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Ming Dynasty Liuli River Bridge saw and heard

  There is an ancient stone arch bridge in Jingnan - Liulihe Bridge. Liuli River is also known as the Big Stone River, and this ancient bridge also has a common name for the image - Big Stone Bridge. There was a wooden bridge in the place of the stone bridge, the Southern Song Dynasty Gandao six years (1170), that is, the tenth year of Jin Dading, the Southern Song Dynasty poet Fan Chengda sent an envoy to the Jin country, when passing through the Dashihe River, it was from the wooden bridge to pass, he wrote a poem and said: "The smoke forest is brought back to the pond, and the bridge shadow is amazing and sleeps in the township." Steeply raise the curtain to rub the sick eye, and see the mandarin duck on the Liuli River. "The wooden bridge that Fan Chengda walked on was destroyed in the Jinyuan War. It was rebuilt in the Yuan Dynasty and destroyed in the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Today, this 11-hole stone bridge was built in the Ming Dynasty, that is, from the eighteenth year of Jiajing (1539) to the twenty-fifth year of Jiajing (1546).

  Now, this ancient bridge across the Dashihe River belongs to the national key cultural relics protection unit. Due to ongoing repairs, the monument was enclosed at the construction site.

Ming Dynasty Liuli River Bridge saw and heard

Cultural relics unearthed at the Liulihe site Photo: Wu Yibin

  The construction of the stone bridge was full of twists and turns

  The Dashihe River, which originates in the Xiaohanling Mountains of Baihua Mountain, is a large river with a long history. During the Warring States period, it was called rope water; In the Western Han Dynasty, it was called holy water; During the Sui Dynasty, it was called waterproof; In the Tang Dynasty, it was renamed holy water; During the Five Dynasties period, it was called Shizi River; During the Jin Dynasty, it was called Longquan River; After the Republic of China, it was called the Great Stone River. The lower reaches of the Dashihe River, from Doudian Town through Liulihe Town to Xiaoqing River, is locally called Liulihe, and Liulihe Town in Fangshan District is named after it. The Liulihe Bridge, located in the north of Liulihe Town, is also named after it. But among the people, people are accustomed to call it the Big Stone Bridge.

  The big stone bridge is 165.5 meters long, 10.3 meters wide, 8 meters high, a total of 11 holes, the middle hole is the largest, and the arch is carved with a delicate beast head in the middle. The bridge body is all made of ashlar masonry, the structure is rigorous, and the weather is magnificent. On both sides of the bridge deck, 88 pairs of stone lookout pillars are erected, and between the columns are stone railings, a total of 178 pieces. The steeplechase is 1.65 meters long, 0.8 meters wide and 0.28 meters thick. The pillars and railings are carved with begonia lines and other ornaments, which are simple and simple, solid and generous. The connection between the bridge deck stones is inlaid with "silver ingot buckles", which is extremely strong, and there are 198 "silver ingot buckles" on the sidewalk on one side. This ancient stone arch bridge has survived repeated floods and has been preserved to this day, thanks to the excellent craftsmanship of its construction.

  Some people say that the big stone bridge was built in imitation of the Lugou Bridge. The construction of the Lugou Bridge predates that of the Dashi Bridge, and from the perspective of time, there is such a possibility. In addition, the Lugou Bridge on the Yongding River is the largest stone arch bridge in Beijing, and the Dashi Bridge on the Dashihe River ranks second, both of which are similar, and they are the ancient stone arch bridges in Beijing that are relatively intact. Of course, the reputation of the Lugou Bridge is much greater than that of the Dashi Bridge, which may be related to the Lugou Bridge Incident. According to the 1924 "Liangxiang County Chronicles· Yudi Chronicles" recorded: "(Liuli River) stone bridge for the Chaozong Kong Road, four will wheel hooves; Looking at Lugou in the north, Shuanghong crosses, Chengjing south to pass also. "Like the Lugou Bridge, Dashiqiao is also an important transportation hub in southern Beijing. However, there are no lions of different sizes on the lookout post of the big stone bridge, and there are no mascot carvings such as vases and flowers on the railing, which seems to be more low-key than the Lugou Bridge.

