Jinlong Bridge

Jinlong Bridge

Jinlong bridge, also known as zilijiang bridge and Zili bridge, is located in Yangjian village committee, Qihe Town, Gucheng District, Lijiang City, Yunnan Province

Yongsheng in the East, heli in the west, Yongsheng city in the East more than 150 Li, Lijiang City in the West about 80 Li.

It was built in the first month of the sixth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1880) of the Qing Dynasty, and was donated by the governor Jiang Zonghan. It has a history of more than 100 years. It is the oldest existing bridge on the Yangtze River, once known as "only one bridge on the Yangtze River".

In 2006, Jinlong bridge was listed as the Sixth Batch of key cultural relics protection units in China.

Bridge design

The East Bank of Jinqiao is zilipo, with gentle mountain. The bridge was built until the Shudi bridge of Lihua highway was completed and opened to traffic in the late 1950s.

The single span of Zili Jinlong bridge deck is 92.3m, the length of Lijiang Bank of approach bridge (including Bridge Pavilion) is 24.2m, the length of Yongsheng bank is 15.1m, the total length is 131.6m, and the bridge width is 3.5m (wooden board surface).

The main structure of the bridge is composed of 18 hand forged large iron chains hanging on both sides of the bridge, 16 of which are load-bearing bottom chains, which are horizontally paved with wooden boards, then directly paved with walking boards and horizontally nailed with wooden blocks to form the bridge deck. The other two chains are guardrails on both sides, 80 cm higher than the bottom chain, with flat steel bars as equidistant support.

The two ends of the chain are respectively pulled on the ground of the East and West kiosks, and then extended and pressed under the stone slab of the approach bridge, wrapped and anchored on the stone sulfur in the underground ground dragon stone chamber of the approach bridge.

After the completion of Liuli Jinlong bridge, the post road of Lijiang East Road was unblocked, which promoted the development of caravan transportation, and the economic exchanges between Lijiang and Jiangdong became more and more frequent.

In 1985, Jinlong bridge was listed as a key cultural relic protection unit in Lijiang County.

historical significance

The main structure of the bridge is composed of 16 large iron chains suspended on both sides, 14 of which are load-bearing bottom chains, covered with two layers of boards, and the other two iron chains are guardrails on both sides. Each iron chain is connected by about 500 iron rings. The total length of the bridge is 116 meters, the clear span is 90 meters, and the width of the bridge deck is 3 meters.

It is fixed on the rock wall on both sides with 16 strands of iron rope. With a history of more than 120 years, it is one of the important historic sites in Lijiang City.

According to the new Lijiang scenery annals, Jinlong bridge is a chain bridge with the widest deck and the most cables in China. At the same time, Jinlong bridge is also the oldest existing chain bridge on the Jinsha River. It is located in the fortress of the "ancient tea horse road" and has very important historical significance.

Jinlong bridge is located in Zili village committee. Zili village was originally under the jurisdiction of yongshengzi chieftain, called Zili. Later, it was transferred to Lijiang Mu Tusi and renamed Zili. The place name is the same sound, but it uses the word "Zi" in mupang, which means that it is under the jurisdiction of mutusi.

Jinlong bridge connects Yongsheng in the East and Heqing in Lijiang in the West. It used to be a transportation fortress from Sichuan inland to Lijiang, Tibet and even India and Nepal. It plays an extremely important role in Lijiang tea horse ancient road.

According to statistics, during the active period of the ancient tea horse road, there were more than four or five hundred mules and horses passing through the bridge every day, and more than a thousand mules and horses. A considerable part of the daily necessities of Lijiang ancient city were transported from the bridge.

Yongzheng's Yunnan annals says: "there are three Jinsha ferry, and the upper ferry is in Zili, 150 Li northwest of yongbeifu city.". In Lijiang Fu Zhi written by Qianlong and Guangxu, the old name of Jinlong bridge is "ancient Jingli ferry", and it is noted that "double wooden trough is used in winter and spring, and chute is used in summer and Autumn" to cross the river.

According to these historical records, Zili is the triangle of Yongsheng and Heqing counties in Lijiang and the throat of Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet. Its important geographical position is self-evident.

Historical evolution

In 1876, Guizhou governor Jiang Zonghan (1839-1903, Bingtang, Heqing, Yi nationality) donated 100000 yuan to build the bridge. It took five years and was completed in 1880.

The history of Jinlong bridge is recorded in almost all the chronicles of Yunnan. In the Wanli year of the Ming Dynasty, "Yunnan Tongzhi" uploaded: "Shangjiang bridge, 150 Li west of Zhouzhi." According to the Yongbei Zhili hall annals, Jinlong bridge "runs 150 Li to the west of the county, crosses Jinsha River in the west, and is the key point of Heqing and Lijiang in Yongjun county. It is 28 Zhang long and 9 feet wide. It is 18 strands of Tiesuo. Bingzi, the second year of Guangxu (1876), has been granted a donation by Jiang Zonghan Bingtang, the governor of Guizhou Province.". There are many articles and poems about Jinlong bridge written by scholars in different periods. "Lijiang literature and history materials" quoted a poem "zuoqiao Zan" of Tang Dynasty to explain the precipitousness of crossing zilidu: "zuoqiao is across the sky, leading each other a rope. People are tied to it like a tie. Paste like the deep, like the fall of the kite. Looking for camphor and up, such as fish jump. In an instant, there is no bottom. "Therefore, zilidou was once known as Mie cable ferry. There is a legendary record about the history of bridge construction. There is a legend in the biography of the National Museum of history cited in the general annals of new usurped Yunnan: "when Zong Han first lived in his family's funeral, all the chieftains and horses returned to his family, imposed rank, promised by Zong Hanyang, stole the official barracks and Jinsha River at night, chased the mouth four times, and Zong Han was poor and had no way to cross. He swore to the river and water that: Gou tianxiangwu, survived Zong Hanyang, and this thief will be destroyed in the future. Suddenly a floating rub with the flow, due to the ferry off, his officials, and funded the construction of ziliqiao River, convenient travel, people still known as "Deyun".

