Zhuxi Bridge

Zhuxi Bridge

Zhuxi bridge is also called Zhuxi bridge

It is located in Houxi Town, Jimei District, Xiamen City, Fujian Province. It was first built in the Daguan period of the Northern Song Dynasty (1107-1110 A.D.) and rebuilt in the Qiandao period of the Southern Song Dynasty (1165-1173 A.D.)

. The bridge has a total length of 73 meters, a deck width of 2.60 meters, 8 piers and 9 Bridge openings. The pier is 5.20 meters long and 2.50 meters wide at the top. It is bow shaped towards the upstream direction. There are nine straight stone slabs on the pier, five in each section, and 45 in total (5 missing). Each slab is about 5 meters long, 0.5 meters wide and 0.35 meters thick

It is the longest existing stone bridge of Song Dynasty in Xiamen

It is also one of the most complete stone bridges of Song Dynasty preserved in Southern Fujian

. Zhuxi bridge is a municipal cultural relic protection unit.

Basic information

Zhuxi bridge is located in the west of Houxi town and 500 meters to the west of Bantou bridge in the second farm of the city

It is one of the four ancient bridges protected by cultural relics in Xiamen. It is also the oldest existing ancient bridge in Xiamen. It is an ancient post road connecting Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in Tong'an. In the Song Dynasty, with the development of social economy in Fujian, the ancient post roads in Tong'an County gradually formed.

According to Xiamen city records, Zhuxi bridge was first built in the Daguan period of the Northern Song Dynasty (1107-1110 A.D.) and rebuilt in the Qiandao period of the Southern Song Dynasty (1165-1173 A.D.), with a total length of 73 meters and a width of 2.6 meters. There are 8 stone piers. The bridge deck is divided into nine sections with 45 granite slabs, each 5 meters long.

Zhuxi bridge has eight ship shaped piers, which form nine bridge openings. Large stone slabs are laid on the piers, each of which weighs about 4500 Jin. Such a huge and heavy stone bar placed on the pier, we can imagine the hardships of the project. It is said that when the bridge was built, the workers piled dams downstream of the piers to store water and make the water level full of the piers. Then the huge stone slabs are transported to the piers by boat or raft, and the water level is lowered to make the stone slabs accurately cross the piers.

According to Tong'an county annals, Zhuxi bridge is located in rendeli, 35 Li to the west of the city. (guest records of Longqing): the source of the stream is from baitongcen, and the valley is stung by snakes and mangas. Therefore, the water is black and the people involved are suffering from miasma. In Song Dynasty, Xu Cheng, a native of the central city of Daguan, built a stone bridge and then collapsed. In Qian Dynasty, sun Yingchang and Taoist FA Chang rebuilt it. It is also recorded in Fujian Tongzhi.

The beautiful scenery of the mountains and rivers here once made the literati forget to return. In the Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi, who was the chief bookkeeper in Tong'an, visited Zhuxi. He liked Zhuxi very much and wrote a poem about Zhuxi, describing the beautiful natural landscape along Zhuxi.

The poem Zhuxi written by Deng Zishi in Yuan Dynasty says: the pine shoots in sunshine stay dry in the rain, and the wind in autumn cut them into light cold. The lack of green forest is good in Yunshan mountain. Let's take a closer look at Xizai.

Due to the erosion of heavy rain for many years, Zhuxi bridge was damaged. In 2006, the relevant departments carried out protective repair. Although we found some changes in the old photos, the historical charm of the old photos is still clear.

Related Legends

Guanyin Dianhua Bridge

In ancient times, the Zhuxi River was deep and swift. During the flood season, the water overflowed the fertile fields, and the boa constrictor stung. One day, a lady with extraordinary appearance and elegant temperament passed by and saw the torrent of the stream running in front of her eyes. She raised her eyebrows and raised her voice to the attendant, saying, "how can there be no bridge if there is a stream blocking the road?" The local government immediately dispatched people to build the bridge. As for the identity of this woman, no one knows. Some speculate that she is a noble in the Imperial Palace, while others say that she is the incarnation of Guanyin. In a word, the Yingen hall, which was built at the end of the bridge in the old days, is more or less related to her, so the Yingen hall is also called Guanyin temple.

Old beggar chants a curse on the bridge

It is said that when the workers built the bridge, there came an old beggar with unkempt face and ragged clothes in the distance. The workers made fun of him. When the old beggar was rude, he didn't look angry. Instead, he narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "fall, fall." After his recitation, the pier fell to one side slowly. When they saw this, they were surprised. Knowing that they had met an expert, they asked him not to recite any more incantations and to serve them well. So the old beggar went on with what he said just now and said, "if you want to pour, it's not so good to rebuild." Strange to say, the inclined stone slab solidified immediately, and it is still very strong.

Address: next to Guanyin temple, 416 County Road

Longitude: 118.03390733507

Latitude: 24.658167046441

Chinese PinYin : Zhu Xi Qiao