History of Sima Bridge in Chengdu

There is a small bridge across the Shahe River at the northern end of Jiefang Road, which is the famous Sima Bridge in ancient and modern times. Crossing the bridge to the north is the fork in the road. Go straight and you'll find Formaqiao Street. Turn right and it will be called Fumaqiao Road. No matter the street or the road, "Ma Xu" is used as the same "surname".

Simaqiao Road connects Chengdu Railway Freight East Station, Erxian Bridge and Chengdu University of Technology. There is a famous fruit wholesale market by the roadside. Nine times out of ten, the fresh fruit eaten by Chengdu people comes from here. A few years ago, I used to ride a motorcycle to do some wholesale. The prices of pears, navel oranges, grapes, grapefruit and so on are indeed much higher than the general market. Sima Qiao Street, on the other hand, is the passage to the north and the starting point of the old Sichuan-Shaanxi Highway. The important sign of the street is that chengdu-chongqing railway is across the highway, so people say that it is the earliest overpass in Chengdu, which formed the basic pattern today in the 1950s.

Hummer Bridge itself is the only place connecting Hummer Bridge Street, Hummer Bridge Road and Jiefang Road. Geographically, it is really the crossroads of Chuanshan Road at the north gate of Chengdu.

Romantic Sima Bridge in Qian Qiu

For me, I have been hearing that there is a bridge outside the north gate since I wore open-backed pants, but I don't know where it is. Once I walked to Yudai Bridge with my father, and I asked if it was Hummer Bridge. Father smiled: "Guawa! Hummer Bridge is still outside the north gate, on the way to Mopanshan. " But where is Mopan Mountain? I'm still at a loss.

It was not until the first grade of junior high school that the class teacher took the whole class to Mopanshan for a picnic that I finally had a chance to know Hummer Bridge. Go out of the north gate and cross the Second Ring Road, along the dusty Jiefang Road, and walk past the gates of grinding wheel factory, chain factory, tractor factory, cement factory and other factories. The teacher said this is Hummer Bridge. "Now! This is the Hummer Bridge? " I'm disappointed.

The river at the foot is not wide, but the bridge is narrow and old, which is far from the Wan Li Bridge and Jiuyan Bridge I knew when I was a child. However, the railway bridge above the distant highway opened our eyes. I have never seen a roaring train pass a car on the expressway. The head teacher is a person familiar with history. When he talks about the ins and outs of Hummer Bridge, he will talk endlessly. I first heard the story of Sima Xiangru and Zhuo Wenjun from my teacher.

Later, after studying and working, I read Sima Xiangru's stories many times, especially Historical Records and Biographies of Sima Xiangru, which made me have a clearer understanding of the relationship between this talented person and Xu Maqiao in Chengdu more than two thousand years ago.

Sima Bridge was originally named Shengxian Bridge, because the river under the bridge is called Shengxian Water, which is today's Shahe River. "Huayang National Records" said: "There are Sage Bridge and Fujian Bridge ten miles north of the city. When Sima Xiangru first entered Chang 'an, he wrote, "Don't take the high train to prepare the horse, you will get off.". Later generations took Sima Xiangru's inscription and renamed the bridge "Ma Xu". In fact, when Sima Xiangru returned from Sichuan for the first time, he didn't keep his promise, because he was a great scholar in Sichuan, a literary giant with coquettish Han Fu, and had an eternal romantic relationship with Zhuo Wenjun, and people deliberately ignored his previous difficulties.

Sima Xiangru, whose real name is Changqing, was good at reading and sword dancing when he was young. I changed my name because I admired Lin Xiangru. Sima Qian was partial to his family background, and devoted a lot of space in his biography, but left an intriguing text about Xiang Ru's love and marriage with Zhuo Wenjun. According to Records of Historical Records, after Sima Xiangru first arrived in Chang 'an, he was left out in the cold because of Han Jing's bad ci-fu, and he was only awarded the position of a martial artist. Xiangru had to resign because of illness. He met Zou Yang, Meicheng, Zhuang Ji and other literati, and dined together in Liang Xiaowang. But Xiao Wang died soon. He lost his backer and had to go back to his hometown. How dare he expect anything?

