Chinese Bridges. Ronald G. Knapp

obstruct the passage of canal boats, many of which were powered by sails attached to tall masts. Unlike in the north, land transport of goods rarely involved carts or animals but depended upon individuals carrying shoulder poles who were capable of mounting steps as long as they could maintain their gait. Today, cyclists must dismount as they approach a steep bridge, but it is not difficult to push even a loaded bicycle up one of the ramps that have been added to the steps in recent times. Triple-arch bridges typically have a large central span, approximately 20 percent longer than the pair of identical smaller side arches. The two piers of such bridges are usually relatively thin given the spans they support, the load of adjacent arches being carried by the shared piers. Even though some triple-span bridges appear frail, insufficiently massive to carry the load of the arch shell, balustrades, and walkway, they are capable of substantial loads. Although only a small number of five-, seven-, and nine-span stone arch bridges survive, they differ little in structure from more modest three-span bridges, with loads being passed from one arch ring to another until reaching the abutments.

      Records indicate that the longest multi-span thin-pier stone arch bridge, which crossed an arm of Taihu Lake just outside the city wall of Wujiang in Jiangsu province, was constructed in 1325 during the Yuan dynasty to replace a shorter wooden span on stone piers that had been built in 1066 and subsequently modified several times. Although called the Chuihong (Hanging Rainbow) Bridge, the structure did not soar. Instead, it was built only slightly elevated above the water except for several triple-arch segments that rose to facilitate the passage of vessels beneath. Until 1967 and the collapse of many sections, it stood as China’s longest multiple arch bridge at 450 meters with 72 spans. Only 49.3 meters and ten arches remain on the east end of the original bridge, today protected within a park. Restoration efforts continue to dredge up fallen arches, which then are added to the original span. Few Chinese bridges have received the accolades from poets and painters as has the Chuihong Bridge.

      The 140-meter-long Ziyang (Purple Sun) Bridge in Shexian county, Anhui, is said to have been built during the reign of Wanli (1572–1620) in the Ming dynasty, but the bridge seen today was completed in 1835. Given its length and width, the bridge is a remarkably light structure, with eight stone piers and nine arches.

      The Renji (Benevolent Aid) Bridge, completed during the Ming dynasty and rebuilt after a flood in 1868 with contributions from local folk, is 79 meters long and supported by four stone piers. With the equally old Pingzheng (Peaceful Governance) Bridge in the background, the pair is considered a place for townspeople to welcome the new moon. Qimen county, Anhui.

      Close-up of the bow-shaped cutwaters of the 89-meter-long Pingzheng Bridge in Qimen county, Anhui. Records show the construction of bridges at this site during both the Song and Ming dynasties. After being destroyed in a disastrous flood in 1830, it was not until the nineteenth century that it was rebuilt. In 1974, the bridge was strengthened and widened.

      Built first in the early ninth century, the Baodai (Precious Belt) Bridge is actually an elegant towpath extending 317 meters along the Grand Canal, which took its current form during the Ming dynasty. In addition to lengthy abutments that jut out from the shore, fifty-three arches cross open water for 250 meters.

      Squeezed between modern structures, this triple-arch span is just one of many remarkable bridges in Jinze, a watertown now swallowed up in the suburbs of Shanghai.

      No currently standing multiple arch bridge is longer than the Baodai (Precious Belt) Bridge, which spans 317 meters, with fifty low arches and three mid-span higher arches that permit boat traffic. As a low-lying bridge with thin stone piers, its appearance is said to resemble the jade belt donated by the governor who financed its construction. Built first in the early ninth century during the Tang dynasty, it took its current form about 1446 in the Ming dynasty. Adjacent to a broad section of the Grand Canal some 7 kilometers southeast of Suzhou, the replicated arches of the Baodai Bridge span the Dantai River as it empties into the Grand Canal. It was constructed as a link in a towpath which otherwise would have been broken because of the confluence of the two water bodies. The bridge was rebuilt in 1872 after a major collapse during the Taiping Rebellion, a subject discussed on ages 198–9, and restored in 1956. Once regularly visited to enjoy its technical achievements, today few seek out the bridge because of its remoteness, except during the Mid-Autumn Festival when the stone pavement affords a commodious space to view the full moon.

      Accompanying a vocalist, the performer plays a traditional erhu, a long-necked instrument, near the five-arch Fangsheng (Liberating Living Things) Bridge in Zhujiajiao watertown in the suburbs of Shanghai.

      No multiple arch bridge in China is more illustrious than the Lugou (Reed Gulch) Bridge, which was built at the end of the twelfth century. Because tradition tells us that Marco Polo described the bridge in 1289 as “perhaps unequaled by any other in the world,” it also is often called the Marco Polo Bridge. Once a raging stream flowed under the bridge, but today the broad streambed is essentially dry.

      Taken early in the twentieth century, this photograph shows the Shahe (Sandy River) Bridge, also called the Chao-zong (Facing the Ancestors) Bridge, being crossed by a pair of two-wheeled donkey carts. Built in 1447 to replace a wooden bridge, the stone bridge is 13.3 meters wide and has seven arches spanning a length of 130 meters.

      In northern China, the celebrated Lugou (Reed Gulch) Bridge has similar renown to that of the Baodai Bridge in the Jiangnan region. Built between 1189 and 1192 during the Jin dynasty, the bridge, with a span of 266.5 meters, was visited in 1280 by Marco Polo, who described it as “perhaps unequaled by any other in the world.” Building the bridge presented distinct challenges due to the fact that the often shallow Yongding River, which it crossed, usually iced over during cold winters in its upper reaches, and then in early spring disgorged ice floes made up of enormous blocks. To counter this, massive stone piers as well as boat-shaped cutwaters on the upstream side of each pier were positioned to deflect or break up the ice as it passed through the eleven arches.

      Like other northern bridges, the Lugou’s deck is quite flat to facilitate the passage of carts pulled by human beings, mules, donkeys, horses, and camels. The 485 small stone lions that sit atop the capitals along the balustrades on both sides of the Lugou Bridge are one of its special characteristics.

      The Lugou or Marco Polo Bridge is renowned for the countless lions with different poses atop each of the posts along its side balustrades. The old uneven stone surface that caused discomfort to those riding in donkey carts has been preserved while new level paving has been added along the sides. In the distance is the Guandi Temple.

      Timber Arch Rainbow Bridges

      Rainbow bridges—ingenious arches using “woven” timbers as the underlying structure—until recently were believed to have been lost in the twelfth century. The image preserved in Zhang Zeduan’s twelfth-century Song painting Qingming shanghe tu, usually translated as “Going Up the River During the Qingming Festival,” portrays an interlocked arch of piled beams that allowed large vessels to pass beneath its humpbacked 18.5-meter-long arch. With a width of 9.4 meters, the bridge provided ample space for one of the bustling markets of Kaifeng, the Song imperial capital. In recent decades, reports emerged of bridges with a similar structure—but with the addition of covered corridors—in the remote