Yongtong Bridge

Yongtong Bridge

Yongtong bridge, commonly known as xiaoshiqiao, is located on the Yehe River in the north of Yongtong West Road, Zhaozhou Town, Zhaoxian County, Hebei Province. The artistic style and structural form of the building is similar to that of Anji bridge (Dashiqiao), and smaller than that of Anji bridge, so it is also called xiaoshiqiao, and together with Anji bridge, it is called "sister bridge". It was built in the reign of Zong Yongtai (765-766) of Tang Dynasty. It has a history of more than 1200 years and is 160 years later than Anji bridge.

Yongtong bridge is a single span open shoulder stone bridge with abdominal arch, which plays a connecting role in the development of "open shoulder arc arch". The bridge is 32 meters long and 6.34 meters wide. The main arch is made up of 20 independent arches. There are four small arches on the big arch. The hurdle is 32.7m long, the span is 26m, the arch height is 5.34m, the width of the bridge deck is 6.7m at the East and West ends, and 6.2m in the middle. Because there are two small holes in the shoulders at both ends of the bridge, it is also called open shoulder bridge. One of the bridge board carvings is Douzi Shu column carved at both ends, and the middle is Tuofeng tuodou. The Chinese board is full-length and unorganized, retaining the techniques before the Song Dynasty; the other is lotus leaf pier instead of Douzi Shu column, and the Chinese board is divided into two patterns, belonging to the artistic style of the Ming Dynasty. There are relief sculptures of river god on the bumping coupons of small coupons, flying horses on the pier of small coupons in the north and fish on the surface of small coupons in the West. From the existing objects, it should be the works of Tang, Ming and Qing Dynasties.

On March 4, 1961, yongtongqiao (xiaoshiqiao) was announced as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of the people's Republic of China.

Historical evolution

It was built in the reign of Zong Yongtai of Tang Dynasty (765-766) and has a history of more than 1200 years. Yongtong bridge is 160 years later than Anji bridge, with a distance of less than 3 km.

Yongtong bridge was repaired for the first time in the Ming Chang period of Jin Dynasty (1190-1196). According to research, Yongtong bridge was repaired on a large scale. It may be that the second small arch at the end of the bridge and the collapsed main arch at the south side of the bridge were repaired.

In 1507, Yongtong bridge was renovated for the second time, mainly by adding railings.

In the autumn of 1598, Yongtong bridge was repaired for the third time and completed in the summer of the next year. According to Wang Zhihan's the story of rebuilding Yongtong bridge in Zhaozhou annals of Guangxu, in Ming Dynasty, the bridge was already "paved with stone to grind the hulls, the railings reclined, the covered people were sick and the residents sighed about their decadence". By the County Sun Yin, Zhang Lichun "Book Raising margin" fund-raising organization repair. The main purpose of this repair is to repair the paving stone and the breast board on the bridge deck.

In 1633, Yongtong bridge was repaired for the fourth time. When Yongtong bridge was repaired in 1986, two pieces of remnant steles were removed from the bridge. Through analysis and research, the two pieces of remnant steles are one through stele. At the beginning, it is engraved with "the story of rebuilding Yongtong bridge", and at the end, it is engraved with "Chongzhen's six-year-old second auspicious Midsummer in Guixi". This repair is also a public fund-raising repair, repair of the bridge deck stone and breast board, may also repair the bridge arch.

In 1799, Yongtong bridge was repaired for the fifth time. When Yongtong bridge was repaired in 1986, a tablet was removed from the bridge, with the inscription "rebuilding Yongtong bridge" at the beginning and "Hudan in June of the fourth year of Jiaqing" at the end. The inscription reads "completed in Midsummer in four years of Jidong". The monument was written by he Lun, governor of Zhili Prefecture of Zhaozhou, and the renovation was officially presided over.

Yongtong bridge has been relatively dilapidated since the Qing Dynasty. In order to protect this cultural heritage, the former Ministry of culture decided to rebuild Yongtong bridge in June 1984.

In 1986, Yongtong bridge was repaired for the sixth time. The construction of Yongtong bridge started in December 1986 and was completed on November 5, 1988.

Architectural features

Yongtong bridge is an open shouldered stone bridge with abdominal arch and single hole. The main arch is set with two convex lines, the upper and the lower. On the main arch and the four small arches are set with prominent arch lintels. The eaves of the bridge extend more than 30 cm. There are river god reliefs on the bumps of the small arches, flying horses on the small pier at the north end and fish on the west end.

Yongtong bridge inherits the advantages of Anji bridge (Dashi bridge), and has a new improvement: the ratio of large arch to small arch is greater than Anji bridge. Due to the enlargement and elevation of the four small arches, the main arch and the top of the four small arches are basically balanced, so that the slope of the bridge deck is small and flat.