Lin Qiong county magistrate Wang Ji is like a good friend, although Xiang Ru temporarily lives under his door. But after all, it is not a long-term solution, so the two of them jointly staged a "double spring." The rich people in Lin Qiong don't know how old Sima Xiangru is. They want to curry favor with him. Therefore, Xiang Ru had the opportunity to enter the sun room of Zhuo Wang, the richest man in China, to attend the banquet. During the dinner, Zhuo's daughter was swept off her feet by a song "Feng Qiu Huang". Zhuo Wenjun finally eloped with the charming Sima Xiangru. After returning to Chengdu, Wen Jun found Xiangru a poor scholar. Except for a car, he was "isolated at home". In order to make a living, Wen Jun once again returned to Lin Qiong to open a small bar, and performed the story of "Wen Jun is like a washerwoman", which was passed down as an eternal beauty talk. Finally, the face of Zhuo Wangsun, who has deep pockets, can't stand it. Persuaded by his relatives and friends, he had to donate millions of dollars, hundreds of servants and a large number of accompanying clothes and belongings.

Sima Xiangru returned to his hometown with his beautiful wife as soon as possible. The article "Vanity of Children" made the emperor overjoyed and even sighed: "I can't be with this person at the same time!" Xiang Ru was finally called to Beijing again. He has enough confidence this time! Sure enough, a few years later, Sima Xiangru was appointed as a corps commander and went to southwest China twice. Back in Chengdu, it was not only Gao Ma, but also "the pioneer made Shu the satrap and the county magistrate hit the arrow". Chengdu people feel honored for this, and Zhuo Wangsun was treated with wine and meat, secretly glad that what happened in those days was not done. In the Tang Dynasty, Cen Can also wrote the poem "Climbing the Fairy Bridge": "It's not too late to climb the long bridge on the vertical column. Take a Hummer and come back from the bridge. "

However, in the Song Dynasty, the name of Shengxian Bridge was changed to Sima Bridge. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Jing Tang, the Chengdu magistrate, rebuilt a bridge on the Fuhe River. He thought it was the bridge inscribed by Sima Xiangru, so he renamed the rebuilt bridge Ma Xu Bridge and solemnly wrote an article about Ma Xu Bridge. Beijing made a joke, but it also left the names of two Hummer bridges in Chengdu.

Traffic jam fever 30 years ago

Today's Hummer Bridge is wide and tidy, and the treated banks of Shahe River are clear and winding, which is really romantic.

However, the Hummer Bridge decades ago did not have such an experience. Not only is the road narrow, but the mud on the side of the road covers the back of the feet, and it is accidentally inserted into the mud in rainy days. Cars pass by on a sunny day, all covered with dust.

The most unforgettable memory of Hummer Bridge is the traffic jam. There were no private cars more than 30 years ago, so it should not be congested, but Hummer Bridge is an exception. Trucks and buses entering and leaving the city are usually two or three miles long. Once we came back from "learning agriculture" in Xindu, and we couldn't walk when we got to the General Monument. I heard the Hummer bridge was blocked. At that time, students usually traveled by truck. On that day, the driver forgot to put on the tarpaulin, and it rained heavily on purpose, so there was no place to shelter from the rain along the road. Dozens of students stood in the carriage and were caught in the rain for two hours. All of them were soaked to the skin. The car finally slowly drove to Hummer Bridge. Looking at the muddy Shahe water under the bridge, a classmate suddenly said, "I blew up the bridge with a bag of explosives, so everyone is more comfortable today!" " Originally, this was a one-liner remark, but it exploded at that time. As soon as the voice fell, it was immediately attacked by thousands of shells: "Your baby's thoughts are too reactionary!" Fortunately, this classmate, Zheng Miao, was severely criticized by the director and told him to go back to his own place to dig up the ideological roots, so forget it.

Anyone who crosses the bridge has been caught in a traffic jam. Not long ago, I read a novel written by a writer friend, which also wrote this point. I talked to him about the changes in Hummer Bridge today, and he talked about the past: "Oh dear! When I was working in Qingbaijiang, I went back to the city every week to block up the ashes I had eaten at Hummer Bridge. Go home and wash your face, your nostrils are black ... "

Sima Bridge was so crowded earlier because it is the starting point of Sichuan-Shaanxi Highway, the only land passage to the north, and of course the only way to enter Chengdu from north to south. The 18th Corps of North China Field Army led by He Long entered the city from here on 1950, so the road on the south side of Sima Bridge is still called Jiefang Road. It was not until the 1980s that the road from Hummer Bridge out of the city was widened and turned into a "main road", and the Chengdu-Mianyang Expressway was built nearby, and the traffic flow of Hummer Bridge was finally eased.

