What is Guangji Bridge?

Guangji Bridge outside the East Gate of Chaozhou City is located on the rolling Han River, with Bijia Mountain in the east, the East Gate of downtown in the west, Phoenix Island in the south and jincheng mountain in the north. The scenery is magnificent and charming.

Guangji Bridge, with its unique style of "eighteen shuttles and twenty-four continents", is called the four ancient bridges in China together with Zhao Zhouqiao Bridge, Luoyang Bridge and Lugou Bridge. It was once praised by Mao Yisheng, a famous bridge expert, as "the earliest opening and closing bridge in the world".

Guangji Bridge, commonly known as Xiangzi Bridge, was built by Ceng Jiang (11), the satrap of the Song trunk road for seven years. It was originally a pontoon bridge, and it was named "Jikang Bridge" because it connected 86 huge ships. In the first year of Xichun (1 174), the pontoon was washed away by the flood, and the magistrate Chang Wei rebuilt it, and built a pavilion on the west bank to start the construction of the west bank wharf. During the fifty-four years from the first year of Shaoding (1 194), officials such as,, Wang, Ding Yunyuan, Sun, etc. Among them, in the sixteenth year of Xichun (1 189), the Taishou Yunyuan built the largest and most outstanding bridge and renamed the West Bridge "Dinggong Bridge".

In the fifth year of Shao Xi (194), Taishou Shen built the "Gaixiuting" and called the East Bridge "Jichuan Bridge". Then, the satrap Chen Honggui, Lin Biao and Lin Hui were added one after another until the second year of Kathy (1206). After the completion of the East-West Bridge, the middle is still connected by columns, forming the basic pattern of the combination of beam bridge and pontoon bridge.

From the end of Song Dynasty to Yuan Dynasty, Guangji Bridge was revived and abolished many times. In the tenth year of Xuande in Ming Dynasty (1435), the magistrate Roy presided over the unprecedented "rockfill reconstruction". After completion, "there are ten piers and nine holes in the west bank, with a total length of 49 feet and five; Thirteen piers and twelve caves on the east coast, with a total length of 86; Hollow is twenty-seven feet and three feet, and four boats are pontoons. There are 126 pavilions on the bridge, which was renamed Guangji Bridge.

In the eighth year of Zheng De (15 13), Tan Lun, the magistrate, added another wharf and reduced six Upright boats, forming a unique style of "eighteen shuttles and twenty-four continents".

In the second year of Yongzheng in Qing Dynasty (1724), Zhang Ziqian, the magistrate, built Guangji Bridge and cast two cows, which were divided into eight blocks of West Bridge and twelve piers of East Bridge, so as to "save the town bridge from water". In the 22nd year of Daoguang (1842), Dongdun Tieniu fell into the river.

Therefore, there is a folk song: "Chaozhou Xiangqiao is very romantic, with 24 continents 18 shuttle boats, 24 floors and 24 platforms, two iron cows and a slip away."

The combination of beam and ship makes Guangji Bridge form its own three characteristics:

I. "Eighteen Shuttles and Twenty-four Continents"

The combination of beam and ship, rigid-flexible combination, dynamic-static combination and ups and downs is a major feature of Guangji Bridge. The east and west sections of the bridge are beam bridges integrating pavilions and beauty, and in the middle is a pontoon bridge woven with reeds and spanning the rainbow. This is simply a wonderful scenery. There is a poem between Qingganlong: "Xiangjiang River is full of spring water, and eighteen shuttles lock the bridge." "Xiangqiao Spring" therefore ranks first among the "Eight Scenes of Chaozhou". Structurally, the combination of beam and ship is the first open-close bridge in the world. The main function of opening and closing is navigation and flood discharge. Guangdong Capsule records: "Jichuan Bridge outside the East Gate of Chaozhou ... sooner or later."

