Bailiang Bridge

Bailiang bridge, located in Ningfeng Township, Yinxian County, Ningbo, is a bridge across the Yinjiang river. It was built in the first year of Yuanfeng of Song Dynasty (1073). The bridge is made of 124 large pieces of wood, so it is named. The total length is 77.4 meters, with six piers and seven holes, and the bridge deck is built with Wawu bridge corridor. The pier is made of rectangular big Bluestone, the bridge is made of log bent with a diameter of 40-45 cm, and the deck is made of chestnut board with a thickness of 5 cm. On the bridge, there are 23 rows of tile roofed houses, with passageways in the middle, corridors on both sides, and benches between the pillars for pedestrians to rest. The beams of the bridge house are exquisitely carved.

Bailiang Bridge

Bailiang bridge, built in the Northern Song Dynasty, has a history of 925 years. It straddles the Yinjiang river. It is the only longest ancient corridor bridge with stone piers and wooden beams in Zhejiang Province. It has a grand momentum, complete structure and a long history. It is a rare example of studying ancient bridges. It is known as "the first corridor bridge in eastern Zhejiang". The bridge is 77.4 meters long and 6.18 meters wide, with six piers and seven holes. Because the bridge has 124 big fir erected, it is called "Bailiang bridge".

geographical position

When you see the Bailiang corridor bridge, you are excited about this magnificent and well protected ancient bridge. The corridor bridge is like a black dragon, which runs across the middle reaches of the Yinjiang River, that is, Bailiang village and Huijiang village, Dongqiao Township, Yinxian county.

Yinjiang River, known as Xiaoxi river or Lanjiang River in ancient times, starts from Yinjiang Town, which is called "Siming Suoyue" and flows to Sanjiangkou after connecting with Fenghua river through Bailiang corridor bridge. Yinjiang town used to be the county government of? County in ancient Ming Dynasty, which governed Cixi, Yinxian, Fenghua, Xiangshan and wengshan (Dinghai).

Historical evolution

Yinjiang River, known as Xiaoxi river or Lanjiang River in ancient times, starts from Yinjiang Town, which is called "Siming Suoyue" and flows to Sanjiangkou after connecting with Fenghua river through Bailiang corridor bridge. From the fourth year of Long'an in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 400) to the first year of Changqing in the Tang Dynasty (AD 821), Yinjiang town used to be the county government of ancient Mingzhou County in 421 years' history, governing Cixi, Yinxian, Fenghua, Xiangshan and wengshan (Dinghai).

Tang dynasty

In 705, the first year of Shenlong in Tang Dynasty, a "floating beam" with more than ten boats was built in Huijiang village on the Bank of xiaoxijiang river. The floating bridge became an important channel connecting the ancient county and southern Zhejiang. The Shengshou temple on the north side of the bridge became a place for traveling and sleeping. Up to now, the Zunsheng toronic Scripture block engraved in the fourth year of Huichang in Tang Dynasty (AD 833) in Shengshou temple is still preserved in Nanjing In the Tianyi Pavilion of Boshi City, a stone Buddha statue on the top of a scripture building is preserved in the village.

Song dynasty

But the "floating beam" was often destroyed by floods in 250 years. In the middle of Xining period (around 1063), Zhu Wenwei (Zhu Jiatai Gong) exclusively invested in the construction of the bridge, but the bridge was not completed. Zhu Jiatai Gong died. Then his son Zhu yongmi built a six pier seven hole wooden beam bridge with a length of 100 meters, a width of 7 meters, and a height of 10 meters in the first year of Yuanfeng (1078 A.D.) The bridge tunnel uses 16 wooden beams to synthesize Bailiang bridge, so the name of the bridge is Bailiang bridge. The bridge deck is paved with chestnut planks. There are 27 tile roofed corridor houses on the bridge. The top of the corridor house is supported by 132 corridor columns. There are dozens of benches in the left and right compartments for tourists to rest. In the middle of the bridge corridor is the passage for pedestrians and rickshaws. On the bridge, you can see Siming peaks in the West and rivers and fields in the East. The Bailiang corridor bridge, because the wooden beams are protected by the roof and the two ends of the huge stone piers are made into the shape of pointed boats, has effectively resisted hundreds of floods and tides. In the early days of Jianyan (1127) of the Southern Song Dynasty, Jin soldiers invaded and destroyed Qiaobei. After 18 years, the bridge was rebuilt by Zhu Shize, the grandson of Zhu Wenwei, in the 15th year of Shaoxing (1145). Since then, three generations of Zhu's grandsons and grandsons have built and rebuilt the bridge twice. Later, it was rebuilt twice in 1365 and 1472. During the years of Jiaqing, Xianfeng and Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, Bailiang corridor bridge was repaired many times, and it always shouldered the mission of transporting travelers from north to south.

modern

After entering this century, due to the connection between Yuanzhen bridge and Bailiang corridor bridge in the lower reaches of Yinjiang River, the former "Yinfeng road" of Bailiang corridor bridge obviously lost its important position. She was almost ignored by people except the villagers beside the bridge.

In the 1980s, the largest corridor bridge in eastern Zhejiang was listed as a cultural relic protection and became a hot spot in the study of ancient bridge technology and tourism development. After many repairs, the Bailiang corridor bridge has regained its vitality. At present, it is 77 meters long and 8 meters wide. There are 124 wooden beams under the bridge, but it is still called "Bailiang". Someone has compiled an interesting couplet with Qita temple in the urban area: "Qita temple, seven towers, tower facing heaven and tower facing heaven; Bailiang bridge, Baigen beam, beam reflecting water and beam reflecting water".

historical value

Due to the rapidity of the Yinjiang River, the floating bridge is often destroyed by floods. In 1078 A.D., under the leadership of Zhu Wenwei and his son, the local people, a hundred meter long building was built. Shen Mingchen, a poet of the Ming Dynasty, wrote a poem here: "where does the sky go when it looks back, and the setting sun is thousands of peaks, and the rising is not lonely.".

There are two problems in the construction of Bailiang bridge, one is large span, the other is rapid flow. The water under Bailiang bridge comes from the sea on one side and the lake on the other. The two rivers meet and surge all the year round. Therefore, both ends of the huge stone piers of Bailiang bridge are made into a sharp boat shape, which is the water diversion point, effectively resisting hundreds of floods and river tides. Seventy years later, in the fourteenth year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty, Bailiang corridor bridge was destroyed by Jin soldiers. A year later, the villagers rebuilt their homes. Zhu Shimi, a descendant of the Zhu family, and the villagers rebuilt the Bailiang corridor bridge as it was. Later, in 1365 and 1472, Bailiang bridge was rebuilt twice. During the years of Jiaqing, Xianfeng and Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, after many repairs, Bailiang corridor bridge always shouldered the mission of transporting travelers from north to south. This ancient bridge built on the river with flood can survive for thousands of years without being destroyed, which has a great relationship with the protection of Bailiang village and Huijiang village from generation to generation. Many people from Bailiang village and Huijiang village actively raised funds for the reconstruction of Bailiang bridge. The stone tablet standing in the south of the bridge faithfully recorded all this.

Address: Ningfeng Township, bailianqiao village, Yinzhou District, Ningbo City

Longitude: 121.39251

Latitude: 29.761751

Chinese PinYin : Bai Liang Qiao