Famous Personages, Famous Bridges

By staff reporter HUO JIANYING

Lugou Bridge.

MARCO Polo (1254-1324) has been a household name in China for more than 700 years. This is mainly due to his fascinating book, The Travels of Marco Polo (originally entitled A Description of the World), but an ancient bridge also figures largely in his Chinese fame.

The 800-year-old bridge in question still stands where the Yongding River once flowed in southwestern Beijing. Originally named Guangli, its name changed to Lugou shortly after construction. It was in the 13th century when he traveled to then capital Dadu (now part of Beijing) during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) that Marco Polo first set foot on the bridge that he made famous. This intelligent, enthusiastic young Venetian became a favorite of Emperor Kublai Khan, who appointed him to a high administrative position. After serving at court for 17 years, Marco Polo returned to his home in Venice. Three years later he was captured in the war between Venice and Genoa and spent a year in a Genoese prison. It was here that a fellow prisoner persuaded him to dictate to him the story of his travels. Marco spoke of the many bridges he had seen and how they reminded him of his native Venice. One that had particularly impressed him he described rapturously as a superbly constructed stone bridge of unrivalled beauty; in short, the finest bridge he had ever set eyes upon.

News of Marco Polo’s legendary travelogue quickly spread across Europe, whose people were intrigued with his experience in the Far East and China. The beautiful stone bridge he described soon became referred to by the great traveler’s name. Today Westerners travel to Beijing to see for themselves Marco Polo Bridge and its stone balustrades and lions as described by this medieval Venetian adventurer.

The Moon at Dawn over Lugou Bridge

Lugou Bridge indeed merits Marco Polo’s rhapsodic description. During the 800 years since it was built it has been one of Beijing’s eight famous scenic sites. It bears the poetic name The Moon at Dawn over Lugou Bridge personally inscribed by Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) of the Qing Dynasty who was moved by its beauty under the fading moon at dawn. However, the bridge does not evoke entirely positive connotations. During Beijing’s semi-monsoon late summer months the Yongding River regularly flooded, devastating the surrounding area. On one occasion it almost inundated the imperial palace. There are no such disasters today as the river has long since dried up.

That the Lugou Bridge still stands to this day is a tribute to its superb construction. It was built in 1189 over a period of three years. This stone structure, 266.5 meters long and 7.5 meters wide, rests on 11 arches. On both sides of the bridge are carved stone balustrades supported by 281 stone posts, on each of which stand stone carved lions in various postures. Many of the bigger lions are depicted with frolicking cubs around them, some on their back, others beneath them, and still others visible only as a snout or part of the head poking out from under a belly or a paw. There have been many attempts to make an accurate count of these lions, adult and infant, but it was not until the 1970s that a formal stone lion “census” entailing numbering and tagging, was taken and their number finally reckoned at 485.

Scientific design, masterly workmanship and high-quality stone have enabled Lugou Bridge to withstand bygone summer floods and early spring ice floes. In this respect the bridge’s stone piers are unique in being aesthetically utilitarian. They are carved to scale in the shape of boats whose clipper-built bows cleave easily through floodwater, and whose triangular iron rod installed on the vertical edge of the cutwater diverts ice floes. These piers are built entirely of stone slabs joined by iron tenons thin in the middle and thick at each end.

During Emperor Qianlong’s reign it was decided to reconstruct the bridge, but upon removing its surface, construction workers found this stone structure to be solidly built with overlapping stone slabs linked with large iron nails and secured with iron hoops. This being the case, the reconstruction project was abandoned in favor of a regular maintenance routine, as there was obviously no cause for concern about the bridge’s safety.

Artisan and Magician

Zhaozhou Bridge.

Compared to Hebei’s Zhaozhou Bridge, Lugou Bridge is a relatively recent structure. Built 1,400 years ago, Zhaozhou Bridge has a mystical ethos, having been the setting for an ancient legend, according to which the artisan magician Lu Ban erected the bridge in one night, delighting the local people and earning their adulation. Their ecstatic celebrations caught the attention of the two immortals Zhang Guolao and Chai Wangye in heaven, who descended to see what it was all about. When they saw the bridge they were as impressed as any mortal, but decided to test it to see if it was as well-constructed as it looked. They crossed the bridge, one riding a donkey, the other pushing a wheelbarrow. Once on it, the two immortals used their magic powers to test the bridge’s strength. Zhang put the sun, moon and stars in the donkey’s panniers and Chai loaded five mountains on his barrow. As they approached its apex, the bridge started to shake, but upon Lu Ban’s jumping into the river and supporting the bridge, it was still. It is said that a deep wheel track remains on the bridge surface and that Lu Ban’s palm prints can still be seen on the crown of the arch.