Open to pass the boat chess. "And whenever the Hanjiang River floods, you can untie the pontoon bridge and let the raging flood pour down. There are also checkpoints. " Counties and counties take Guangji Bridge as the only way for salt boats to collect salt taxes. "Later, the superior even sent someone to take charge of Chaozhou House. According to local records," In the third year of Yongzheng in Qing Dynasty (1725), salt was transported to Chaozhou, and the magistrate was in charge of bridge affairs, while the east coast belonged to traffic and the west coast belonged to Chaozhou House to check customs duties. "

Second, "24 Balcony 24"

In the basic stage of Guangji Bridge, there were measures to build pavilions and "build Han houses" on the piers, and named them "Curling" and "Jade Mirror". During the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty, the magistrate Roy not only built 126 pavilions on a bridge more than 5OO long, but also built towers on various piers, and used wonders, large reliefs, Lingxiao, Deng Ying, Yuede, Chaoxian, Chengsi, Feiyue, Shechuan, Youtong, Zuoda, Jichuan, Qu Yun, Curling and Xiaochuan respectively. At this point, the design of bridge architecture is the ultimate goal. As Li Ling said in Guang Ji Fu in the Ming Dynasty: "The first floor of the study has ten posts and one pavilion, red curtains for Han taxes, carved single gold rafters, curved horizontal sills, painted chalk, jagged tiles and high eaves ..." The ancient Lingnan Wind Bridge was very common, but it was so large in scale, so many in forms and so beautifully decorated.

Third, "one mile long bridge and one mile city"

Guangji Bridge is the hub of "all eastern Guangdong, Fujian and Guangdong, Zhang Yu, bordering on deep water", and there are many pylons on the bridge. Therefore, it soon became the center of transportation and trade and an active bridge market. Just before dawn, the river fog has not dispersed, and the bridge is already a "fish bed". At dawn, shops are competing to open first, tea kiosks and wineries are flying in the wind, and people boarding the bridge are holding cloth to trade silk, asking for divination and rubbing their shoulders. The traffic is busy, as described in Li Ling's "Guang Ji Qiao Fu":' Novi Lei Yin shakes the ground and the wheels and hooves rumble; Angry wind and waves, pedestrians also; The clouds are light and windy, and the dust is flying; Stop clouds, announce trees, tourists sing, and guests sing; Fengming, dragons singing in the sea, literati and poets playing Xiao Gu; The balcony shook, the clouds dispersed, and the wind and waves were shocked ... "It's like a picture of the Qingming Riverside. No wonder, tourists will make the appearance of "ask Xiangqiao when they arrive at Xiangqiao"

A joke.

The night at Guangji Bridge has some fun: "The crescent moon blows at the horn, and the fish market lights are red at night." The egg-guessing boat is still drinking, and the salt-hanging boat has just set sail. "At the beginning of the bright moon on Guangji Bridge, restaurants hang lanterns high, egg boats moralize, and prostitutes are whispering. It is really "thousands of households are connected with a stream, and the night is like a nun's drum". By the time the fishing lights are quiet, it is already "the sea and air are exhausted in the middle of the night".

This magical bridge, each pier has a history of hundreds of years. It took more than 300 years from the completion of the first pier in the Song Dynasty to the formation of the pattern of "eighteen boats and twenty-four continents". In the case of backward productivity in ancient times, it is more difficult to build such a bridge on the river than people imagined, so there are many legends of "immortals building bridges" in Chaozhou.

It is said that Han Yu often goes to Dongshanmen (now Bijia Mountain) to play after low tide. But deeply feeling the pain of crossing the river, he asked his nephew Han Xiangzi and monk Guangji to build a bridge together.

Han Xiangzi built a bridge in the east and invited the Eight Immortals to help. Han Xiangzi personally went to Phoenix Mountain to get the stone and turned it into a black pig. He came all the way, but as soon as the last group of pigs arrived in Fengnan, they were caught by a pregnant woman and screamed, How can stones walk? In a word, the cat was leaked, and the stone couldn't catch up any more, so the last piers in the east where Han Xiangzi was in charge were not repaired.

Monk Guangji built a bridge in the southwest, and asked eighteen arhats for help. He personally went to Pu Sang Mountain to pick up stones, turned them into flocks of black sheep, and came all the way. But when the last batch of black sheep were halfway, they met a local bully landlord and deliberately wanted to take these sheep away. They said, "Monk, where did you get the sheep?" ! Apparently it's my family. Monk Guangji was tired of being pestered and said, "Since it is your sheep, hurry to your field!"! "! " The landlord drove the sheep to his field together, but the sheep turned into Wushi Mountain, crushing the landlord's fertile land. According to legend, this is the origin of Wuyang Mountain.

