Ninghai Bridge

Ninghai bridge is located at the junction of Hanjiang River and Huangshi in Putian City, at the estuary of the lower reaches of Mulan River. It was called Ninghai ferry in ancient times, so it is named Ninghai bridge. Ninghai bridge was first built in the second year of Yuan Dynasty (1334). Because of the confluence of rivers and seas here, the project was very arduous. From the Yuan Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, six buildings were built and six buildings were destroyed in more than 300 years. It took 15 years for the seventh construction in 1732. Is a potential such as rainbow, flying over the big stone bridge, magnificent. Every year on the Dragon Boat Festival, standing on the bridge at dawn to watch the sunrise is a spectacle; the rising sun is very similar to a large round mirror, emitting thousands of golden lights; under the bridge, the waves are sparkling, just like the Golden Dragon chasing the waves, which is very spectacular, so it has the nickname of "Ninghai early day" and is one of the "24 scenes of Putian". The bridge is now a key cultural relics protection unit at the provincial level.

Ninghai Bridge

Ninghai bridge is located at the junction of Hanjiang River and Huangshi River in Putian City, Fujian Province, at the downstream of Mulan River. It was called ninghaidu in ancient times, so it is named Ninghai bridge. Ninghai bridge was first built in the second year of Yuan Dynasty (1334). Due to the confluence of rivers and seas, the bridge construction project was very arduous. From Yuan Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, six bridges were built and six bridges were destroyed in more than 300 years. It took 15 years for the seventh construction in 1732. It is a big stone bridge with a potential like a rainbow. Every year on the Dragon Boat Festival, standing on the bridge at dawn to watch the sunrise is a marvelous sight: the rising sun is like a big round mirror, emitting thousands of golden lights; the shimmering waves under the bridge are just like the Golden Dragon chasing the waves, which is very spectacular. Therefore, it has the nickname of "Ninghai early day" and is one of the "24 scenes of Putian". The bridge is now a key cultural relics protection unit at the provincial level. In 1983, a cement deck was added to the bridge, from which the highway from Xiuyu port to Hanjiang passed, connecting with Fuzhou Xiamen highway.

Ninghaiqiao was announced as a national key cultural relics protection unit in 2013.

Structure introduction

Ninghai bridge is located in Putian City, Fujian Province, about 15 kilometers away from the downtown Mulan River Estuary, north-south direction. In the lower reaches of Mulan River, Xinghua plain is divided into South and North oceans, Ninghai (now qiaodou village, Huangshi Town, Licheng District) on the south bank and Hanjiang (now Zhenqian village, Baitang Town, Hanjiang District) on the north bank.

Because of the confluence of rivers and seas, the tide is big, the current is fast, and the sediment is rolling, the bridge construction project is very arduous. From the second year of Yuantong (1334) in Yuan Dynasty to the 19th year of Kangxi (1680) in Qing Dynasty, LiuDi was built. The existing bridge took 15 years to build from 1732. It is 225.7 meters long and 5.8 meters wide, with 14 ship shaped stone piers, 10 meters high. The net span between the two piers is 8.8:11.8 meters, which is larger than that of the famous Wuli bridge and Luoyang Bridge in China. The bridge deck is made of 75 13 meters long, 1.2 meters wide and 1.2 meters thick boulders, each of which is engraved with the donor's name and amount. There are stone railings on both sides of the bridge deck, and stone lion reliefs with different postures and concise lines are carved on the pillar heads. At both ends of the bridge, there were four stone statues of the general with helmets and long swords standing about 3 meters high. Now only two of them are carved in the Ming Dynasty.

Watching the sunrise from the bridge, thousands of golden lights are thrown directly under the bridge, just like the Golden Dragon chasing the waves. It is a marvelous sight, so it has the reputation of "the first day of Ninghai". The bridge is now a key cultural relics protection unit at the provincial level.

In 1983, a cement deck was added to the bridge, from which the highway from Xiuyu port to Hanjiang passed, connecting with Fuzhou Xiamen highway. The construction of Ninghai new bridge has officially started to protect the ancient bridge of Yuan Dynasty from damage.

Ninghai churi

The bridges along the coast of Fujian Province occupy a high position in the history of ancient Chinese architecture, and have been known as "bridges in the middle of Fujian Province are the best in the world" since ancient times. Ninghai bridge because of its complex hydrology and geology, huge engineering, high construction quality, has always been a rare physical data of bridge construction in our province.

