In Zhang Xi 'an County, Gansu Province, craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty left simple and practical bridge-building techniques! People passing by said: I didn't expect it.

Gui Qingshan: Legend of Duanxi Xianqiao

A bridge spans two mountains, with columns, tiles, eaves, carved beams and painted buildings. Such an exquisite bridge is rare in Gansu.

This bridge is called broken arrow Xianqiao. Looking from the foot of the mountain, it is exquisite and really a little fairy.

1. Gui Qingshan

In recent years, tourism has become a huge industry. Once hidden and unknown places, under the bombardment of advertisements, gradually become out of the boudoir and show their charming side.

This is the case in Gui Qingshan, even a famous mountain in the Song Dynasty. But it was in the last twenty or thirty years that people really entered the field of vision. There are two mountains in Zhang Xi 'an County, one is Yang Zheshan and the other is Gui Qingshan. One summer day, we set foot on the road to find broken arrow Xianqiao.

From Lanzhou to the east, through Dingxi, to Longxi, we plunged into the mountains. There are many mountains in Zhang Xi 'an County. Along the way, we were all over the mountains. When I arrived at the county seat, I found that Yanjing Town, the county seat, was also surrounded by mountains and could not be stretched.

In Zhang Xi 'an County, we met a friend who had already contacted us, exchanged a few pleasantries and hurried to Gui Qingshan. At this time, we are all in the mountains, and the road passes through the mountains. Looking around, it is still surrounded by mountains. Even if it is wide, it is just a river between the two mountains. In order to survive, the villagers had to open up wasteland in the mountains. Someone passed by here and wrote: "The road is not far from Yanshi Bank, and there are many farmland to Bishantou." It can be seen that there are many mountains and rocks here.

Zhangxi 'an County is located in the transition zone between the West Qinling Mountains and the Loess Plateau in central Gansu Province. Since ancient times, it has been an important place for nomadic people and agricultural people to compete, and it is called Longnan Lock Key. According to ancient records, it is located in the east of Qinlong and the west of Rong Fan. The West Qinling Mountain has left a rich natural scenery heritage here, and the Silk Road has left a rich historical and cultural heritage here.

These introductions have added a bit of expectation to our hearts. We have heard of Gui Qingshan many times, but this is the first time that we really walked into this mountain. According to friends in Zhang Xi 'an County, Gui Qingshan scenic spots include Zen Forest Gui Yue, Duanxi Xianqiao, Eye-washing and Pool-clearing, western scenic spots, Three Peaks Surrounding Green, Stone Stacks Crossing Clouds and other scenic spots. Of course, our key target is broken arrow Xianqiao.

In fact, there are some detours from Zhangxi 'an County to Gui Qingshan. Most Lanzhou citizens choose the direct route from Lanzhou to Gui Qingshan. But we are going to Zhang Xian to meet friends, so we have to go around the county seat. There are two routes from the county seat to Guiqing. One is 35 kilometers from the county seat to Xinsi Township, and then eastbound. Along the way, you can see dishuiya, Foziya, Huohu Temple and other scenic spots, about 60km. The second route is from the county seat to Guiqing forest farm in Bama village, which is a little farther, about 70km. We naturally chose the first path.

2. Tieniu Zen Master

At this point, it's past noon, sitting in the car, sleepy, half asleep, more than an hour later, someone said, wake up, open your eyes, there are already many peaks and towering trees.

Gui Qingshan can have today's scenery without one person. He is the Iron Bull Zen Master. This is a monk in the early Ming Dynasty. It is said that Tieniu Zen Master is a member of Yangjia Temple in Ma Lian Beach, four ethnic townships in Zhang Xi 'an County. Actually, his name is not Iron Bull. This is a persistent monk. /kloc-became a monk at the age of 0/4, and traveled around at the age of 0/6. Later, he returned to his hometown and saw the beautiful scenery around Gui Qingshan. So, there was the idea of building a temple in Gui Qingshan. Building a temple requires a lot of property, and he has to beg for charity everywhere.

At that time, the war had just been settled, and governments at all levels had calmed the people, comforted the people and educated them, but they still could not control it. Where did the money come from to support him to build a temple?

Then, he remembered Wang Su. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang reorganized the central organs of the country, and at the same time made the philosophers king, allowing them to "control the key points and divide the world". From the second year of Hongwu (1369), the county king system was implemented, and 23 sons were enfeoffed to all parts of the country. Among them, nine kings were sealed to the fortress areas along the Great Wall, namely Qin, Jin, Yan, Dai, Su, Liao, Qing, Han and Gu.

Zhu Bi, the king of Su who was sealed in Ganzhou (now Zhangye), was born to Zhu Yuanzhang's fourteenth son and concubine. Originally known as Hanwang, it was renamed Su Wang in the 25th year of Hongwu (1392). The original site of the palace was in Zhangye, and it was moved to Lanzhou in the first year of Wen Jian (1399). After Wang Su moved to Lanzhou, he used the financial and material resources he had. A large-scale Suwangfu was built near the Yellow River, and the local government was assisted in the large-scale construction of Lanzhou City. Taking the current central square as the center, an inner city with a circumference of 6 miles and 200 steps was built. In order to meet the life of princes and nobles, they also built a large number of living facilities in Lanzhou and its surrounding areas. Today, there are Wang Su's manor in Guanying in Dingxi County and Maying in Tongwei County. On the other hand, King Su is the most powerful figure within hundreds of miles of a square circle. With his support, it is relatively easy to beg for alms from others.

