taishun, Zhejiang Province is also known as the "Hometown of Covered Bridges", with more than 200 ancient covered bridges existing. Taishun is a mountainous county in southern Zhejiang Province. In history, many celebrities and wise men migrated to Taishun, a "paradise" with undulating hills and inaccessible people, to avoid disasters. They created a local civilization with mountain pastoral characteristics and left behind incomparable legacy. Precious historical and cultural heritage. Taishun Covered Bridge is the most outstanding representative among them.
1. Overview of Taishun Covered Bridges
There are many private bridges in Taishun with various structural types. According to the "Taishun Traffic Chronicle", by the end of 1987, there were a total of 958 existing bridges in the county, with a total length of 16,829 meters, of which 476 were built before liberation and were 7,923 meters long. There are more than 30 covered bridges in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, including wooden arcade bridges, wooden flat covered bridges and stone arcade bridges. Among them, there are 6 wooden arch bridges that occupy an important position in the history of world bridges, namely Sixi Sisters Bridge, Sankui Xuezhai Bridge, Xianju Bridge, Xiaocun Wenxing Bridge and Santiao Bridge.
The wooden arch bridge is made of shorter timbers that intersect vertically and horizontally, like a rainbow flying over a wide water surface. Its ingenious structure is amazing! In the 1970s, Mr. Mao Yisheng, a well-known bridge expert, organized scientists to conduct field inspections and comparative studies on laminated wooden arch bridges in southern Zhejiang. He determined that a large number of laminated wooden arch bridges remaining in the mountainous areas of southern Zhejiang were the Hongqiao structures that were popular in the Central Plains during the Northern Song Dynasty. The book "History of Ancient Bridge Technology in China" edited by Mao Yisheng records four wooden arch bridges in Taishun. Taishun Covered Bridge is world-famous because its structure is very similar to the Hong Bridge in "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" painted by Zhang Zeduan in the Northern Song Dynasty. It uses beams interspersed and pressed to form an arch bridge, which looks like a rainbow, so it is named Hong Bridge. In the history of Chinese bridges, it has a very high status. It is one of the four ancient bridges in China along with Anji Bridge (Zhaozhou Bridge) in Zhao County, Hebei, Wan'an Bridge in Quanzhou, and Guangji Bridge in Haiyang County, Chaozhou. Three of the bridges are still preserved in the world, but the Bianshui Hong Bridge only remains in paintings. Now a covered bridge with a similar structure to the Hong Bridge has been discovered in Taishun, which has attracted worldwide attention.
2. Representatives of Taishun covered bridges
1. Beijian Bridge
Beijian Bridge, a stacked-beam wooden arch bridge, is located at Xiaqiao, Sixi Town village. It was first built in the 13th year of Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1674), built in the 8th year of Jiaqing reign (1803), and rebuilt in the 29th year of Daoguang reign (1849). The bridge is 51.7 meters long, 5.37 meters wide, and has a clear span of 29 meters. The Beijian Bridge across the Bei River has a reasonable overall structure and is as powerful as a rainbow. The bridge house has gray tiles and a red body, with flying eaves and animals. The ancient trees beside the bridge are shaded, and the two rivers meet under the bridge. Green mountains, clear water, rainbow bridges and ancient trees complement each other to form a charming landscape.
There are many commercial shops at Beijian Qiaotou, which are the business places for villagers. There used to be a stage on the east side of the bridge. According to local customs, at the beginning of the year, villagers go to Linshui Temple and Chen Daweng Palace to make wishes and pray to the gods for a good harvest and family reunion. At the end of the year, the vows were fulfilled, and the statues of Chen Shishi and Chen Dawen were carried to the stage at Beijian Bridge to watch the play. This event lasted four days.
