Zhu Shilin, male, born in August 1947, is a member of the Communist Party of China, a college student, a member of the Shanghai Chongming Literature and History Research Association, and a member of the Shanghai Chongming Writers Association. He has obtained Shanghai Senior Economist Qualification Certificate, Teacher Qualification Certificate and Class 1 (Senior) Commodity Operator Qualification Certificate.
He started his career in August 1968 and retired in August 2007. Before retirement, he was a cadre of Chongming County Supply and Marketing Cooperative. During his work, he has published many papers and articles in publications and magazines such as "Treasury of Chinese Contemporary Thought", "Shanghai Business Economy" and "Shanghai Residence". Dozens of articles and poems written after his retirement have also been published in newspapers and magazines such as Oriental Urban and Rural Daily, China Community Daily, China Newspaper Clippings, Community, Trade Union Expo and Speed Reading. © This article is published with authorization, please contact this official account for reprinting, submission and consultation.
Let's talk about the bridge on Chongming Island in the old days
Chongming Island has a history of more than 1,400 years. In this long process of land-formation, it has experienced countless day and night erosion of rivers and sea tides, the sedimentation and dispersion of sediment accumulated from the alluvial sediment in countless upstream reaches, and the ruthless invasion of countless storms and rains...... Over time, in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River at the mouth of the East China Sea, a number of small sandbanks of varying heights and sizes have been formed; Due to the erratic rise and fall (sometimes south and north, sometimes north and south), finally countless small sandbanks accumulated into more than a dozen large islands in the river. At the same time, in and around the middle of these islands, countless river harbors and ditches of different lengths were formed (people are customary to call the water surface several zhang wide as a river, the water surface that is connected to the river surface and has ships coming and going and docking is called a port, the water surface within a few feet wide is called a ditch or small ditch and small river, and the water surface within a few feet is called a canal).
In order to survive, our ancestors led future generations to give full play to their wisdom and talents, and used their industrious hands to launch a tenacious struggle and life-and-death struggle against nature. On the one hand, they dredged and filled in the land, built embankments and dams; On the other hand, water conservancy was built to reclaim wasteland for farming, and bridges were erected over those rivers, ports and ditches connecting the east-west (or north-south) roads for easy walking.
Today, the author will discuss the relevant situation of the construction of bridges in the past dynasties on Chongming Island, and talk about my own opinions.
One
The meaning of a bridge and its role
As we all know, a bridge is a structure erected on the water or in the air. That's what bridges mean. Regarding the role of bridges, the author believes that it is mainly reflected in the following aspects:
1. Easy to come and go. Chongming Island has a unique geographical location, three sides of the river and one side of the sea, and there are many river ports and ditches that cross the island, so it was very inconvenient for the people on the island to go out at that time. For a long time in the early days of landing, most of the islands were fishermen, and a few were farmers who cultivated the land. Most fishermen's families have a small wooden boat (or sampan), which is small enough to accommodate one or two people. At that time, because there were no bridges over the river port ditches, people used small wooden boats as a means of transportation and transportation when they went out to run errands or work in the fields. In those days, people often lived in Hedong or Henan, but the farmland was in Hexi or Hebei, so it was a big trouble to work in the farmland without a boat. Some farmers have no choice but to wade across rivers to cultivate or harvest crops; In order not to miss the farming time, some male owners of peasant families even waded across the river to do farm work while sick. Due to the separation of people and land, if there is a typhoon or rain season, winter and spring fog, or if it is affected by the tides, it is impossible for farmers to go out to work, not only fishermen with small boats. As a result, crop yields were low in those years, and in some years there were often no crops.
Later, bridges were built over the river port ditch, making it convenient for people to go out or work in the fields. Regardless of the weather or the size of the tide, people no longer have to wade across the river, especially farmers who are sick, and they no longer wade across the river to work or go out when they are sick. Just as our ancestors pointed out when they affirmed the role of bridges: bridges are convenient for travel and avoid diseases.