  Before the construction of the Oishi Bridge, the wooden bridge over the Dashihe River was often destroyed by floods, disrupting north-south traffic. In the eighteenth year of Jiajing (1539), Ming Shizong toured south, and when he marched to the Dashihe, he was stationed in the Liangxiang Palace not far from the north bank (the ruins are located in the current Liulihe Middle School). On the banks of the Dashi River, he witnessed the scene of people struggling to cross the river after the wooden bridge was washed away. After returning from the southern tour, he immediately issued an edict and ordered Shangshu Gan of the Ministry of Works to build a stone bridge for Lin to supervise. But soon, Gan Weilin resigned due to illness, and the bridge was stranded. In the twenty-fourth year of Jiajing (1545), Ming Shizong issued another edict and ordered Yang Lin, the eunuch Chen Zhun and Yuan Heng to build a stone bridge. This huge project lasted one year and was finally completed in the twenty-fifth year of Jiajing (1546). From the initial arrangement to the final completion of the pass, the repair of the big stone bridge is seven years, which can be described as twists and turns, and good things are grinding.

  In the third year of Longqing in the Ming Dynasty (1569), when Liangxiang Zhixian Anshou Lu repaired the "Liangxiang County Chronicles", the Dashihe River and the Dashiqiao on the river were called one of the eight views of Liangxiang, and it was called "Yangu Changhong".

  During the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was overhauled many times

  When I found this ancient bridge in Liulihe Town, Fangshan District, an excavator roared at the head of the bridge, and the embankment was full of freshly dug soil. Stepping on the new soil, you can see the old bridge that is close at hand, but you can't walk to the bridge. On the west side of the old bridge is a new bridge erected on National Highway 107, and I walked along the new bridge from south to north, trying to pass through the barren and grassy Liulihe Wetland Park, find the monument erected at the north side of the bridge, and take a look at the ancient bridge. When I walked to the river deep in the park, I found that the old bridge was still tightly blocked by the construction fence.

  Because the Liulihe area is located in the alluvial plain, the west is high and the east is low, and floods have occurred frequently since ancient times, and the large stone bridge in the low-lying area has been washed away by floods many times. According to historical records, "every time there is a hot water, the north and south of the ring bridge are full of huge waves, and it is difficult to cross." During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were 3 large-scale repairs of the big stone bridge, namely: the 41st year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1562), the 28th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1600) and the 16th year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1890).

  In the winter of the 40th year of Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty (1561), Ming Shizong allocated 80,000 taels of silver and ordered Premier Xu Gao to control the flood. In the winter of the forty-first year of Jiajing (1562), Xu Gao planned, Langzhong Wang Shangzhi, Lang Lu Yijing, and Yang Yong, the eunuch of the inner palace, built two embankments with stones at both ends of the big stone bridge, each with a length of more than 500 zhang. The north end of the stone bridge is paved to Liulidian Village, and the south end of the stone bridge is paved to the south entrance of the inner street of Liulihe Town, commonly known as "Wuli Long Street". In addition, a single-hole small bridge was added in the middle section of the embankment in the north of the bridge, "4 zhang 5 inches long, 3 zhang 5 feet wide, 1 zhang 3 feet 5 inches high, and 8 ditches were set up to kill the water potential". This overhaul is equivalent to the continuation of the Great Stone Bridge.

  During the Wanli period, the three caves on the south side of the stone bridge collapsed, the embankment cracked, and pedestrians could not pass. After the Mingshen Sect learned about it, he was moved. Shenzong's mother, the Empress Dowager Cisheng, donated 10,000 taels of silver, Shenzong donated 29,054 taels of silver, and various people and institutions in the palace also donated. Shenzong ordered He Jiang, the eunuch of the inner palace, to be responsible for the maintenance of the big stone bridge. From the winter of the 28th year of Wanli (1600) to the spring of the 30th year of Wanli (1602), the repair of the large stone bridge and embankment was completed.

  The third major overhaul was in the sixteenth year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1890). In the middle of summer that year, the torrential downpour caused flash floods, and the water was extremely ferocious. After the stone bridge was broken, it became impassable, so a ferry was added to the east of the bridge. Due to the large number of people and the small number of boats, there are often disputes and even mutual assaults. After the local officials went to the imperial court, the imperial court immediately allocated special funds and ordered Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili, to send personnel to supervise the repair, and the construction was completed a year later.

  In 1959 and 2001, the bridge was also overhauled twice. The former renovated the abutments, piers, revetment stone walls, etc., repaired the old asphalt on the bridge deck, and added a new layer of asphalt. The latter river bottom dredging, river bottom stone paving, repair the south slope protection of the bridge, the bridge body railing, the lookout post from concrete materials to stone materials, clean up the asphalt of the bridge deck, expose the original stone bridge deck.

