Qinglong Bridge

Qinglong Bridge

Qinglong bridge is 60 kilometers to the east of Fengqing County. It was first built in the 26th year of Qianlong (1761) of the Qing Dynasty, rebuilt twice in the 19th year of Jiaqing (1814) and the 24th year of Daoguang (1844), and then repaired many times. The bridge is 15.64 meters high from the river. The bridge is made up of 16 iron cables, covered with wooden boards. There are 5 kiosks at both ends, and several cliff inscriptions on the bank. Qinglong bridge is an important passage in Southwest Yunnan and the only ancient bridge on Lancang River.

Basic introduction

On the 4880 km Lancang River, there are countless bridges: sliding cable bridge, rattan bridge, bamboo bridge, iron cable bridge, steel cable suspension bridge and cement bridge - but Qinglong bridge is unique, unforgettable and irreplaceable. This is one of the oldest bridges on the Lancang River, which has been destroyed more than ten times and rebuilt more than ten times. It is the throat fortress of the famous ancient tea horse road in China's transportation history. For more than 200 years, it is the only way for the mainland to enter Lincang, Yunnan. Here, we have passed the world-famous celebrities and heroes, the endless stream of horse gangs, and the thousands of troops of the Anti Japanese expeditionary army. Every iron rope here has been bathed in the barrage of bullets, and every plank has been deeply imprinted with history. Therefore, it is also a bridge with great influence in history.

Historical evolution

During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the magistrate personally supervised the production

Fengqing, Yunnan Province, was known as shunning Prefecture in ancient times for its tea production. But because Fengqing is located in the hinterland of mountains, the traffic is blocked, and the Lancang River blocks the traffic with the mainland, Fengqing's tea is good, but it has been unable to be transported to the mainland. In 1761, Liu Jing, governor of shunning County, personally supervised the construction of Qinglong bridge on the Lancang River, 50km to the east of Fengqing County. Qinglong bridge is 93.52 meters long, 3 meters wide, and 15.64 meters high from the river. The bridge body is composed of 16 strands of iron cables, showing three wonders of ancient Chinese bridge construction. First, Qinglong bridge has a unique way to fix the iron cables. First, it chisels a U-shaped "Niubi" cave on the river cliff, and then it passes through the hole with 16 strands of iron cables forged by blacksmiths, and then it is held up by stone piers to cross the river. This cave has a unique value in the history of bridge construction, which is the wonder of "ox nose cave".

Second, Qinglong bridge has 16 strands of iron cables, 14 strands below and 2 strands above, which are distributed on both sides. The river center of the whole bridge deck is high and the two ends are low. It looks like a flying rainbow, flying across both sides. This is the wonder of "flying rainbow of Gaoqiao bridge".

Third, there are corridors and towers at both ends of Qinglong bridge. The corridors and towers are connected, with white walls, green tiles and cornices. The corridors can be used for pedestrians to take shelter from the rain and overlook the scenery of Lancang River. The buildings can make soldiers stay and watch. And the post roads on both sides of the Strait are connected, the door of the building is closed at dusk and opened in the morning, and there is a tendency that one man will be the river and ten thousand people will not be able to open it. It becomes a kind of landscape of its own, which is the wonder of "qiaolou Jiangguan".

Qinglong bridge is not only exquisitely designed, unique in shape, superb in workmanship and firm in structure, but also 30 meters longer than the famous Jihong bridge, the largest cable bridge in Southwest China. In the Qing Dynasty, it became the first grand building of shunning Prefecture. Because of its huge project and dangerous deck, the magistrate Liu Jing named it "Qinglong bridge". In the local, there is such a story. It is said that when the bridge was built, master Cai dengran, the first stonecutter in Jianchuan, was invited. Master Cai dengran spent half a year to investigate the hydrological and geological conditions, but the bridge site has not been selected. One morning, the teacher Fu suddenly saw a beautiful morning mist lying on the narrowest and steepest surface of the Lancang River Gorge. He thought it was the will of heaven, so he decided to choose the bridge site here. When the bridge was built, holes were first dug in the cliffs on both sides, and then 16 strands of iron cables were used to go back and forth through the holes. It took five years to build the iron cables. In a labor when the tightrope is about to close, the old master's son falls into the rolling Lancang River. Just as he fell into the river, a thick fog suddenly rose on the river and enveloped him. Local people said that the bridge was built on the dragon vein, and a green dragon took away the old master's son. So Qinglong bridge got its name.

After the completion of Qinglong bridge across the north and south of Lancang River, it connects Jinma village in Lushi town and Zhengyi village in Xiaowan Town, and naturally connects Lincang and Dali. Since then, this bridge has become the only bridge from shunning prefecture to Xiaguan and Weishan in history, and the only way from shunning prefecture to Kunming. Since Qinglongqiao was built, it was guarded by soldiers all the year round. During the period of the Republic of China, at most one battalion was stationed.