Therefore, the last batch of black pigs and sheep did not arrive in time, and the middle section of the bridge could not be repaired. What are we doing? It's almost dawn again. Among the Eight Immortals, He Xiangu will throw the lotus petals in his hand into the middle of the river and become an eighteen-shuttle boat; When monk Guangji saw it, he immediately threw down his mord, turned it into a big vine, tied it to 18 big ships, and became a pontoon bridge. In this way, people call this bridge "Xiangzi Bridge" and "Guangji Bridge" to commemorate the achievements of the bridge built by the gods and the Buddha.

"Xiangqiao Spring" is one of the "Eight Scenes of Chaozhou": in late spring and March, the Hanjiang River rises and the river surface widens, and the 18 boats in the middle of the east and west sections of Xiangzi Bridge are connected in a line, which is really like a long dragon lying on the waves. Look at the dripping bamboo forests on both sides of the upstream, the peach blossoms opened by Zhou Xiansheng and the green willows along the river downstream, all floating on the water, and the scenery is pleasant, just like Sanxiang. This scene is brilliantly described in the poem "Eight Scenes of Chaozhou" circulated by Zheng Guangwei, a scholar during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty: "The Xiangjiang River is at dawn, and eighteen ships lock the bridge. On the stone snow flying beam, the sound of stormy waves cut through Haimen tide. The peach blossoms in Yazhou are rising, and the crocodile island is deep in smoke and willow. Changhong in the region is good in March and intends to float to the sky. "

With the change of history, Guangji Bridge has been built several times. 1958 strengthening and maintenance of the whole bridge, dismantling 18 shuttle boats and rebuilding them into three-hole steel trusses and two high-piled cap bridges. 1976 expanded to the status quo again. 1988+ 10, Guangji Bridge was announced by the State Council as a national key cultural relics protection unit.

Hangzhou Guangji Bridge

Yibi Tianqiao, also known as Tongji Bridge, is commonly known as Long Bridge. Located in the northwest of Tangqi Town, Yuhang District, Hangzhou, it is built according to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in the north-south direction, such as Changhong Wobo, which is the only remaining seven-hole stone arch bridge on the ancient canal. This bridge has a beautiful shape, and the arches are laid in longitudinal and parallel sections, with a total transverse length of 78.7m, a width of 6.12m and a rise of 7.75m..

Shibashuo Chuansuohua Bridge

-Guangjiqiao folk songs, couplets and poems

Kangzhibao

In Chaozhou, Guangdong, there is a folk song of such a bridge: "Go to Guangdong for nothing if you don't reach the tide;" If you can't reach the bridge at high tide, you will go to Chaozhou for nothing. "The' bridge' mentioned in folk songs refers to the' Guangji Bridge', formerly known as' Jichuan Bridge', and it is also called' Xiangzi Bridge' because it is said that the stone tablet in Han Xiangzi's book" The Flood Stop here "is near the bridge. It is located on the Hanjiang River outside Guangjimen, Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province. It is the earliest bridge in ancient China and an open bridge with a pontoon bridge. It is famous at home and abroad for its arduous construction, diverse structures and commercial market on the bridge.

The Hanjiang River, formerly known as "Yixi", has two tributaries in its upper reaches, Tingjiang River in the east and Meihe River in the west, which meet at Sanheba, where the river is narrow, the water flow is very urgent and the flood is very harmful. Coupled with the influence of the tide, it is surging. The Hanjiang River is also called "Crocodile Creek" and "Evil Creek" because crocodiles often haunt it. Han Yu (768-824), a writer in the Tang Dynasty, was demoted as the secretariat of Chaozhou. He mobilized people to drive crocodiles into the sea and wrote the famous Sacrifice to Crocodiles. Therefore, people made a clever couplet with their word "retreat": "evil crocodile; Retreat! " This couplet is still circulating in Chaoshan area. Because Han Yu did many good things during his two years in Chaozhou, such as repairing dikes, building bridges, planting trees and running schools, he changed "Yixi" to "Hanjiang".