Tieniu Zen Master is determined to make a fortune in Wang Su. King Su is not an ordinary person. If you beg for charity from him, you can't be as particular about methods as ordinary people. He came to Lan County (Lanzhou was Lan County in Ming Dynasty, under the jurisdiction of Lintao Prefecture) and came up with an idea. According to folklore, Tieniu Zen Master meditated for seven days and seven nights, chanting scriptures day and night. His perseverance touched the king of Su. Zhao met the Zen master and sat down to talk about it, praising him for his perseverance as an iron cow, hence the name "Iron Bull Zen Master". Naturally, Su Wang also supported a sum of money to build a temple for the Zen master.

According to some data, this is the beginning of building temples in Gui Qingshan. Under the auspices of Tieniu Zen Master, Zhongfeng Temple and broken arrow Xianqiao were successively built in Gui Qingshan, and the incense became more and more prosperous. Tieniu Zen master also has a good martial arts. He often dances with knives and sticks in the Woods. After the exercise, he washed his face and wiped his body in the clear pool. Later, people called Grove Zen Forest, and the pool where he washed his face was endowed with more magic, which was said to cure eye diseases. Nowadays, the grove has become a scene in Gui Qingshan, the washbasin has become an "eye-washing pool", and a series of legends have been born.

3. broken arrow Xianqiao

Since ancient times, there are many famous monks in the world. Where there are famous mountains, there are monks. Led by our friends, we embarked on a mountain road. The mountains and seas on Longshang are high, but there are relatively few steep cliffs. Compared with the mountains in the south, the mountains on Longshang are much easier to climb. However, the mountain roads in Gui Qingshan have broken our inherent thinking.

After passing through the Zen forest, the mountains rose all the way, and we also saw all kinds of strange peaks and mountains. Sure enough, the mountains here are different from those in other places. Stop-and-go all the way, finally arrived at the central temple. This is a flat land of 20,000 square meters. There used to be a temple here, Zhongfeng Temple, which was built in the forty-five years of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1566). In the last century, thirty years ago, there were four big clocks in the temple. Deep bells often resound in the deep mountains, waking up groups of western Western jackdaw from time to time, making the mountains more empty.

Opposite the central temple is Xijing, but between the central temple and Xijing, there is an unfathomable cliff. Broken Sword Fairy Bridge was built here. This bridge is beautifully built. According to the data, the bridge was built in the first year of Qin Long in the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1567). The whole bridge is 13m long, 1.65m wide and 2.3m high. Six pairs of observation posts are divided into five, one for each approach bridge, with a length of 1.52m and a distance of 2 between two eaves. We tried to walk up, but below, the air was filled with white clouds, which made people shudder.

A friend of Zhang Xian said that Guiqing Mountain Bridge has been rebuilt 17 times, but the builder has never changed the architectural style of this bridge. During the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, Wang Xian, a native of Henan Province, wrote a couplet of Guiqing Mountain Bridge: "There is no road in the Green Mountain, and it will be another day to step on Xianqiao."

The mountain road is steep and the fairy bridge is at the top. It must take a lot of time and energy to build a wooden bridge in such a difficult place. In the era when there is no reinforced concrete, the firmness of each wooden structure building depends on the size of its main materials. For example, the life of the house depends entirely on the life of the girders. The life of such a wooden bridge naturally depends on the firmness of the wooden beam carrying the mountain stream. This bridge is 13 meters long, so at least two wooden beams with a length of about 20 meters and a diameter of 20 centimeters are needed. It is obviously a very difficult project to transport such a thick wooden beam from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain.

In the eyes of modern people, it is unthinkable to transport the girder of Xianqiao to the top of the mountain in an era when there are no cranes, helicopters or even large iron components. Obviously, there must be hidden secrets in it.

If people make every effort to transport the girder to the top of the mountain, how to cross the girder on the cliff is another difficult problem.

In fact, there are not many secrets here. Modern people who are used to modern machinery always ignore the wisdom of the ancients.

This is a story that I have heard again and again, telling the superb wisdom of the ancients. The ancients didn't have to work hard to carry wooden beams, and the life of wooden bridges was generally about 50 years. When a new bridge is born, people will plant many pine trees near the bridge head, and these pine trees will decorate a landscape. Secondly, it protects the bridge. Most importantly, they build the girders of the bridge. Mountain watchers take care of these pine trees carefully to make sure they are straight and tall. Forty or fifty years have passed, the pine trees have grown up and the bridges are old. So people cut down two pine trees at the bridge and let them fall on the cliff. The main beam of the wooden bridge is instantly formed, which is extremely easy. In this way, the most difficult problem of new bridge erection is solved, and other problems are not problems.

A bridge was successfully built. The wisdom of the ancients in bridging the bridge shown in broken arrow Xianqiao makes modern people feel ashamed. When we ignore the ancients, it means abandoning the tradition, and the modern technology we have is just a marginal ball.