A long wave leads the rhymer to bend down

Walking on the Qinglong bridge, the most exciting thing is not only the surging river at the foot, the confrontation between the two sides of the Strait, but also the poems and couplets left by hundreds of years of literati who came in droves from the steep Qinglong bridge. There are many poems and couplets on Qinglong bridge, which are rare among the bridges on Lancang River. On the bridge piers, on the bridge gates, on the stone walls tied by iron ropes, on the cliffs on both sides of the bridge, everywhere you can see, there are poems and couplets that are high and low, flying dragons and Phoenix, which make you forget to go back and infatuate. Li Yuyang, a poet of Dali in the Qing Dynasty, who is known as the "five sons of Kunhua", wrote a poem: "across the middle of the water, the Chuihong is a hundred feet long. The iron rope flies and the stone wall breaks. The waves are swift, the dragons roar, and the mountains are deep. Linliu by overlooking, the moat Zhuangya square.

Bi yingxiao wrote: "after the report of the eleventh autumn of Nanwei, Su and Qin had been fur by sable. Wen zizhui Sima wrote the poem, and Qi blocked the flow of the Yangtze River

Mei Zhengcai wrote: "where can the proud dragon escape here? A long wave will never rise. The Lord of heaven did not make the dragon fly away. He cut down the wall and built a prison. "

One of the most striking is the number of couplets which have been refreshed by later generations over and over with red lacquer. This is Zhang Hansheng's first couplet, and the second couplet is headed by Mao Jian, a poet from Jiangbei: "if you want to open eight formations, you can still be a fa Wolong if you row stones.". The whole payment couplet is neat, rigorous and self-contained.

Yang Guodong's couplet in central Hunan is regarded by many as the most brilliant couplet on the Qinglong bridge.

When I first saw the Qinglong bridge, what kind of emotion was surging in my heart? What kind of feelings? In this regard, we will always be outside the strangeness of each other, but those poems and Fu left on the bridge, after a hundred years of wind and rain, have not faded because of the passage of time, and still can flow into the hearts of many travelers like waves of the river.

Repeated destruction and construction witness the historical situation

In history, Qinglong bridge was destroyed by fire, storm or war. It was destroyed more than ten times, but it was destroyed and built repeatedly, which shows its important position in that year. According to historical records: in 1814, the Qinglong bridge was destroyed by fire and rebuilt by the then magistrate Huang Delian; in 1844, the Qinglong bridge was destroyed by fire again and restored by the magistrate Linde; in 1857, the Qinglong bridge was destroyed by war and 18 years later, that is, in 1875, the magistrate Chen Taikun ordered the people to raise money In 1887, the iron cables of Qinglong bridge suddenly broke off and fell into the river. The magistrate Xiao Fengyi and magistrate Hu zhengju led the scholars to donate money for the reconstruction. Since then, during the period of the Republic of China, the Qinglong bridge, which was destroyed repeatedly, has been rebuilt many times.

After the July 7th incident broke out in 1937, the Japanese invaders invaded China on a large scale. Only about a year and a half later, half of China fell into the clutches of the Japanese invaders. On September 28, 1938, the Japanese sent nine planes to bomb Kunming for the first time. On April 21, 1941, three Japanese warplanes flew over Qinglong bridge on the Lancang River and dropped 13 bombs in succession. Qinglong bridge is located on the ancient tea horse road, connecting Dali and Kunming to the north, Yunxian and Lincang to the south, Gengma and zhenkang to Myanmar. The Japanese aggressors hit the Qinglong bridge with sinister intentions. Fortunately, the bombing only destroyed more than ten pine trees on both sides of the river, 13 water columns of several feet high rose on the river, and the Qinglong bridge was not damaged at all. The Japanese did not give up. Later, they sent planes to bomb Qinglong bridge many times. Because of the steep peaks on both sides of Qinglong bridge and the dangerous terrain, the bridge is hidden deep in the folds of the mountains of Lancang River Gorge, so the enemy plane can't dive, and the plot never succeeds. At that time, 100000 Chinese troops defended the Nujiang River. Many of the grain, ammunition and military supplies were transported southward through Qinglong bridge. In the war of resistance against Japan, Qinglongqiao made great achievements. After the founding of the people's Republic of China, a highway bridge was built at wangjiedu, not far from the upstream of Qinglong bridge. Since then, the pedestrian of Qinglong bridge has been neglected and its historical mission has been completed. Only the nearby villagers walk across the river. However, in view of its unique and significant role in history, the government has repeatedly allocated funds to repair it.

To settle down at the bottom of the river forever

On October 25, 2004, Yunnan Xiaowan Hydropower Station, the landmark project of West to East power transmission, successfully intercepted the river one year ahead of schedule, which indicates that Xiaowan Hydropower Station has entered the excavation and pouring stage of 292m concrete double curvature arch dam foundation. With the impoundment of the hydropower station after the river closure, the nearby bridges across the Lancang River have disappeared. Among them, the Qinglong bridge site, which is listed as a national cultural relic, has also disappeared at the bottom of the Lancang River. Previously, the news that the site of Qinglong bridge will sink to the bottom of the river has touched many people's hearts.

In February 2004, a survey and design team was formed by Yunnan Institute of archaeology, Lincang Cultural Relics Management Institute and Fengqing culture and Sports Bureau

Chinese PinYin : Qing Long Qiao