In the southern suburbs of Wuyishan City, there lies a magnificent ancient covered bridge with beautiful shape and exquisite structure. It is the Yuqing Bridge, one of the world cultural heritages and national cultural relics in Wuyishan. It was the hub of the Fujian-Jiangxi Ancient Road in Chong'an (today's Wuyishan City) in ancient times. It was the only way for Wufu and Xiamei, the starting point of the Wanli Tea Road, and other common people to travel between Chengguan and Jiangxi. It was built in the 13th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1887) and was donated by Zhu Jingxi (1852-1917), a Jin gentry of Chong'an County, in honor of his mother. "The southern suburbs of (Chong'an) blocked the river, causing travelers to fall ill. Jingxi adhered to his mother's orders and spent 30,000 gold to build the Yuqing and Chuiyu Bridges. They are the most majestic bridges in northern Fujian" (New Chronicles of Chong'an County in the Republic of China). Yuqing and Chuiyu Bridges are connected at Xizhongzhou (Shiguzhou, also known as Shaguzhou) in Chongyang River. The sister bridge combination formed was once a brilliant transportation structure on the ancient Fujian-Jiangxi road and a famous people's livelihood The project is also a long-lasting charity monument in the hearts of local people. It stands sculpturally on the southern outskirts of the ancient city, making business travelers look up to the ancient city known as "Zou Lu of Fujian Province" and "Jin Chong'an" before they even approach the city. During the Anti-Japanese War, Chuiyu Bridge was destroyed by fire, and the bridge piers were demolished during the Cultural Revolution. Yuqing Bridge has survived more than a hundred years and is particularly precious. She witnessed the ups and downs of the Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China and the Republic of China in Chong'an, freezing the past glory of a wealthy and prominent family in Wuyi Mountain, and condensing a modern history of Wuyi Mountain's tragic transformation.
Yuqing Bridge is an arched ancient house bridge with outriggers and diagonally braced wood and stone structures with rainbow beams. It is majestic, quaint and solemn, and has great aesthetic values ??such as engineering beauty, artistic beauty and humanistic beauty. In terms of engineering science, the bridge is a living fossil of the wooden rainbow-arch bridge in Zhang Zeduan's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" in the Northern Song Dynasty. Although there are still many wooden and stone covered bridges in southeastern my country, there is no such thing as the Yuqing Bridge with such a scientific structure and such a large engineering scale. The bridge has two platforms, two piers and three holes, with a net length of nearly 80 meters, a width of nearly 7 meters, and an arch height of nearly 9 meters. At that time, the Yuqing and Chuiyu Bridges were built at the same time, and the Chuiyu Bridge was longer. Such a huge project requires tens of thousands of high-quality wood and stones. If Wuyi Mountain can still be self-sufficient with a large number of high-quality fir trees as the forest area, then where the huge quantities of granite stones used for the eight bridge abutments and piers came from and how they were transported are equally amazing. The platforms and piers of the two covered bridges are exquisitely carved from green-brown granite, with the large stones weighing more than three tons each. According to surveys, there are no such stone sources within a ten-mile radius of Chong'an city; these stones must be mined and transported to Xixi, which is at least 20 kilometers upstream of Chong'an River. At that time, in the upper reaches of Chongxi River, the land route was a bird path that could not be driven by vehicles, and the waterway was a small stream with shallow rocks and boats. How to transport such a large and huge amount of stone is still a mystery discussed by the local people. As for its use of the cantilever decomposition and stress transfer principle of the wooden structure to make rainbow-shaped arch beams, using slates and pebbles as the bridge deck to suppress wind and earthquakes, and using pavilion-style corridors covered with black tiles to prevent rain and corrosion, there are also designs such as With extremely high process technology and scientific research value, it has a prominent position in the history of world bridges and has been highly praised by experts from all walks of life.
