Red Army Bridge

Red Army Bridge

There is a well preserved and chic ancient corridor bridge in Changkou, Pingnan Qiang Township, Pingwu County. The bridge is called Songqiao, also known as Hongjun bridge. It was built in 1857, the seventh year of Xianfeng in Qing Dynasty. It has a history of more than 100 years and is still playing a role. The Red Army Bridge is a full wood structure, about 10 meters long and 3 meters wide. It is about 8 meters high from the river. It crosses the river in the air and is majestic. In the middle of the corridor, there are two rows of columns, showing the flavor of simplicity. Walking on the bridge is very smooth. The ingenious use of logs and planks makes the bridge simple and powerful. From a distance, it looks like a castle in the air, which makes people marvel. The Red Army bridge has high research value in both the architectural features and the historical details.

allusion

It is said that long ago, there was no bridge in Pingnan, and people on both sides of the river could only wade through it. On a sunny day, a huge pine tree suddenly fell down on the stone piers on both sides of the river. It was said by the masses that this was a gift from heaven to the Qiang people. God foretold the place where the bridge would be built for the masses. The villagers added a lot of logs on both sides of the pine, fixed them, and laid Bridge Slabs on the bridge. In order to avoid the sun and rain and facilitate the masses to enjoy the cool and shelter from the rain, the roof of the building was covered with small green tiles. Because the bridge is made of pine, it is called Pine Bridge. According to the local elderly people, this is just a legend. It should be that in the Qing Dynasty, the local people raised funds to build the bridge under the guidance of the government due to the inconvenience of the travel and transportation of the Qiang people.

The shape of the corridor bridge is peculiar

The ancient corridor bridge is of all wood structure, lying on the Songqiao River, connecting the township yard at one end and leading to the "Sansheng Temple" opposite at the other. Standing on the bridge deck, although the sun is scorching, the breeze is gentle and the green branches brush the face, which is very pleasant.

The bridge is a typical wind and rain covered corridor bridge with a single span of 17 meters and a distance of 16 meters from the water. The structure of the corridor bridge is quite different from the usual one. Qingshuichun wooden frame is 24.15 meters long, with three rooms in the middle and two rooms at both ends, with a total of seven rooms; it is 3.4 meters wide, 2 meters in pedestrian passageway and 0.7 meters in rest corridor on both sides; there are 1.2 meters high wooden railings on both sides. The roof is made of traditional small green tiles with no protective layer. The most peculiar is the bridge, which consists of two rows of six clear water Toons with a diameter of 400-600mm, which are arranged equidistant. The rectangular frame is made of hardwood, and 12 Toons are firmly fixed. At both ends of the beam, six logs with a diameter of 160 mm are used to support the bridge at an angle of 30 degrees.

According to Li Sheng, an expert on ancient architecture and deputy research librarian of Mianyang Municipal Bureau of cultural relics, this peculiar structure is called simply supported wooden beam structure, which is very rare in Northwest Sichuan.

Uncover the mystery of a century

When was the rare ancient corridor bridge built? In Pingnan Qiang Township, there are different opinions. Some people who have seen the inscriptions recall that the ancient corridor bridge was built in the fourth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty; others believe that it was the year of Guihai from the inscription of Zhongliang removed during the "Cultural Revolution"; Liu Shaozhen, 82, of Xinmin village, remembers the 24th year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty Everyone says that he is the most correct, but no one can give strong evidence.

In order to solve the historical mystery, the author searched among the remaining stone tablets of Sansheng temple, and then found the broken stele of "immortality of merit" at the corner of the stage on the second floor, that is, the inscription of donating money to build the ancient bridge. According to the inscription, "good taste is made by people, and good fortune is made by heaven. But Songqiao is a historic site. In the seventh year of the reign of emperor, the river is steep and the former achievements are destroyed, and pedestrians are in danger. Donate money to the temple to build and repair the bridgehead and to train additional workers November 14, the ninth year of Xianfeng in Qing Dynasty. " According to the inscriptions, Songqiao (corridor bridge) has existed since ancient times. Due to the flood, the monks of Sansheng Temple proposed to donate money to build a new corridor bridge. The inscription clearly tells people that the time of donating money to build the bridge was 1859 A.D., 148 years ago.

Witness of history

The ancient corridor bridge witnessed a little-known history. As the inscription says, "Pine Bridge is a historic site", there was a corridor bridge before the ancient corridor bridge was built. For thousands of years, the corridor bridge not only facilitates the pedestrians on both sides of the Strait, but also undertakes the important task of connecting Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, witnessing countless stories of joys and sorrows.

In April 1935, the 30th army of the Fourth Front Army of the Chinese workers' and peasants' Red Army came to Pingnan and established the first Soviet Red regime in Pingwu County - the Soviet Pingnan County Committee. Before the Red Army entered Pingwu, local gentry and reactionaries wantonly created and spread rumors, slandered the Red Army and deceived the masses. In order to eliminate the adverse influence of the reactionaries on the Red Army, and because the bridge was in disrepair and seriously damaged, Li Tianhuan, director of the Political Department of the Red Army's 30th army, sent Red Army soldiers to repair the bridge: add tiles to cover the leaking places, reinforce the piers, and replace the broken wooden boards with new ones. This made the red army win the trust of the masses, which laid the foundation for leading the masses to overthrow the landlords and gentry, divide the land equally and establish the Soviet government. The Red Army also wrote propaganda slogans on the wooden boards and columns of the bridge, which are still available today. After that, people changed Songqiao to Hongjun bridge.

The Red Army Bridge is still playing a role, closely linked with the Qiang people's life. According to the local people, since their ancestors, they have been crossing the river by the Red Army Bridge. All necessities for production and life, transporting grain and selling livestock have to pass through the Red Army Bridge. They have been in love with the Red Army Bridge for generations. In 2006, Pingnan Qiang township government built a new bridge not far from the Red Army Bridge, which lightened the load of the Red Army Bridge and effectively protected the hundred year old bridge.

After a hundred years of wind and rain, the Red Army bridge stands on the Pingnan River, spanning a long time and witnessing the changes of Qiang township. The leaders of Pingnan Qiang Township said that in the future, the ancient bridge, which integrates architecture, history and red culture, will be better protected to become an important tourist attraction of the red Qiang township

Address: Yajiang County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province

Longitude: 100.970639

Latitude: 30.20636

Chinese PinYin : Hong Jun1 Qiao