The Beijian Bridge, which adopts a braided beam structure, is as majestic as a rainbow. The bridge house is also an important part carefully constructed by the covered bridge craftsmen. Building gallery houses on the arches functionally increases the pressure on the bridge arches and makes them more stable; it also plays a role in protecting against wind and rain. At the same time, the artistic treatment of various parts of the bridge house, such as the diversification of eaves forms and roof ridge decoration, increases the overall aesthetic effect of the bridge.
2. Xidong Bridge
Xidong Bridge, a stacked-beam wooden arch bridge, is located in Xiaqiao Village, Sixi Town. It was first built in the fourth year of Longqing's reign in the Ming Dynasty (1570). In the 10th year of Qianlong reign of Qing Dynasty (1745), the list was relisted. It was rebuilt in the seventh year of Daoguang reign (1827). The bridge is 41.7 meters long, 4.86 meters wide, and has a clear span of 25.7 meters. Xidong Bridge, which is in the Feng Shui mode of "general playing with lions", has "rainbow energy coming to the sky, shadows shaking the moon". There are 15 corridor houses built on the bridge arch, several of which are elevated into pavilions. The eaves and wings are flying, and the green dragon on the roof is circling around the ridge, which looks like it is swallowing clouds and spitting out mist.
Xidong Bridge is about one mile away from Beijian Bridge and is named after it crosses Dongxi River. On the other side of the bridge is a distant mountain, and nearby are two higher peaks, one is Lion Peak and the other is General Peak. According to local people, the bridge and its surrounding environment are in the Feng Shui mode of "general amusing lions". Against the background of the distant mountains, Xidong Bridge is even more beautiful and light.
3. Santiao Bridge
Santiao Bridge is located on the junction stream of Zhouling Township and Longxi Township. It was named after the original three giant trees crossing the river. It was built on September 13th, the seventh year of Shaoxing (1137) in the Song Dynasty, and rebuilt in the 23rd year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty (1843). It is a stacked beam arch wooden corridor. bridge. It is 26.63 meters long, 4 meters wide, and 10 meters high from the water. It has 11 bridge houses, five pillars and beams in the open room, and butterfly-shaped lotus petal head arches on the capitals. The bridge has an earlier origin. According to Taishun's "Fenjiang Lu", old "Zhenguan" tiles from the Tang Dynasty were discovered during Daoguangjian's construction. It is the earliest bridge recorded in the county's literature. The bridge is exquisite, beautiful and has a long history. It was included in the "Achievements of Science and Technology in Ancient China" and promoted as a series of hundreds of patriotism education, showing the ingenuity of the working people of our county and the brilliant achievements of ancient bridge construction. In 1982, it was listed as the first batch of cultural relics protection units in Taishun County.
4. Xuezhai Bridge
Xuezhai Bridge, Sankui Town, is located in Xuenei Village, Sankui Town. It was built in the sixth year of Xianfeng (1856). It is a stacked beam arch wooden corridor bridge with a total length of 51 meters. meters, 5.1 meters wide, 29 meters in single span, 10.5 meters high from the water, with fifteen bridge houses built, a bridge head slope of 30 meters, a large arch slope, simple and unique shape, and majestic momentum. It is recorded in the "History of Chinese Bridges". In 1986, the Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau appropriated funds and raised funds from the public for reconstruction. In 1988, it was listed as the third batch of cultural relics protection units in Taishun County.
5. Yongqing Bridge
The Yongqing Bridge in Xiaxiping Village, Zhanzhou, Sankui Town, was built in the second year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1797), with a total length of 33 meters and a width of 33 meters. 4.5 meters high and 8 meters high from the water. It is an outrigger wooden covered bridge with bluestone masonry piers and two floors of cantilever beams that intersect at right angles. It is paved with sidewalk bridge boards and has 12 gallery houses. The open room is a two-story heavy bridge. The eaves pavilion has escalators inside, the roof has high wing angles, and the shape is elegant and simple. It is a beautiful ancient wooden corridor flat bridge in the county. In 1994, it was listed as the fourth batch of cultural relics protection units in Taishun County.