Chen Jingbang, a native of the Ming Dynasty, described the bridge as "a voice crossing the river and the sea, and a breath of the tide". With the completion of Ninghai bridge, people's insurmountable Tianlong becomes a thoroughfare. Convenient transportation not only promotes the cultural development and economic prosperity on both sides of the Strait, but also creates a magnificent tourism landscape. In the past, adults taught children to "read their mind when walking on the bridge" so as not to forget the achievements of their predecessors. Later it became a common saying. Putian proverbs that are directly related to Ninghai bridge are "Pi is thicker than Qiaohe stone"; "water like Qiaohe flows in soundless but flows out loud". The former describes someone as shameless, while the latter describes someone as fond of taking advantage. The former shows the weight of qiaoshi in people's mind. The latter is the result of careful observation of the tidal phenomena of Ninghai bridge, where the river meets the sea. On a sunny morning, when you stand on Ninghai bridge and look east at the sea, you can't see the sun rising from the East China Sea, and the sea surface of impromptu Huawan rises. Because the sea water under Ninghai bridge flows to the seaside village, it flows north into Sanjiangkou, and then eastward, so you can't see the sun rising from the sea when you stand on Ninghai bridge, so it's called "early day of Ninghai" instead of watching the sunrise in Ninghai, During the Dragon Boat Festival, the sun shines directly on the sea surface downstream of Ninghai bridge, which will not be covered by the seawalls on both sides. During this period, the sun shines on the water of Shanghai and all the water is reflected on the bridge. At the same time, the tide ebbs around the fifth day of the lunar new year, and the whole sea surface of Ninghai bridge is rolled like ten thousand golden dragons, In the past, I used to think that only the Dragon Boat Festival could see the "early days of Ninghai", but often the Dragon Boat Festival could not see the "early days of Ninghai" without a sunny day. Later, I learned that in fact, we can see the wonder of "Ninghai early day" a few days before and after the Dragon Boat Festival. This is one of the 24 scenes in Putian. There is a poem praising the former: "the heavenly Rooster urges the tide to ebb, surging to shake the bridge stone, breaking the door to the golden wheel, washing out the sea and sky.".

Historical legend

"The stone is thicker than the bridge." This is an oral language of people in Hanjiang area, which satirizes people's thick skinned and shameless. This is a well-known saying. But the legend of ninghaiqiao is not necessarily well known.

Ninghai bridge is located between Zhenqian village, Hanjiang District, Putian City and qiaodou village, Huangshi Town, Putian County. The north bank was named Ninghai town in ancient times, so the bridge was named Ninghai bridge. Ninghai bridge is located at the mouth of Mulan River. Mulan River divides Xinghua plain into the north and South oceans, and Ninghai bridge is the main traffic route between the two oceans.

Before the bridge was built, ninghaiqiao was ninghaidu. People had to take ferries to travel, which was very inconvenient and dangerous. According to legend, there is a carp in the sea, which often makes waves and turns over. In the second year of Yuan Dynasty (1334 AD), one day, the monk of Guishan temple came to this ferry to go to Nanyang to make love. Temple monk Yuepu witnessed the tragic scene of the boat capsizing and death. His two palms were in one, and he uttered the words of "Amitabha Buddha". His heart of compassion was suddenly aroused, and he was determined to raise money to build the bridge.

It's not a day's work to build a bridge across the sea. In order to prepare for the work, temple monk Yuepu raised money while building Jixiang temple on the North Bank of ninghaidu as the lower courtyard of Guishan temple. As the foothold of building cross sea bridge, there is a saying in Hanjiang River: "without ninghaidu bridge, there is Jixiang temple first". That is to say.

At the beginning of the project, the public cheered and actively participated in the project, and the project progressed smoothly, with pier by pier standing in the sea. In the face of the enthusiasm of the public scene, see the rapid progress, temple

Seng Yuepu was glad that the people of Qiaocheng didn't have to suffer from crossing the sea. From the second year of Yuantong (1334 AD) to the tenth year of Zhengshi (1350 AD), the collection and construction of the spring and Autumn period lasted for 16 years. When the bridge is about to be successfully completed, one day, with dark clouds in the sky, strong winds and waves on the sea, and thunderstorms, the efforts of the monk Yuepu and the people will be destroyed. There is a folk legend that it was caused by carp in the sea. Since then, pedestrians still rely on ferries.

The monk Yuepu was not discouraged. He mobilized all the monks to travel all over Fujian to continue to raise funds and sum up the experience and lessons. He personally went to Quanzhou Kaiyuan Temple to consult the host, visited Luoyang Bridge, and learned from the experience of Luoyang Bridge

Construction method. The second time, the monk Yuepu decided to move the bridge site backward, selected a better geology, and made the pier into a ship shape, which could withstand the impact of the rising tide and ebb tide. This project is very arduous. First, it costs a lot of money, second, it takes a long time. Therefore, it is inevitable that some undesirable things will happen: some people steal materials in the bridge building workshop, some monks go out to raise money and do not want to escape. Temple monk Yuepu patiently and carefully enlightened everyone. He used his fingers as a pen and sea water as ink to write couplets on the stone pillars of Jixiang temple

Give me things, and steal them,

If you enter our family, you will not be poor. If you leave our family, you will not be rich.

Strange to say, the characters of monk Yuepu are just like those carved on stone pillars by a stonecutter. People and monks are surprised when they enter the stone. Since then, no one dares to steal the materials from the construction site, and no one dares to leave Jixiang temple.

After ten years of painstaking efforts, the bridge is finally almost completed. One day, carp essence to make waves, put up the tail, want to sweep away the pier. When the carp essence is in trouble, Guanyin Bodhisattva is now in the air, subduing the carp essence. In order to commemorate the help of Guanyin Bodhisattva, the people built a Guanyin Pavilion. In the pavilion, Guanyin did not hold a nectar bottle and sprinkle the nectar on the earth, but carried a red carp in his hand to put out the evil, and the bridge was soon built.

This 225 meter long, 5.8 meter wide and 10 meter high stone bridge is a very arduous project. The 75 huge stone beams are erected on 14 ship shaped piers, which are as magnificent as the Changhong lying wave. The net span between the two piers of this stone beam bridge is 8.8 meters to 11.8 meters, which is larger than that of the famous Wuli bridge and Luoyang Bridge in our province, and maintains the style of bridge architecture in Song Dynasty.

After the completion of Ninghai bridge, it became the 24 scenic spots in Putian

Chinese PinYin : Ning Hai Qiao