In fact, I listened to my classmates' wisecracks in those years. Every time I passed the Hummer Bridge, I always thought that if the bridge really broke, the north gate of Chengdu would probably be blocked. I didn't expect this ridiculous idea to pass, and it was actually confirmed in ancient books. In ancient times, Sima Bridge not only had romantic legends, but also interpreted a life-and-death story. Because it used to be a battleground for military strategists.

The smoke of war is immortal water.

According to the Book of Changes, Sima Bridge is the birth gate of Chengdu, and geographically, it is also the traffic artery leading to the north. Therefore, in the era of cold weapons, Hummer Bridge area has always been a strategic place to attack and defend Chengdu.

In the 11th year of Xian Tong, Tang Yizong, in 870 AD, Nanzhao troops attacked Chengdu, first occupying the Sage Bridge outside the north gate, and then besieged the city on all sides. The Tang army guarding the city poured rolling stones and boiling oil at the gates, which weakened the siege momentum of enemy soldiers. At the same time, the commander of the garrison in the city took advantage of the enemy's panic and suddenly opened the door with a death squad to meet the enemy, eventually repelling the Nanzhao army that besieged the city. But the main roads outside the city, including Sima Bridge, are still under the control of Nanzhao Army. Not long after, Nanzhao Army pulled down the bamboo fence of the residential building outside the city, put it on the soldiers' heads and attacked the city again. This time, the city guards poured molten iron at the city gate, which caused Nanzhao soldiers to retreat and suffered heavy losses. After that, Tang Jun reinforcements arrived, pursued the defenders, recovered the line of the Sage Bridge, firmly controlled this strategic artery, and avoided the fall of Chengdu.

It was this battle of the Sage Bridge that made Tang officials realize the weakness of Chengdu's city defense. After Yan Qingfu, the envoy of Dongchuan, came to Chengdu, he immediately made a series of defensive arrangements: building city walls, digging moats, opening more gates, and setting up tribulus antlers outside the city. Seeing that the Yugoslav capital of Chengdu has been fortified, Nanzhao Army did not dare to act rashly, but it still harbored evil intentions. In the first year of Tang Xizong Ganfu, that is, in 874 AD, the soldiers were transferred to Chengdu again. Fortunately, Gao Pian, the old rival of Nanzhao Army, transferred our time in time, which stopped Nanzhao Army that had attacked Ya 'an. In order to prevent the Nanzhao army from coming again, Gao Pian immediately built a 25-mile Luocheng in Chengdu, enclosing the original small city and sub-cities; At the same time, a new river was opened on the Yongjiang River outside the city, which diverted the original flow of Yongjiang River to the north and then flowed to the south. Since then, the city defense of Chengdu has been consolidated, forming a pattern of "two rivers holding the city" for more than 1000 years.

There is an additional barrier at the north gate of Chengdu, which actually highlights the military status of the Sage Bridge. In all previous attacks and looting campaigns in Chengdu, it was the place where military strategists deployed. In the third year of Northern Xianping, in the year of 1000, Lei led the loyalist troops to quell the rebellion in Wang Jun and won several battles in the area of Shengxianqiao. Both sides regard the Sage Bridge as a strategic location for life and death. Since then, the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, including Zhang's Great Western Army, all fought in the area of Shengxianqiao.

Dengxian Bridge is not only a strategic place, but also a place for incompetent people. Both the former Shu and the latter Shu, which were separated from Sichuan in history, surrendered their national subjugation and surrendered their political power here. In the first year of Xiankang in the former Shu Dynasty, in 925 AD, Wang Yan, the second generation emperor of the former Shu Dynasty, led hundreds of civil and military officials to carry the coffin, covered Dai Xiao with hemp, barefoot, tied his head with a straw rope, brought a decree, led cattle and sheep, and cried to Tang Jun all the way to surrender. The pre-Shu regime, which broke away from Sichuan 18, was finally destroyed by the post-Tang Zhuang Sect. Coincidentally, 40 years later, in the third year of Kangdi in northern Song Taizu, that is, in the twenty-eighth year of Zheng Guang in Houshu, in 965 AD, Meng Taste once again staged the farce performed by Wang Yan at Shengxian Bridge. After Shu finally died in DaSong.

Shengxian Bridge has long been renamed Sima Bridge, and the smoke of war over it has long dissipated in the historical sky. As a famous historical and cultural bridge in Chengdu, only the romantic stories it carries still exude charming atmosphere.