2. Promote production. The construction of bridges not only brings great convenience to people's lives, but also promotes and promotes the development of production. In addition to the above-mentioned farmers are no longer affected by climate and tides, because of the bridge, people can directly take the fertilizer seeds from home to the farmland, and can also directly transport the harvested crops from the cultivated field back to their homes, and no longer need to go through many turnovers like loading and moving on small wooden boats, which greatly saves manpower and material resources. In the past, women in the family could not work in the fields because of the river, but since the bridge has been established, they can also work in the fields during the busy farming season several times a year.
3. Defeat the enemy. The third role of bridges is reflected in policing or military. According to legend, there were many thieves on Chongming Island in the old days. But because there are no bridges, thieves often rob people's homes and then go away with impunity. Because at that time, the houses were separated by rivers and harbors or ditches, and they could not extend a helping hand to each other. Since there is a bridge over the river port or the ditch, we have become closer to each other, and we have moved around more, and the relationship between neighbors has also become closer. One year, a family surnamed Zhang was robbed by robbers, and the robbers shouted for help. Some of the robbers fell into the river while crossing the bridge and died, while two escaped but were wounded. Since then, the place has been peaceful.
In addition, legend has it that at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the anti-Qing rebels were chased and killed by the Qing army after killing two Qing soldiers somewhere in the east of Chongming. At that time, the rebels were familiar with the road and walked faster than the Qing soldiers and deliberately took the small bridge on the river, and when the rebels reached the east end of the bridge, the cavalry of the Qing army rushed to the west end of the river, because the bridge was narrow, the Qing army could not cross the river, so they had to return in a hurry, and the rebels were safe and sound.
4. Directions. In the author's opinion, this is another role of the bridge. On the ancient island of Chongming, the bridges built at the main traffic of the river port have become a local landmark over time, and have been praised as a place name. Some bridges are also used by people as a sign to recognize the road or to distinguish them from other terrain features. Mr. Xu Bing's book "Chongming Old Place Names Culture" includes more than 160 entries that use bridges as old place names. Historically, there have been landmarks named after bridges, which can help us understand the customs of the place, and also help people guide the way. For example, in the past years, a foreigner came to Chongming to see a doctor (in the old days, known as Jizhong), and he only knew that this Langzhong's family lived near the Datong River. Because the west of the Datong River is connected with the Yangjia River, and the east reaches the intersection of Nanbeibao Town, the total length is more than 20 miles. Walking along the Datong River is not only time-consuming but also laborious. Later, the common people asked him whether he saw internal medicine or surgery? If you see surgery, there is an ancestral doctor surnamed Qin in the north of Caijiaqiao, and if you see internal medicine, there is an ancestral doctor surnamed Dong in the southeast of Hongdu Bridge. This is simple and straightforward, and there is no need to walk from the west end of the Chase River to the east end.
It is precisely because the construction of bridges plays such an important role that in the old society, the feudal rulers (emperors) also included the construction of bridges as a matter related to the vital interests of the common people and social stability.
Two
The earliest bridge recorded in the history of Chongming
The author consulted the historical materials about bridges in Chongming and found that in the Ming Dynasty's "Zhengde Chongming County Chronicles", there were more bridges on Chongming Island in the Jiuzhou era in history. There are more than 30 bridges (all of which are relatively famous bridges) recorded in the history of the old state, which are located in and around the state city and the famous Dongsha, Xisha and Sansha at that time.
According to the historical data, Chongming Island was promoted to a state in the 14th year of the Yuan Dynasty (1277 AD) and belonged to Yangzhou Prefecture. Chongming Shengzhou has a history of nearly 800 years.
Own Chongming in the Tang Dynasty. Chongming Island has a history of more than 600 years from the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty to the early years of the Yuan Dynasty, but because there is no historical data to check, it does not mean that there are no bridges on Chongming Island in these 600 years. What kind of bridges will be built and how many bridges will be built in the past 600 years or so remains to be determined.
The author now states the earliest bridges that have been recorded in history and have been handed down to the present day as follows (see page 26 of the Chongming County Volume for details):
1. There are 19 bridges in the old state city
Shengping Bridge, Liming Bridge, Wu'an Bridge, Xima Bridge, Shengji Bridge, Huizheng Bridge, Tongsi Bridge, Ji'an Bridge, Yulong Bridge, Yuhong Bridge, Jili Bridge, Guanghui Bridge, Tai'an Bridge, Yihe Bridge, Yingchun Bridge, Taiping Bridge, Yingen Bridge, Puning Bridge, Qingyuan Bridge.