Though Lu Ban was a great artisan and inventor and considered the originator of ancient artisanship, he did not actually build Zhaozhou Bridge. Its architect and builder was Li Chun of the Sui Dynasty (581-618). Since artisans had low status in ancient times, nothing more is known about Li Chun from historic records other than that he was the builder of Zhaozhou Bridge. It has since served to commemorate this ancient master artisan throughout the centuries.

Built between 595 and 605, the bridge is 50.82 meters long and 9.6 meters wide. The main stone arch spans 37.37 meters -- the widest ever during Li Chun’s lifetime. It has been celebrated through the centuries, not only for its unprecedentedly wide arch span, but also for the breakthroughs it represents in the history of bridge building. Prior to Li’s coming of age as engineer, bridge arches were half-moon shaped. It was Li Chun that successfully introduced the technique of crescent shaped bridge arches. It has since been calculated that if Zhaozhou Bridge had been constructed with a half-moon shaped arch it would stand 20 meters high – far too tall for practical use and maintenance. Li Chun’s design enabled the bridge to span the river at a height of just seven meters.

Li’s design included four small arches above the main one, two on each side (known today as an open-shoulder arch) -- another ancient breakthrough of benefit in three aspects. One is that the smaller arches increase the discharge capacity and reduce pressure on the bridge at times of flooding. Second, they saved on building materials and reduced the weight of the bridge by one-fifth, so alleviating pressure on abutments and the foundation. Finally, scientific tests show that Li Chun’s open-shoulder arch design reduces the risk of distortion of the main arch while increasing load capacity and stability. In addition to all these practical engineering features, Li’s design also brings to the bridge an elegant lineal beauty.

In 1991, Zhaozhou Bridge was designated the 12th International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers and hence joined the rank of such historic landmarks as the Egyptian pyramids, the Panama Canal and the Paris Eiffel Tower.

Bridge of Benevolent Government

Textual studies show that the Xiaoshang Bridge in Henan’s Linying County, above, is 20 years older than 1,400-year-old Zhaozhou Bridge.

Guangji Bridge in Guangdong’s Chaozhou and Luoyang Bridge in Fujian’s Quanzhou are the remaining two of the Four Famous Ancient Chinese Bridges.

The Guangji was originally a boat bridge built in the 12th century. Later construction of piers and framework started from both banks of the river on which it was moored, and a full 200 years later the Guangji Bridge, a floating section in between two beamed sections, was completed. When necessary the floating section can be moved away, an innovation that set a precedent in bridge-building history. A feature that makes the bridge particularly outstanding is that its two beamed sections resemble waterside streets with rows of pavilions and towers.

The Luoyang, or Wan’an, Bridge is the only ocean bridge of the four. Cai Xiang (1012-1067), was directly responsible for its construction, but was neither artisan nor engineer, but a great calligrapher and an official of the Song Dynasty.

Cai Xiang’s diligence as a student earned him the scholarly title Jinshi and an official post while he was still in his teens. Eager to do something that could bring substantial benefit to the people in his hometown, he volunteered to go back there in the capacity of viceroy of Quanzhou.

The Luoyang River flows through Quanzhou before emptying into the sea, and at that time Wan’an Ferry at the river mouth was the only means of getting from one side of the river to the other. During gales and rising tides the ferry would capsize and all onboard would perish. Having grown up with these frequent tragedies, Cai was determined to build a bridge across the river.

Construction was difficult because the river mouth was wide and the waters turbulent. Cai Xiang made numerous inspection trips to the site, consulted books and artisans on bridge construction, researched materials and mobilized social forces to take part in construction.

Building started in 1053 and was completed in 1059. The bridge was originally 1,200 meters long and five meters wide with 46 piers. The two sides were lined with 500 carved stone balusters, and there were seven pavilions and nine towers on the bridge. The two banks were planted with pines in order to secure the soil.

Luoyang Bridge features two ancient building techniques. One was pouring large amounts of pebbles into the river along the bridge’s central axis to act as a foundation for the piers. The other was encouraging barnacles to adhere to and proliferate on the foundations, so consolidating them.

A year after Luoyang Bridge was completed, Cai Xiang was called back to the capital city of Bianliang (present-day Kaifeng City in Henan Province). Before he left, he wrote an inscription for the bridge, recording its date of construction, measurements, cost and the names of those that built it. He did not mention his own name. But Quanzhou people did not forget Cai Xiang, and built a temple in tribute to him. Today the Zhonghui (Loyalty and Benevolence) Memorial Temple still stands at the south end of Luoyang Bridge.