Local Literature and History‖Ancient Rhyme Xinliang Bridge

Ancient Rhyme Xinliang Bridge

Text/Dong Shijun

There are two elegant ancient bridges in Yinan County, especially Xinliang Bridge. Xinliang Bridge is located in Miaojiaqu Village, Xinji Town, across the Miaojiaqu River (formerly known as Chaogou River) from east to west.

About the Sui and Tang Dynasties, this place was on the main road of north-south traffic. Later, the Qing (state) Yi (state) ancient road (Yizhou: 578 years, the Northern Zhou Dynasty changed North Xuzhou to Yizhou, Linyi It is called Yizhou, since then) has passed through here. Before 1954, the Yi (du) Xin (Yi) Highway passed through this bridge.

The bridge is an arch bridge built with stone blocks. The bridge is 60 meters long, 4.6 meters wide and 6 meters high, with a gentle bridge deck. The east approach bridge is 50 meters, and the west approach bridge is 30 meters. There are 11 arched bridge holes, each hole is 4.2 meters wide and 4.6 meters high. There used to be a pair of stone lions on the stone pillars at the east and west bridge heads, and a stone monkey on each of the stone pillars on the north and south sides of the bridge. .

The contents of the railing relief include: Dragon Tiger Fighting, Immortals Guiding the Way, Birthday Stars Attending Meetings, Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, Kylin Delivering Children, Antarctic Immortals, Rhinoceros Watching the Moon, Xidelianke, Lotus Fairy, Wang Xiang Woyu, Merit and Spring, Civil and Military Academy, Two Dragons Playing with Pearls, The auspicious and auspicious patterns, such as lion rolling hydrangea, white ape stealing peach, phoenix peony, octogenarian riches and honor, Peng Zu’s health preservation, Lin spit out jade book, horse seal, hibiscus egret, bamboo shadow peacock, etc., are vivid and skillful carving techniques. They are all carved with deep relief and Yinxian, with large fluctuations in detail levels and a strong sense of three-dimensionality.

In the upper part of the bridge hole On the north and south sides, there are 11 dragon heads and dragon tails respectively. On the south side of the Xiyin Bridge, there is also a dragon head and no tail on the north side. It is Lao Li with a bald tail in local legend. He was born among the local people, and because he was a mortal, he was not listed as a fairy. However, he made rain during the drought and benefited the people in his hometown. The local people did not forget him when they built the bridge, so he was listed on the West Approach Bridge. Due to the impact of flowing water, the faucet was lost in the river.

The year when the bridge was built No test. There was originally a remnant stele in the west of the bridge, with the words “…rebuilt in the orthodox year…” on it, but there is no more remnant stele now. In the forty-fourth year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1565), “Qingzhou Fuzhi” recorded four stone bridges in Yishui County: “Wangxian Bridge, fifty miles south of the county. Gaoqiao, fifty miles north of the county. Qushi Bridge, south of the county. Seventy-five miles. Heyang Stone Bridge, one hundred miles south of the county.” In the eleventh year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1672), “Yishui County Chronicle” recorded four stone bridges: “Wangxian Stone Bridge, thirty-five miles southwest of the city. Gaoqiao, fifty miles to the north of the city. Miaojia Quqiao, seventy-five miles to the south of the city. Heyang Bailong Bridge, one hundred miles to the south of the city.” This is the earliest record of Xinliang bridge in local chronicles. “Qushi Bridge” and “Miaojia Qu Bridge” are both the current Xinliang Bridge.

The stone tablet that originally recorded the construction history of the bridge was partially filled in Yuanzi when the road was built in 1936, and the remaining stone tablet and the stone strips on the street were pulled away when the Yixin Road was rebuilt in 1954 Filled the bay. The original stone tablet records that the Xinliang Bridge was rebuilt in the third year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty. The first person, Gao Gao, Yu Wenzhong, took 32 years from preparation to completion; another stone tablet records that the bridge was rebuilt in the 20th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty. According to the “Zhang Family Tree” and Zhang Lin’s tombstone in Wangxi Village of the Zhang family, in the thirteenth year of Emperor Yongzheng’s reign in the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Lin collected donations to rebuild the Xinliang Bridge (for details, see “Zhang Hangong’s Epitaph” in Section 5 of this chapter), which lasted 4 years.

There is still a stone monument at the east end of this bridge, which is “Mr. Zhongjiu Zhang’s good deeds can be windy”. The auspicious day of the Duanyang month in the lunar calendar is “the first public discussion and establishment of the rebuilding of the Xinliang Bridge”. The stele is relatively complete, 170 cm high, 73 cm wide, and 20 cm from the original. The cap is 140 cm long, 73 cm high, and the top of the cap is 120 cm long. cm. No specific inscription.