Cultural relics

overview

Yongtong bridge is similar to Anji bridge in shape. It is a single hole open shoulder stone bridge with abdominal arch, but its scale is slightly smaller than Anji bridge. The piers and abutments of the ancient bridge are also carved with patterns such as unicorn, flying horse, flying sky, King Kong and Sun God. This kind of carving is rare in the history of Chinese bridges.

Open shoulder

Yongtong bridge is 32 meters long and 6.34 meters wide. The main arch is made up of 20 independent arches. There are four small arches on the large arch. The hurdle is 32.7m long, the span is 26m, the arch height is 5.34m, the width of the bridge deck is 6.7m at the East and West ends, and 6.2m in the middle. Because there are two small holes in the shoulders at both ends of the bridge, it is also called open shoulder bridge.

deck

Due to the enlargement and elevation of the four small arches, the deck slope of Yongtong bridge is only 3%, which is close to the level. There are 22 square pillars on both sides of the bridge deck. The two ends under the slab are padded on the stone piers and suspended in the middle.

relief

One of the bridge board carvings is Douzi Shu column carved at both ends, and the middle is Tuofeng tuodou. The Chinese board is full-length and unorganized, retaining the techniques before the Song Dynasty; the other is lotus leaf pier instead of Douzi Shu column, and the Chinese board is divided into two patterns, belonging to the artistic style of the Ming Dynasty. There are relief sculptures of river god on the bumping coupons of small coupons, flying horses on the pier of small coupons in the north and fish on the surface of small coupons in the West. From the existing objects, it should be the works of Tang, Ming and Qing Dynasties.

There are 22 carved patterns on Yongtong bridge hurdle board. The patterns on bridge hurdle board are mostly flowers and birds, mountains and rivers and figures. The flowers and birds patterns include peony, lotus, plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, cross Hydrangea, pheasant and Phoenix. The figures are historical stories. For example, Yu Boya plays Guqin in the boat and Zhong Ziqi stops on the mountain to pick up firewood and listen to it. There is also a Three Kingdoms story "the picture of Guan Yu picking up a robe at baling bridge". In the picture, Cao Cao leads people to bid farewell to Guan Yu, and Guan Yu immediately waves a green dragon Yanyue knife on baling bridge to pick up Cao Cao's robe. The main arch of the ancient bridge and the face of the four small arches are carved with high relief water absorbers, which express the desire of the stone bridge to be free from water damage. There are fish carved on both sides of the small arch water sucking beast, which means that there are fish year after year. Between the two arches, there is a high relief of the head of the river god.

stone carving

There is a stone lion on the pillar of Yongtong bridge.

History and culture

Arts and culture

Due to the maintenance for many times in the past dynasties, works of different periods have been left, showing a variety of styles, so the folk has always been known as "the big stone bridge to see the credit, the small stone bridge to see the flowers and plants".

Du Deyuan, the governor of the Northern Song Dynasty, once wrote a poem for Yongtong bridge: driving the South Bridge side by side, the stone work is rare from generation to generation. The moon turns in the night, and the dragon is ready to fly.

Legends and anecdotes

It is said that Anji bridge (Dashiqiao) was built by Luban, and Yongtong bridge (xiaoshiqiao) was built by Luban's sister Lujiang. At that time, brother and sister competed to complete the project within one night. Sister's skill was not as good as brother's. At this time, the God of heaven crossed the border and secretly helped. My sister beat my brother, and the bridge was more beautiful than the bridge. Although it is only a myth, it tells the characteristics and relationship of the two bridges.

Cultural relic value

Yongtong bridge inherits the advantages of Anji bridge. In the Ming Dynasty, Wang Zhihan called Anji bridge and Yongtong bridge "Qisheng" in Zhaozhou.

Anji bridge is the first arched open shoulder arch bridge in the world, while Yongtong bridge promotes it to a new level. It plays a connecting role in the development of "open shouldered arch bridge" and has an important influence on the "open shouldered arch school" formed later. It is one of the rare examples to study "open shouldered arch bridge" and its development.

The shape design of Yongtong bridge has a certain position in China's stone arch bridge and has become the representative of China's single span open shoulder arch bridge. In modeling, the design of water gate between large holes is adopted, which not only reduces the weight of the bridge, but also increases the flood discharge, and increases the aesthetic feeling of the bridge.

Yongtong bridge has fine carving, vivid image, and both expression, which can make Yongtong bridge a museum of stone carving art.

Cultural relics protection

On March 4, 1961, yongtongqiao (xiaoshiqiao) was announced as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of the people's Republic of China.

On August 13, 2009, the main project of yongtongqiao Park in Zhaoxian county was basically completed, which played a certain role in yongtongqiao.

Tourism information

geographical position

Yongtong bridge is located in Yongtong West Road, Zhaozhou Town, Zhao county, Hebei Province.

Traffic information

Take a bus to Zhaoxian bus station and get off. The bus station is 500 meters to the East.

Longitude: 114.67378234863

Latitude: 37.749370574951

Chinese PinYin : Yong Tong Qiao