Guangji Bridge on the Han River was built in the Southern Song Dynasty in 6 years (1 170) and took 56 years to complete. The whole bridge is 565,438+08m long and is divided into three sections: east, west and middle. The eastern and western sections are Shek Kip Mei and Liang Shi Bridge. There are 12 holes and 13 piers in the east section, which are about 283 meters long; West section * * * 7 holes and 8 piers, length137m; The bridge deck is very wide, about 5 meters, which is rare in ancient bridges in China. Later, in the constant water damage, it increased to 24 piers during reconstruction and built a promising building. The middle section is about 100 meter long, which is part of the pontoon bridge. The main reason is that "the middle reaches are too deep to be used as piers", and at the same time, it is attacked by typhoon and flood, so it is not suitable for building piers. So in the middle section, 18 to 24 wooden boats are hinged together with chains, which are opened regularly to facilitate navigation. At that time, large seagoing ships could cross the bridge from Shantou via Chaozhou to Tai Po in the upper reaches, and wide and slender rafts could cross the bridge into the sea from the lower reaches. When there is a flood, the pontoon bridge will be removed to make the flood discharge smooth. The structure produced by this open concept has written a new chapter in the history of bridge construction at home and abroad. Therefore, Mao Yisheng, a famous bridge expert, praised it as "the earliest retractable stone bridge in the world". Moreover, in the rapids and tides, the bridge has formed an amazing tidal surge and wave landscape. During the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty, the scholar Zheng wrote the poem "Xiangqiao Spring": "Xiangqiao Shuiyi Road, 18 shuttles lock the bridge; Shi Xue flew to Liangshanglu, and the sound of stormy waves penetrated Haimen tide. Cliff state waves, crocodile smoke deep wicker; Changhong in March is good and the scenery is by going up one flight of stairs. "

Due to the danger of the Han River, it was destroyed and built repeatedly, and it was rebuilt more than 20 times in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. In order to adapt to its unique topography and water potential, it has a unique bridge shape, and the piers have their own characteristics. The 24 piers under the bridge are all made of granite mortises and tenons, which are wider than ordinary piers. Among them, the length is14.4m to 21.7m, and the width is 9.5m to13.85m; the short length is also above10m, and the width is 5.7m, which makes the bridge look spectacular.

Because the pier is long and the deck is wide, another feature of Guangji Bridge is "one mile long bridge, one mile city". That is, there are pavilions on each pier and wooden houses on the bridge deck. Terraces are small, vendors gather, and all kinds of hawking are endless; At night, the lights on the bridge are hanging high, restaurants are guessing fists and shouting orders, and geisha silk strings are already noisy. The sound of the Han River is hardly heard in Qiaoshi, so foreigners often joke about "Ask Xiangqiao when you get there". For a long time, there are many vivid poems about the commercial market of Guangjiqiao, which vividly describe this scene. This is a poem by the poet Zeng, "Crossing Xiangqiao Late". "The Hanjiang River flows eastward, and the scenery in Yangzhou is different; Blow the horn, the crescent moon is white and the fish market is red. The guessing boat still calls for wine, and the salt-hanging boat rides on the wind; Staring at the twenty-four bridges, people are in the painting. "

In the 800-year construction history, Guangji Bridge has left countless stories. People pray for good luck because of repeated repairs. In the sixth year of Yongzheng in Qing Dynasty (1728), after the bridge was restored, it was "cast iron cow with two heads, and the east and west banks were listed as towns". On the back of Tieniu, the words "Town Water Protection Bridge" are cast, which are placed at Pier 8 on the west coast and Pier 0/2 on the east coast respectively. In the 22nd year of Daoguang (1842), the east coast wharf was destroyed by flood. An iron cow fell into the river and was later found further upstream. The other plane was bombed by Japanese imperialist planes at 1939 and disappeared. 1980 Niu Yi, a heavy cast iron, was placed on the diversion tip of the fifth pier in the west of the bridge. To this end, there is also a folk song circulating in Chaozhou: "Chaozhou Xiangqiao is very romantic, with 18 shuttles and 24 continents; Twenty-four balconies, twenty-four, two iron cows, slip away. "

This ballad clearly summarizes the story that happened on Guangji Bridge, especially the evolution of piers. 1in April, 958, the local government comprehensively repaired and strengthened the bridge and built a new reinforced concrete beam, ending the history of repeated maintenance and damage for 800 years. 1976 widen the bridge again, with the width of carriageway 7 meters and sidewalks 2 meters on both sides; The towers at both ends of the bridge have been used as workers' cultural palaces for people to relax. Later, Hanjiang Bridge was built at the downstream 1 km, and Guangji Bridge was protected as a cultural relic. From 2003 to 2007, Guangji Bridge was restored according to the Ming Dynasty in the most glorious period. The pier was reinforced and the "eighteen shuttles" open-close pontoon bridge was restored. The twelve pavilions and eighteen pavilions on the bridge were restored, and a plaque was added to make it a tourist walking bridge.