It was 1876 that Jiang Zonghan built the Jinlong bridge. Guizhou governor Heyang Jiang Zonghan, Heqing Xintun people. At that time, Jiang Zonghan invested 100000 yuan to build the Jinlong bridge. Jiang Zonghan's motive for building the golden dragon bridge is quite legendary in historical records, which must belong to the folk circulation. From a historical point of view, Jiang Zonghan's motive for building the bridge must have something to do with the difficulties of people's transition to the Jinsha River, the difficulties of material exchanges between the two sides of the Strait and many other factors. However, the time when Jiang Zonghan built the Jinlong bridge was in the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty. At that time, the imperial court was corrupt and turbulent. However, the construction of the bridge by Jiang Zonghan was privately funded and the project was huge. It took five years and 48 workers died. This shows that Jiang's determination to build the bridge.

When Jiang Zonghan built the bridge, the traffic was very difficult. The links used in the bridge can only be processed in Lijiang City, and then carried to the riverside by animals, and then processed into iron chains. The bridge has 18 chains, each of which has 500 rings and weighs about one ton. According to the conditions at that time, it was a miracle how the iron chain weighing one ton could be pulled one by one on the river and balanced. After that, the Jinlong bridge was still the only bridge in the upper reaches of Jinsha River 70 years after its completion, which is even more amazing. According to historical records, there was a certain chance for Jiang Zonghan to build the Jinlong bridge. It was said that he had been blocked by the river and swore to build the bridge. But the bridge itself reflects the needs of the people on both sides of the Strait and the development of Lijiang. If it had not been for the convenience of the golden dragon bridge to cross-strait exchanges, Jiang Zonghan's determination would not have persisted for five years in terms of his own gratitude and resentment.

After the construction of Jinlong bridge, Zili is not only the throat of the east post road traffic in Lijiang, but also the place that military strategists have always been fighting for. In history, there has been a major historical drama of destroying and protecting bridges one after another. In the past, whenever there was a war in Lijiang, heavy troops were sent to guard the Jinlong bridge. According to reports, in the face of war, "every time we rely on the Yangtze River, we have to repair and dismantle this bridge once.". In 1926, Luo Shuchang, vice envoy of Weixi Garrison and commander of Lijiang regiment, fought against Tang Jiyao in Yongsheng. He was defeated and returned, so he relied on this bridge to defend himself.

According to the records in Lijiang literature and history materials, in the summer of 1929, Zhang Ruji and Hu Ruoyu, the commanders of the Yunnan army, were defeated in the scuffle with the warlords of Longyun. Zhang's troops broke through western Yunnan and went straight from Heqing to Jinlong bridge. Lu Han of Longyun department led the army to pursue and ordered he and Li counties to blow up the zilijiang bridge to block the retreat. The head of Heqing County was afraid that the two armies would fight in Heqing, and the civilians in the county would be affected, so he refused to carry out. As for Lijiang, after receiving the telegram, the county magistrate immediately called a meeting to discuss the matter. Fang Zhenyuan and Wang Zhuqi, both well-known figures in Lijiang, said in their speeches that Jinlong bridge is an important traffic road in Lijiang and a hub for transporting urban and rural materials. Once it is destroyed, it is hard to predict the day of restoration. This theory was supported by hegengji, Zhou Konan and so on. Before the bridge was destroyed, Zhang Bu crossed the bridge and retreated to Yongsheng. After that, Longyun's troops fought back Zhang's Jiangfang, and Lu Han's troops crossed the zilijiang bridge and went northward. They captured Zhang Ruji alive in Sichuan and took him back to Lijiang to be shot. After the end of the war, Lu Han called a meeting of county heads and gentlemen from Heqing to investigate and punish those who refused to destroy the bridge. Fang Zhenyuan, Wang Zhuqi, he gengji, Zhou Konan, etc. all asked to attend the meeting on the basis of the telegram. However, in the face of danger, the princes took their retinues to Heqing to attend the meeting, and even those who took their funeral clothes to the meeting were very willing to die. When you arrive at the meeting, you should state to Lu Han the importance of the golden dragon bridge and protect it. After hearing this, Lu Han didn't want to commit a crime for it, so he returned to Lijiang safely. This trip to Baojin Longqiao became a good story, which was widely spread in Lijiang.

A wave is not even, Jinlong bridge storm again. Since then, the 23rd year of the Republic of China (1934), the second day of the first month, was the Spring Festival. At noon, a bad wind suddenly came up in the river. The body of Jinlong bridge kept swinging. Sixteen of the 18 iron cables were broken, leaving only two strands on the west side. After that, the provincial government subsidized the bridge, collected transition fees, and raised contributions to rebuild the bridge. Lai yaocai, who was then the director of Lijiang construction, personally ran the funds and went to the site to supervise the construction. He started the construction in the 25th year of the Republic of China and completed it in the 26th year. In the same year, he held a ceremony to step on the bridge. It is worth mentioning that in the spring of 1936, the Red Army commander of the Chinese workers and peasants

Chinese PinYin : Jin Long Qiao