Jingde Bridge

Jingde Bridge

Jingde bridge, also known as Qinyang bridge and Xiguan bridge, is an important traffic road leading to Yangcheng and Qinshui in Jincheng city of Shanxi Province. It is one of the ancient precious bridges with a long history after Zhaozhou Bridge. It was first built in the 29th year of jindading (1189) and completed in the second year of Mingchang (1191), and the construction period was three years. The main arch has a clear span of 21 meters, an arch height of 9 meters, and an arch thickness of 1 meter. The bridge body and the East-West bridge are 33 meters long, 5.9 meters wide, and the clear span of two shoulder small arches is 3.08 meters.

In 1783, Jingde temple was built in the west of Qiaoxi, which was renamed Jingde bridge. It is one of the oldest open shouldered arch bridges in China after Zhaozhou Bridge in Hebei Province. It is also the oldest stone arch bridge in Shanxi Province. In 1965, it was listed as the provincial key cultural relics protection unit.

geographical position

Jingde bridge, commonly known as the West Bridge, is one of the famous ancient bridges in China. It was once called Qinyang bridge because it connects Qinshui and Yangcheng. Across the Qinshui river outside the west gate of Jincheng City, it is adjacent to Jingxi road and connects the highways on both sides. Today, it still plays an auxiliary role in transportation. It was built in the 29th year of jindading. In the 48th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed today. The building is firm, the flood breaks out, overflows the bridge deck, and still stands as before.

Historical evolution

Jingde bridge was first built in 1189, the 29th year of jindading, and was completed in 1191, the second year of Mingchang. In 1783, Jingde Xiang was renamed Jingde bridge. In the past 800 years, mountain torrents have washed away, horses and vehicles have trampled on, and earthquakes have shaken. Up to now, there has been no major damage, and it still stands as before.

According to the records of Zezhou Fu Zhi Jinliang, Jingde bridge was founded by Huang Zhongxuan, governor of jindading Jiyou (1189) and completed in Xinhai (1191) of Mingchang.

In the seventh year of Dade in Yuan Dynasty (1303), there was a great earthquake in Jincheng, "half of the people died, but how bad the government and people's houses were"; in the eighth year of Chenghua in Ming Dynasty (1472), "big water blocked the river, and the flood overflowed the bridge deck"; in the eighth year of Zhengde in Ming Dynasty (1573), "more than Zhang of water rose from the plain"; in the second year of Qianlong in Qing Dynasty (1737), "Confucian temples and battlements" in Jincheng were damaged by the earthquake. After these disasters, the bridge is still in good condition, which is really "beyond the reach of ordinary workers". In order to protect Jingde bridge, a new stone arch bridge was built about 50 meters downstream in 1964. Now Jingde bridge is mainly used for walking.

From March 1739 to April 1740 of the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, four stone ponds (revetments) were built at the upstream and downstream of qiaoxiguan. The stone ponds are 15 zhang8 feet long, 2 zhang5 feet high, and half as high as wide. They share more than 1300 large stones and employ more than 6500 workers. In 1783, an iron pillar was buried on the West Bank of the upper reaches of the bridge and fixed on the side wall with two iron hoops to observe the water regime. It is said that the iron pillar was a water level marker buried by Henan merchants in Jin Dynasty to observe the water regime of their hometown. If the first iron hoop is submerged by the river, there will be flood danger in Henan Province, so people will be sent immediately to drive the horse down the mountain to make preparations for flood prevention; if the second iron hoop is submerged by the flood, it means that Henan Province has been flooded. In 1956, the central government allocated 10000 yuan for the maintenance of the bridge and planted a imitation iron pillar on the east bank. It was completed in December of that year.

building structure

Jingde bridge has been under construction for three years. The main arch has a clear span of 21 meters, an arch height of 9 meters and an arch thickness of 1 meter. The bridge body and the East-West bridge are 33 meters long, 5.9 meters wide and 3.08 meters wide. The whole bridge is made of 15 vertical stones side by side. Each shoulder of the big one has a small one. It can not only divert water in flood season, but also reduce the load of the bridge body and feet, and add to the beauty of the bridge itself. There are diamond walls on both sides to protect the bridge foundation. Two iron pillars are embedded in the diamond walls on both sides of the bridge to forecast the water regime.

The bridge is made of 25 vertical stones side by side. The bridge deck is 30 meters long, 37 meters high, 16 meters long and 6 meters wide, with a small coupon on each end to cut the flood impact surface and reduce the gravity of the bridge. Each end bears a small coupon, which not only cuts the flood impact surface separately, reduces the load gravity of the bridge, but also beautifies the decoration. On both sides of the bridge deck, there are stone carvings of animal face, seahorse, dragon, sea water and other patterns, and on the ticket door, there are carved dragon heads, which are exquisite and spectacular. It is commonly known as the West Bridge. It is one of the famous ancient bridges in China.

On the side of the main arch of Jingde bridge, there are various exquisite relief carvings, such as animal head, seahorse, dragon shape, sea water, dragon head and so on. The carvings are exquisite, the layout is rigorous, and the image is vivid. Although it has been eroded by more than 800 years of wind and rain, it is still clear today. There are four taps protruding from the side wall of 1 / 4 arch position, two upstream and two downstream. The bridge deck is paved with bluestone and slightly curved longitudinally. The guardrails on both sides are mainly composed of three parts: fence, pillar and drum, all of which are made of stone. Jingde bridge has experienced 800 years of wind and frost, and has been repeatedly tested by floods and earthquakes.

Historical records

According to the record of rebuilding Qinyang bridge embankment stele, Jingde bridge is "ten Zhang long and one Zhang and seven feet wide". In 1980, Professor Yuan Dexi of Beijing Institute of architectural engineering and his party came to Jincheng to inspect the ancient bridge. The measured length of Jingde bridge is 33 meters, the width of deck is 5.9 meters, the clear span of main arch is 21 meters, the rise height is 4.9 meters, the rise span ratio is 1 / 4.3, and the arch thickness is 1 meter. The main arch ring is an arc-shaped flat arch with equal cross-section, which is made of 15 longitudinal ribs. The side rib arch stone is 73 cm high, 115 cm long and 42 cm wide. The middle rib arch stone is 95, 108, 113, 123 and 170 cm long, 25, 31, 46 and 50 cm wide, and the arch width is 5.65 m. There is a waist iron between the arch stone and the arch stone. The upper part of the arch stone is paved with 28 cm thick ambush stone. The ambush stone protrudes outward by 25 cm to form arch eyebrow, which can not only reduce the erosion of rainwater on the facing stone of the arch certificate, but also make the front of the bridge full of three-dimensional feeling, beautiful and generous. The abdominal arch on the shoulders of the main arch certificate is a semicircular arch, with a span of 3.1 meters and a thickness of 58 cm. The transverse branch masonry is the same as the modern arch bridge masonry method. The inner arch foot of the abdominal arch is placed on the main arch, and the outer arch foot is placed on the abutment. The use of open shoulder construction can reduce the weight of the bridge, increase the flood discharge capacity and make the bridge more beautiful.

On the main arch of the bridge, there are clear and recognizable animal face, seahorse, dragon shape, sea water and the head of the dragon. In the long history of more than 800 years, the bridge has experienced countless wars, earthquakes and turbulent waves. Up to now, it still stands firm and indestructible. There are words about the bridge on the inscriptions.

Surrounding scenic spots

Address: West Street, Jincheng, Shanxi

Longitude: 112.831644

Latitude: 35.506235

Chinese PinYin : Jing De Qiao