2. There are 6 bridges in Chongming Dongsha
Qingyin Bridge, Ordinary Bridge, Qinqi Bridge, Gujia Bridge, Shiqi Bridge, Hujiao Bridge.
3. There are 6 bridges in Chongming Xisha
Wenhui Bridge, Qin'an Bridge, Xingfu Bridge, Wangxian Bridge, Liren Bridge, Chongshan Bridge.
4. There are 4 bridges in Chongming Sansha
Tongjin Bridge, Quan'an Bridge, Yongxin Bridge, Fuyuan Bridge.
In the days when the years passed, with the establishment of the county system and the subsequent relocation of the county seat, these 35 bridges were either flooded and collapsed, or demolished and rebuilt...... By the time of the Qing Dynasty, it had disappeared.
Three
Builder of bridges in old times
The bridges mentioned by the author in this article (including the following sections) mainly refer to those bridges that span each river port and are more famous. Instead of thousands of ordinary people themselves, they use simple materials (such as bamboo heads, sticks or bamboo and wood interspersed or tree trunks, etc.) to tie together with straw ropes and lay bridges over small rivers, ditches or short canals.
In the old society, it was not an easy task to build bridges between those river ports and major road crossings. Most of the bridges built at the mouths of the main rivers inside and outside the county were built at the expense of the government yamen, and the bridges erected at the main river and port intersections of the townships and towns (such as the bridges erected above the main river ports at the junction of townships and townships) were also built by the government with silver taels. All bridges built at the expense of the government must first be reported to the higher authorities (the county reports to the government, and the government reports to the department or ministry at the next higher level), and after the investigation and approval of the higher authorities, the government yamen will allocate funds (silver taels) and stipulate the time limit required to pay the difference. In the feudal society at that time, officials at all levels were also prevented from deducting silver from it to fill their own pockets, and court officials were also sent to participate in the supervision of the construction of expensive bridges. This is a type of bridge builder.
The second type of bridge builder was the wealthy merchant gentry in the old society or the big grain farmers in the countryside (in today's terms, big landowners). On the one hand, these people do everything possible to exploit the broad masses of toiling people by means of exploitation by big fights in and out of small fights, or by raising rents and raising interest rates, and on the other hand, they do some good deeds by repairing bridges and roads or providing disaster relief to the people, so as to deceive the local people by so-called accumulation of yin and virtue for their descendants, such as building bridges and roads or donating money to build temples. According to the relevant information that the author has learned, some wealthy businessmen or large landowners have taken the initiative to donate money to build bridges on their own initiative in order to gain the praise of the villagers, some have contacted several wealthy households in the countryside to jointly fund the construction, and there are also a few wealthy households who have donated money to build bridges under pressure from their superiors or because some of their family members have done bad deeds to build bridges and do good deeds to offset their sins.
The third type was built by local temples and hired villagers. There are two situations: one is that there is no bridge over the river port near the temple, and the abbot or abbot monk in the temple will build a bridge on the river port near the temple in order to make the incense vigorous and attract more good men and women to worship the Buddha. On the other hand, there was a small bridge over the river port next to the temple, but the abbot in the temple thought it was necessary to rebuild it, so the original small bridge was changed to a bridge, so that there were more pilgrims and the incense in the temple was more prosperous. For example, the Niangniang Temple in the south of Xinkaihe Town, which is located in the west of the Xinqiaogang River. There is an east-west wooden bridge in the port of Shimbashi, which was originally narrow and could only be used by pedestrians. Later, Niangniang Temple presided over the fund to rebuild this bridge into a wide wooden bridge, not only can walk, but also the villagers' wheelbarrows, and even the later ox carts and carriages can also pass. The reconstructed bridge is called Mangeumqiao (also known as Manjin Bridge).
The fourth type is built by a person who has passed the temple examination, a high school jinshi, or a sole proprietorship after raising a person. This practice is to glorify the ancestors, and the second is to make the rural fathers and villagers grateful to him.