  In October 1999, after the completion of the new reinforced concrete bridge on the west side of the old bridge, the large stone bridge was transformed from a highway bridge into a cultural heritage bridge.

Ming Dynasty Liuli River Bridge saw and heard

Cultural relics unearthed at the Liulihe site Photo: Wu Yibin

  The prosperous past has become a story

  During the overhaul in 2001, the large stone bridge was stripped of the "asphalt suit" that had been worn for decades, revealing the original stone bridge deck. The hard stones have been polished and smooth by the years, and walking on the undulating bridge deck is one foot deep and one foot shallow. During the rainy season, the water between the crevices of the rocks nourishes moss and grass. What's even more legendary is that there are ruts on the bridge deck pressed by ancient iron axle cars, just like the horseshoe nests on the ancient road in western Beijing. These ruts, which are more than ten centimeters deep, show the busy traffic between the north and south of the ancient big stone bridge.

  At that time, the wide Dashihe River not only nourished the fertile fields on both banks, but also achieved shipping. The Yangudian where the Dashihe River flows was renamed Liulihe Town after the town was established in the Qing Dynasty. According to the "Guangxu Shuntianfu Chronicles" volume 20 records: "Forty miles of Liulihe Town, also known as Liu Lihe, also known as Yan Gudian, the total station, there are shops. The so-called "general manager" is the official who manages the river. At that time, the official in charge of the waters was the governor, and there were divisions, garrisons, assistant garrisons, thousand generals, and generals. Although the administrative level of the "general" is not high, it shows that this is the residence of a functional government organ. And "there are shops" means that there are commercial shops here. At that time, the "Wuli Long Street" on the north and south sides of the Dashiqiao was a commercial street lined with shops. According to the records of Liangxiang County, in the commercial tax revenue of Fangshan County at that time, the tax of Liulihe Town was equivalent to the sum of Liangxiang City and Doudian Town, which shows the prosperity of its commerce.

  As the link between the north and the south, the big stone bridge is bustling with people, there are businessmen from all over the world, there are also people who enter Beijing to take the exam, and there are countless hurried passers-by who are rushing for their livelihoods. It is worth mentioning that the footprints of Wen Tianxiang, the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, were also left on the bank of the Dashihe River. In the sixteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1279), he passed through the Dashihe River when he was escorted to Dadu (present-day Beijing). At that time, the north and south banks were connected by a wooden bridge that was often repaired and destroyed. It was winter, the weather was cold and the road was slippery, and Wen Tianxiang, who was defeated and captured, wrote a poem "Crossing the Snow Bridge and Glass Bridge" in the full grief and indignation of the broken mountains and rivers: "The small bridge is snowy and glassy, and there is more frost and slippery horseshoe. The wanderer's clothes are as cold as iron, and the pheasants in the remnant star desert store crow. ”

  Not far from the big stone bridge to the north, there used to be a Ming Dynasty palace - Liangxiang Palace (now Liulihe Middle School). When Ming Shizong toured the south, he was stationed there and made the decision to build a large stone bridge. Later, the palace became a Buddhist temple - Enhui Temple, each hall enshrined Buddha statues, and according to the temple regulations, a bell tower was built on the east side of the second temple and a drum tower was built on the west side. When the Eight-Nation Coalition invaded, the monastery was badly damaged. In the third year of Xuantong of the Qing Dynasty (1911), the eunuch Li Lebin and the Taoist priest Li Chongxiang raised funds to rebuild, and after completion, it was renamed Xiuyunguan. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, many eunuchs who left the palace lived here, and the locals called it the "Old Husband's Temple". At that time, Xiuyun Temple was the lower courtyard, and the upper courtyard was the Baojin Mountain Yuxu Palace on the mountain above. Xiuyunguan has set up a school of righteousness, and does not charge tuition and book fees. The Taoist temple has 280 temples of incense and 500 temples of eunuch private fields, and the eunuchs there have no worries about food and clothing.

  After 1949, the last two old eunuchs were taken into the city to live, and Xiuyunguan was changed to a school. The statues in the temple have long since ceased to exist, and only those historical stories related to the palace, Buddhist temple, and Taoist temple are still circulating in the area of Dashiqiao.

  (Source: Beijing Evening News, July 23, 2024, page 20; Author: Yue Qiang; Image source: original with picture)

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