The Main Contents of The Ancient Bridge

The ancient bridge quietly spans the Xiangxi River in Mudu Town. This is an ancient town in the southwest of Suzhou. Legend has it that at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, after Fu Cha, the king of Wu, made Suzhou his capital, he wanted to build a detached palace on Lingyan Mountain and a Gusutai on Zishi Mountain. So, driven by the civilian worker, the boat shuttled back and forth, and it took three years to pick wood and five years to become it. Mountains of timber were piled up in the harbor, which was later called Mudu. Mudu town, like other small towns, is still full of tiled houses, old houses, ancient trees and slate streets, and small bridges stand on criss-crossing waterways to connect houses divided by water. The bridge is on the water, and the shadow of the bridge is both moving and static, as well as virtual and real. The leisurely boat passed under the bridge, sparkling and the shadow of the bridge swaying, and the quaint town instantly became vivid.

The running water in the town is clear and turbid, even in a water lane. What is turbid is the water in Xujiang, because it is connected with Taihu Lake. Qing came from Lingyan mountain stream outside the town. According to legend, the King of Wu built a Uwa Palace on the mountain to please him. Xi Shi wears makeup every morning, bathes in precious spices, and water flows into the stream and downstream. After a long time, the powder is not exhausted, so a Qinghe is fragrant. Walk along Xiangxi, and you will soon reach Yan Jia Garden, the former residence of Yan Jiagan, the former chairman of Taiwan Province Kuomintang. On the left side of the tall wall at the door, there is an inconspicuous bridge. Because the river is narrow, the bridge is short, and because it is short and narrow, it is obviously arched on the water. There is no road on the other side, but there are many houses and the bridge is abandoned. Between the cracks of the bridge, weeds grow Artemisia selengensis, and several clumps of groves grow out from under the stone fence beside the bridge. The thick vines hung down across the railing at sixes and sevens, almost touching the water. Looking closer, the stacked stone steps have been trampled for a long time, dislocated, skewed, collapsed and broken, and the original slate has been polished smooth and bare by the sole. The stone surfaces on both sides of the bridge are covered with dirt, giving birth to mosses similar to permanent spots, and the carved lines are blurred. This bridge is like a centenarian sitting on the Xiangxi River.

Without roads, bridges lose their value of existence. However, there is a winding path extending from the garden on the other side of the river, and a "road" sign is stepped on the grass on the bridge deck. In other words, if someone walks, they need to cross the bridge. The old bridge is still alive here. It was ignored, but it was not forgotten. Ask the local people to know that this bridge is called Yong 'an Bridge, which was built during Hongzhi period of Ming Dynasty. It took more than 500 years. I was in awe for a moment. This is really an ancient bridge. Life is less than 100 year, and more than 500 years is not a year that ordinary people can see through. The decaying state of the ancient bridge is getting weaker and older. The small bridge used to be strong and delicate. Look carefully, each stone, a railing, a pillar, the carving of the stigma and the pattern of the whole body are quite exquisite, and the overall structure and shape are small and exquisite. I walked back nearly 100 meters, and I looked at it from a distance. Xiangxi is clear and the bridge is elegant, just like a bracelet on a beautiful woman's wrist. The hanging gro became a green tassel. Mr. Wu Guanzhong once praised the arch bridge in a small town in the south of the Yangtze River, saying that "the bridge opening, the square stone and the curved bridge back get along well with Fiona Fang, and the mechanical laws are often combined with aesthetic feeling".

I have seen many ancient bridges in small towns, such as jiefang bridge in Zhujiajiao and Shuang Yuan Bridge in Zhouzhuang. I'm getting old. I don't know how to produce several wild pomegranate plants in the cracks of Fangsheng Bridge. In the process of stone extrusion, they actually grow into bushes. In late spring, dense red buds are shaped like mouse ears. There is also a wild tree on Shuang Yuan Bridge, rooted in the stone, twisted, swollen and deformed, like stubborn bluestone. But the bridge is still connected to the main road, and it is not as dilapidated as Yong' an Bridge. Just because someone walked by, people walked back and forth in its footsteps, which also gave it a long life. Bridges are built for communication and exist for traffic. Especially in the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River, it is restricted to take boats instead of walking, making bridge building a kind of kindness. So why do ancient bridges have distinctive Buddhist characteristics, such as the name of Yong 'an Bridge, the patterns circulating on the bridge deck and the "Lotus" patterns at both ends of long tied stones, all illustrate the value of the bridge. Yong 'an Bridge, a deformed bodhisattva, is beyond this. For more than 500 years, pedestrians on this road have been going back and forth on this small bridge. How many figures and clothes are reflected in the river under the bridge, which has become an ancient dream.

Once a small-town man, from the time they dragged their ancestors' skirts up the steps, the bridge became an important attraction in his hometown, until he stood on the bridge with his temples full of sadness and trembling, quietly watching the sunset splash down on the river and smear it on the bridge; Then, bid farewell to this ancient bridge forever. The ancient bridge has sent away generations and witnessed the vicissitudes of the town. People in the small town will never forget this ancient bridge. Only people born in water towns will appreciate it more. Even though the house has changed and the road has stopped moving, people still let it continue to exist here. The ancestors who crossed the bridge in the past dynasties, if they had souls, would also stare at the arc shadow of the ancient bridge in the distant border river-it has become the symbol of the town and is treasured as a historical relic.

I stayed on the bridge for a long time, patting the ancient railing. I think it's time to call it Bridge Master. ...