The fifth type was built by the villagers raising funds and donations. In order to facilitate transportation, to help each other in order to have something to do with each other, and to promote production, some people convened (commonly known as rafters), and the villagers spontaneously donated money to build bridges.
As for the countless bridges erected over the small rivers and ditches, most of these small wooden bridges, small bamboo bridges or small stone bridges were built by a private family, a family or a clan, so I will not go into detail here.
There is one more case. In the old Chongming Island, there were many families who lived together with the same clan, and the house structure was a three-compartment house (one entrance, two entrances and three entrances) facing north and south (or sitting west and facing east...... Around its house is a ditch (commonly known as Sitingtou ditch), and there is a bridge on the ditch at the south gate (or east gate), which are handed down by the ancestors of the family. I won't go into details.
Four
The structural form of the bridge in the old times
In the old days, the bridges on Chongming Island were varied. First of all, we look at the materials used in bridges: bridges made of stone, bridges made of wood, bridges made of bricks and stones, bridges made of bamboo, bridges made of bamboo and wood, and so on.
Secondly, from the perspective of the topography and landform where the bridge is located: there are bridges higher than the river (port) shore foundation (commonly known as high bridges), there are bridges lower than the river (port) shore foundation (commonly known as low mud bridges), there are bridges close to the water surface (commonly known as wave collapse bridges) and so on.
Again, from the shape and morphological characteristics of the bridge itself: bridges with holes (single, triple and five-hole), arched and backed, with and without barricades, long and short, with and without steps, with and without steps, with a single plank or a single stone strip, with three stone strips, with a single section of two or three stone strips connected together, and with or without ornaments on both sides of the pier, and so on. In today's Chongming Xue Palace, there is a stone bridge called Dengying Bridge, a small stone bridge with arched holes in many aspects such as railings, steps, and ornaments.
The structure of the old bridges mentioned in this article refers to the bridges erected in and around the prefecture and on the main river ports on the island. The structural forms of bridges erected over small rivers and ditches in the countryside are innumerable.
Five
The name of the bridge on Chongming Island in the old days
The names of the old bridges can be described as varied, but there are certain rules for its naming. Generally speaking, most of the names of bridges in the county and its surroundings are named with auspicious words and other words, and the bridges above the main river ports in towns and towns are named after the geographical location of the bridges or the surname or name of the bridge built by so-and-so...... In addition, the author found that in the entire Chongming Island, in each historical period (or each dynasty), these bridges recorded in history did not have duplicate names. The naming of the bridge is as follows:
1. Use auspicious words to name bridges: such as Shouxing Bridge, Taiping Bridge, Fuyuan Bridge, etc.
2. Name the bridge with the name of a wealthy gentleman: such as Lulian Bridge, Shiqi Bridge, etc.
3. Use the surname of the bridge builder to name the bridge: such as Dingjia Bridge, Gujia Bridge, etc.
Mr. Xu Bing included more than 50 entries in the book "Chongming Old Place Names Culture" - the bridge named after the name and surname of the bridge builder.
4. Name the bridge with the morphological characteristics of the bridge itself: such as long bridge, high bridge, black back bridge, single-hole bridge and so on.
5. Name the bridge with the place name or building where the bridge is located: such as Ertiao Zhuhe Bridge, Sanjiangkou Bridge, Zushimiao Bridge, Tanzigang Bridge and so on.
6. Name the bridge with the direction of the four sites: such as South New Bridge, North New Bridge, East Sanjiangkou Bridge, West Sanjiangkou Bridge and so on.
7. Name the bridge with special people or special events: such as Sanzhen Bridge, Huaqiao Bridge, Yonggu Bridge and so on. In order to facilitate some understanding, the author will give a few examples.
(1) Sanzhen Bridge. According to relevant historical data, this bridge is in Tianxin Village, Xinhe Town, and crosses the Xiaoming Boundary River. Historically named in honor of the Three Virgins. One of them is Shen Shi, the wife of prisoner Zhu Wencan (the great-granddaughter of Shen Tingyang in the Ming Dynasty), who is usually diligent and thrifty, and lost her husband at the age of 20. She once donated to build the Sanzhen Bridge.