Zhang Zhongjiu, formerly known as Zhang Xiheng, styled Zhongjiu, was born in Yuezhuang Village, Huangshanpu Town, Yishui County. He was born in 1874 and died in 1947. He was a famous “great benevolent man” during the Republic of China. In the eleventh year of the Republic of China (1922), a heavy rain washed away three (some say two) bridge holes of Xinliang Bridge. Zhang Xiheng paid attention to this situation and decided to come forward to raise funds to repair the bridge. An important bridge on the thoroughfare. Although it is only a three-hole bridge, the construction of this bridge is large-scale, and it is located in a plain, lacking building stones. It is also a huge project. Zhang Zhongjiu took out his own savings, but the funding gap It is still very big. Therefore, in addition to raising funds nearby, he also went to northern Jiangsu and eastern Henan to collect donations, and finally raised enough funds. After three years, the bridge was finally repaired. After the bridge was completed, everyone discussed To erect a monument for him. At first he resolutely refused to accept it. Everyone persuaded him that it was not only for him, but more important to accept it. Everyone persuaded him that it was not only for him, but more importantly, to promote good deeds. On the large monument, there are only a few simple words “Mr. Zhongjiu Zhang’s good deeds can be popular”, and no detailed chronicle inscriptions have been written and engraved. However, his good deeds of bridge repair have made “Zhang Shanren” more famous far and near. When it comes to “Zhang Shanren”, almost everyone knows it. He presided over the restoration of the Xinliang Bridge and almost exhausted his family wealth. Zhang Zhongjiu always tried his best to help others throughout his life. It can be said that accumulating virtue and doing good deeds has become one of his instincts. As a business, most of his rich family property was used by him to do good deeds. When he ran out of money, he sold the good land at home. His family’s land was reduced from 200 mu to 100 mu, and finally dozens of mu were left. Therefore, many people call him “Crazy Zhang”. What is even more commendable is that he has a clear understanding of the general trend of social development. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, he actively supported the CCP’s anti-Japanese organizations and teams, and used his prestige to help our party do a lot. Useful work. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, regardless of his advanced age, he followed the People’s Liberation Army and engaged in logistics work. In 1946, when the Kuomintang focused on Shandong, he moved with the army to Huimin, north of the Yellow River. At this time, he was seven in his teens Still engaged in cooking work in the army, diligent and enthusiastic, meticulous. Many people don’t know that Zhang Xiheng, an old man with a kind face, is the famous “good man” Zhang Zhongjiu. In the spring of 1947, Zhang Xiheng unfortunately contracted an illness while transferring with the army, and died in Jiangyu, south of Linqu, at the age of 73.

In the first issue of “Yinan Literature and History Materials” published in 1984, there is a passage about Xinliang Bridge: “There is only one stone lion at the head of the bridge, and there is only one female monkey left among the pair of stone monkeys. Four of the ten dragon tails were broken, and the stone pillars and railings were also incomplete, but the reliefs on the railings were still intact.”

Around 2000, the bridge still had 47 stone pillars and 46 railings. 10 faucets. After 2006, the relief railings of the bridge were stolen several times by criminals. Now the bridge still has 15 relief railings. In order to protect the bridge, the local area has erected stone piles at both ends of the bridge to block the road and prohibit traffic. In addition, a cement bridge was built about 20 meters north of the bridge to facilitate the passage of the masses.

The original name of Miaojia Quhe Chaogou River, the river bypasses Miaojiaqu Village from the east and flows into Yihe River from south to north in the west of the village. The word “Xin” in “Xinliang Bridge” should take this meaning. “Xunzi You Zuo” contains: “Fu Shui… If there is a decision to do it, it should be like a voice, and it will go to the valley of a hundred feet without fear, like courage; the measure must be equal, like the law.” Yang Liang Note: “Measurement is called a pit, and it is also the place where water is received.” This is suspected to be the origin of the name “Xinliang Bridge”.

Signature bridge and famous The Zhaozhou Bridge in Hebei and the Yanhe Bridge in Yan’an are the same in the classification of bridges, and they are all called “masonry arch bridges”. The bridge has complex architecture, exquisite carvings and rich content, which provides important material materials for the study of ancient transportation history, art history, and folk customs. The bridge is now a provincial key cultural relics protection unit.

Dong Shijun, from Yinan, Shandong. Member of Chinese Prose Society, member of Shandong Writers Association. Published more than 200 literary works in newspapers and periodicals at all levels, and won 59 literary essay awards including the third prize of the “China Shandong Story” essay essay sponsored by the first Shandong Provincial Government. Published a collection of essays “Shanghou Flowers Blooming” and a collection of research “Yimeng Red Literature”; participated in the compilation of “Shuanghou Town Chronicle”, “Yinan County State-owned Forest Farm Chronicle”, “Yinan County Revolutionary Old Area Development History”, “Chinese Communist Party Yinan History (Volume Two)”, “Yangdu Splendid Mountains and Rivers” and other historical records.

One Point Yimeng Prose

News clue reporting channel: Download the “Qilu One Point” APP in the application market, or search for the WeChat applet “Qilu One Point”, 600 in the province The reporter is waiting for you to report online!