In terms of architectural beauty, Yuqing Bridge is a classic of Jiangnan wind and rain covered bridges. At that time, Zhu Jingxi may have used the entire southern suburb of Chongcheng as a garden, and Yuqing and Chuiyu Bridge were the grand and exquisite pavilions, corridors and waterside pavilions built in it. The two covered bridges are like dragons and dragons, chasing and playing on the river in the southern suburbs, adding agility and auspiciousness to the ancient city of Chong'an. Yuqing Bridge is perfectly composed of a promenade, a pavilion, a gate tower, a rainbow arch, a gently sloping abutment, and a boat-shaped pier. "If one point is added, it is too long, and one point is taken away, it is too short." It well embodies the traditional aesthetics of harmony and symmetry. Consciousness is amazing. The main body of Yuqing Bridge runs northwest-southeast, but its east platform slope suddenly turns due east, in the shape of a black dragon waving its tail. This is a unique ingenuity in the design of the bridge. While maintaining the symmetrical beauty of traditional architecture, it breaks the cliché of absolute symmetry. This creativity is no less than the finishing touch, making the bridge suddenly come alive. The design of the bridge abutment and its many Feng Shui mysteries make it even more fascinating. Yuqing Bridge is not only beautiful in itself, but also complements the surrounding environment. There are two vigorous and verdant ancient camphor trees on the east side, and an ancient man-made river with oily green water flowing slowly through it on the west end. In autumn and winter, when the sun sets slowly, the light shines through the wooden fence poles and the bridge. Pedestrians returning at dusk constitute the most beautiful and gorgeous scene of the "Yuqing Sunset" among the eight scenic spots in the South Gate; at the turn of spring and summer, when the sky is misty and rainy over Zhouzhu, looking from a distance, the Yuqing Bridge Group It is also like a "mirage" wonderland. Yuqing Bridge is large in size but still pays great attention to artistic details, including many exquisitely carved works. Just like the huge bird heads on the four piers, they are full of cultural ingenuity and artistic appeal.
It has a pheasant beak and phoenix eyes, and stands on the water facing the pier with its head held high. The boat-shaped pier naturally becomes the body of the bird. It is said that this is a kind of water bird called the kite. Zhu Xi has a couplet of "the kite flies over the moon and the cave, and the fish jumps into the water and into the sky". This torii and moon palace in the fairyland has the power to control flood demons and often floats on the top of the waves. The design of each pier is carved into the image of the bird, which not only expresses the lofty sentiments of "the kite flies to the moon cave", but also expresses the piety that riding on the back of a water bird can "rise the bridge when the water rises" without fear of floods. Pray. Therefore, Yuqing Bridge is not only an ancient transportation project, but also an architectural art masterpiece with deep folk traditions.
According to the "New Chronicles of Chong'an County" of the Republic of China: "...the south blocked the river and travelers became ill. In the 13th year of Guangxu's reign, Zhu Jingxi, a native of the city, followed his mother's orders and spent 30,000 gold to build the Yuqing and Chuiyu Bridges. The majestic one is the crown of Northern Fujian. "Although this wind and rain covered bridge was built in the late Qing Dynasty, it retains many Song-style and even Han-style structures and shapes. Its wood and stone structure, outriggers and diagonal braces, and beams and beams are interspersed and pressed. It is a typical Hongqiao structural form popular in the Central Plains of the Northern Song Dynasty. It was built in Kaifeng after the Northern Song Dynasty. The Hongqiao in Zhang Zeduan's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" is of this architectural form, but it is only A single arch. An early American monograph contains a picture of such a single-arch bridge located in Xianxia Ridge. There was a similar single-arch bridge in Lanzhou, but unfortunately it was later rebuilt. Although the data and maps were left behind, it is still cited as a pity by the architectural historian community. In recent years, Shan Jixiang, Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Professor Mao Yisheng, a bridge expert, and others have inspected Yuqing Bridge and made this comment: “Although there are many wind and rain bridges with covered corridors in southern my country, this one The unique and important thing about the bridge is its stacked beam arch, which is an architectural form invented in the Northern Song Dynasty. This method has strict technical requirements and high cost, so this three-arch bridge is extremely valuable and has the status of an 'ancient fossil'. Meaning is a modern remnant of a very ancient concept, which is very precious. Although it is only a hundred years old, it has a history of thousands of years.”
I am from Wuyishan, and I feel very sorry for the burning of Yuqing Bridge. It was left to us by the previous generation.
Sigh. It is recommended that the state protect the national key protected cultural relics.