(2) It is called Flower Bridge. In the northeast of Xinhe Town, it spans the north-south direction of the long ditch. According to legend, as early as the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, due to natural disasters north of the Yellow River, a large number of refugees fled to the south to avoid disasters. Some of these refugees have left their homes and come to Chongming Island, and these refugees are also known as beggars (commonly known as Hanako). Because it was inconvenient for them to walk across the river and ditch where they lived, they built a temporary bridge near their residence. This temporary bridge is made of small bamboos, tree trunks, small wooden sticks and reeds, and straw ropes and cloth tendons are used to tie bamboo sticks and trees together, and erect them on the small river in and out as a temporary bridge for walking. People call this bridge the Flower Bridge. Later, some of them made a fortune and converted the bridge into a stone bridge. At the beginning of liberation, the local government built water conservancy and widened the river, and the stone bridge was demolished. Although the name Huaqiao no longer exists, the local elderly villagers can still tell a thing or two about the origin of the Huaqiao.
(3) Yonggu Bridge. This bridge was originally called Zushi Temple Bridge (referred to as Temple Bridge), which crosses the north-south Xinkai River and connects the east and west streets of Xinhe Town. It is named after the fact that there is a Chunyang Patriarch Temple in the north of the west of the river. This bridge was originally a wooden bridge. In the 11th year of the Republic of China (1922 AD), because Shen Laohong, who lived in Chongming Ertiao Zhuhe, proposed to rebuild the wooden bridge into a stone bridge for the birthday of his sister Gong Shen who lived in East Street of Xinhe Town. Later, Gong Shen donated to build this stone bridge. The stone bridge is about five zhang long and about one zhang three feet wide, there are stone slabs on both sides of the bridge as guardrails, and there are two finely carved stone lions at each end of the bridge. After the completion of this bridge, it was renamed Yonggu Bridge. In 1958, the stone bridge was demolished due to the widening of the Xinkai River.
In addition, there are many bridges that have a history story that will not be told one by one. The author consulted the Chongming County Chronicles of the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China (a total of seven), and the names of these large and medium-sized bridges in the past dynasties have not been repeated (referring to the same historical period), if the bridges on the same river port are also divided into east and west or north and south, so that it is not easy to make mistakes and produce misunderstandings that are difficult to distinguish. It can also be seen that our sages in history have meticulous management and good intentions.
Six
Let's talk about the construction quality of the old bridges
"The bridge builder is good at using nails and wood. The whole body of the bridge is stone, and it will not be shaken by wind and rain. This is a folk song in the old society that praised the master stonemason's superb ability to build stone bridges. This means that the master stonemasons did not use a single nail or a single piece of wood to build a high-quality stone bridge with stones, slabs and strips. In the history of Chongming, there are stone bridges (or single or three holes) that have experienced wind and rain for hundreds or even hundreds of years, and are still very strong and stable as a rock.
It is true that on Chongming Island in the old times, countless stone bridges of different sizes and lengths were built successively in successive dynasties. Except for some of these stone bridges that collapsed to the bottom of the river due to the collapse of the terrain caused by the tide, the rest did not sink due to their own quality, which can be called a great miracle in bridge building in the old society. You must know that in the old society, there was no machinery and equipment, second, there was no advanced science and technology, and third, there were no more advanced means of transportation...... It was up to the working people to transport the stones back to the designated place in Chongming (on the shore of the river port or other places where the bridge was to be built) in wooden sailing boats from the mountains hundreds of miles away. When these stones are brought back, there will be a master stonemason to hammer and carve these stones into stone piers, stone slabs and stone strips of different sizes and lengths according to the size required to build the bridge, and also groove and dig holes in some stones to make them into bridge shapes (or holes or arches or backs or concave and convex, etc.). The most important thing is how to fill the gap between the stone strips, and how to make it not loose after the large and small stones are connected, etc., in the society at that time, solving this problem was indeed a great invention. According to the author's predecessors, the master stonemason used the glutinous rice harvested by the farmers to grind it into a powdery liquid state in a large stone mortar, and then mixed with lime to embed it, so that the stone and the stone phase were glued, and after a period of condensation and fixation (it is said that the glutinous rice milled into a powdery liquid is equivalent to the current universal glue, which needs to be verified). It can be seen from this that in the old society, the productivity was extremely low, there was no mechanical equipment and facilities, and there was no science and technology to build a bridge.
As mentioned above, the master stonemason used the process method of holding beads to build the stone bridge to ensure that the quality of the stone bridge reached the highest quality. When building the wooden bridge, the master carpenter inherited the special craftsmanship passed down from his ancestor Luban to make the wooden bridge stable and reliable. The main processes include slotting, tenoning, tenoning and tenoning, and fixing with Luban locks; In order to double the stability of some wooden bridges, the blacksmith master is asked to pre-punch a long iron nail with a claw nail more than a foot long, and fasten the vertical wood on the bridge deck (a horizontal beam that is 90 degrees straight to the water surface) and the bridge pile with a long iron nail. In this way, it will not be loosened by wind and rain.
In short, whether the wooden bridge or the stone bridge built by our ancestors in the old society, the quality of the author is relative, not absolute. Due to the age, it is necessary to rebuild, or because of the development and changes, the original bridge must be widened or rebuilt. For example, in the Kang Yongqian period of the Qing Dynasty, the main river port traffic intersections on Chongming Island were rebuilt and widened the wooden bridges that were originally erected on the river port.
Seven
How many bridges were there on Chongming Island in the old days?
How many bridges were there on Chongming Island in the old days? For this question, there is such a saying: don't look at the small Chongming Island, there are 72 temples and 72 bridges on the island. This statement is not groundless, but has a certain basis, but our descendants do not know which dynasty and which historical period our ancestors are talking about. The author does not talk about temples today, only about bridges. In fact, there are many bridges built in various dynasties on Chongming Island, and historical materials are the best witnesses. After consulting the section on bridges in the Ming Dynasty's "Zhengde Chongming County Chronicles", it is recorded that there are more than 70 bridges distributed in the county and related towns (see pages 23 to 26 of the Chongming County Volume for details).
In the Kang Yongqian period of the Qing Dynasty, the bridges in the county increased a lot, and there were as many as 108 bridges recorded in the history books (see pages 442 to 445 of the Chongming County Volume for details). It is true that some of the bridges built earlier have disappeared due to tidal waves, climate change, etc.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the book "Chongming County Chronicles of the Republic of China" compiled by Mr. Cao Binglin recorded that there were more than 160 bridges on Chongming Island at that time (see pages 1603 to 1605 of the "Chongming County Volume" for details). According to historical records: in 1947, there were 60 sixth-grade automobile bridges with pine structure built on the main highway only, and there were more than 100 bridges distributed on the main river ports in other towns.
By the way, after the liberation of Chongming, the people of Chongming, under the leadership of the county people's government, encircled land and built water conservancy, successively widened, expanded, and built many large and medium-sized bridges, and also erected many small and medium-sized bridges on the rivers and ditches in the countryside. According to relevant information, by the end of 1981, the county had built 141 reinforced concrete highway bridges (including 117 beam structure bridges and 24 double-curved arch bridges); 284 reinforced concrete wadi bridges; There are 2,200 cross-river bridges connecting the villages with major river ports in the county (see Chongming County Chronicles<1911-1984> p. 458 for details).
To sum up, it can be seen that whether it is a large and medium-sized bridge erected on the river port, or a small bridge erected on the small river ditch or an ordinary bamboo and wood temporary bridge erected in the countryside, they all have a close relationship with people's life and production, and have made indelible contributions to the development of people's life and production.
"A bridge flies north and south, and the moat becomes a thoroughfare."
Although the famous and unknown bridges of history are now gone, we must not forget the miserable life of our ancestors in those days without bridges; We must also not forget that our parents and grandparents fought against nature for the sake of a happy life for their children and grandchildren in the years when there was a bridge, but they themselves lived a life without food and clothing...... Today, we must cherish the hard-won happy life, abide by the law, and consciously be a good citizen who cares for bridges.
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