What is the history of Zhaozhou Bridge?

Zhaozhou Bridge was renamed Anji Bridge and is commonly known as Dashiqiao. Built in the Sui Dynasty from 595 to 605 AD, it was designed and built by the famous craftsman Li Chun. It is the oldest and largest single-hole open shoulder stone arch bridge in the world. ?

The Zhaozhou Bridge has a unique architectural structure and is "excellent and well-protected, and is the best in the world" (in the words of Zhang Jiazhen, the official secretary of the Tang Dynasty), and is known as "the best bridge in the world". It occupies a very important position in the history of architecture and has a profound impact on the bridge construction of future generations around the world. In particular, the use of open-shoulder arches with spandrels and arches is the first of its kind in the history of world bridges. In Europe, the earliest open-shoulder arch bridges are the Antonite Railway Stone Arch Bridge built on the Yago River in France in the 18th century and the large stone bridge built in Luxembourg, but they are nearly 1,100 years later than the Zhaozhou Bridge in China. ?

On March 4, 1961, the State Council announced that Zhaozhou Bridge was among the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units. ?

In 1991, Zhaozhou Bridge was recognized as the twelfth "International Civil Engineering Historical Monument" by the American Society of Civil Engineers, and a bronze medal was presented to commemorate it. This marks that Zhaozhou Bridge has become as famous as the Egyptian Pyramids, the Panama Canal, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and other world-famous historical monuments. ?

The Zhaozhou Bridge has a total length of 64.4 meters, a vault width of 9 meters, an arch foot width of 9.6 meters, a span of 37.02 meters, and an arch shaft of 7.23 meters. Viewed as a whole, it is a single-hole curved stone bridge, made up of 28 stone arches built vertically side by side. The solid shoulder arch bridge looks particularly ethereal and beautiful, making the shape particularly beautiful. It is not only highly scientific, but also has my country's unique national art style. It is a great work of ancient Chinese architecture. ?

Zhaozhou Bridge not only has a high scientific level, but also has beautiful plastic arts. Its curved flat arch and small open-shouldered arch shape make it ethereal in size, with soft lines, majestic and graceful, steady and light. From a distance, it looks like a black dragon flying, the first moon emerging from the clouds, a rainbow drinking from a stream, or a jade ring half sinking. On the main arch of the bridge, there is a dragon-head-shaped dragon gate stone carved on it, and eight-petaled lotus-shaped upward stones are dotted on the sides of the bridge. A group of lifelike stone sculptures and romantic techniques are used to create imaginary water-absorbing beasts, expressing people's hope that the bridge will never suffer floods and will last forever. The railings and pillars on both sides of the bridge are carved with various dragons, animal faces, bamboo knots, floral decorations, etc. The dragon is playing in the water, the blue dragon wants to soar into the sky, and looks like a dragon or beast, as if it is soaring or flying. The stone carving techniques are vigorous and simple, the artistic style is bold and novel, the carving is fine, and the artistic conception is profound, showing the vigorous, neat, vigorous and elegant stone carving style of the Sui Dynasty. The entire bridge can be called a superb art treasure, the essence of Sui and Tang art. Du Deyuan, the governor of Zhaozhou in the Song Dynasty, wrote a poem praising: "Driving a stone to fly across the beam makes a rainbow, and the black dragon's back is empty when it wakes up." Liu Baixi of the Yuan Dynasty wrote a poem praising: "The water passes through the jasper ring, and people are walking on the back of the black dragon." Zhao The construction of Zhouqiao Bridge is so ingenious that since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, there has been a widespread myth that Lu Ban built the bridge, and God sent "Tiangong" and "Shending" to help secretly, and the bridge was completed overnight. The popular drama "Little Cowherd" calls the craftsman Li Chun a "sage", which adds to the magical color of Zhaozhou Bridge. ?

The existence of Zhaozhou Bridge has an inseparable historical origin from Zhao County, which is a famous historical and cultural city. ?

Zhao County was called Zhao County and Zhaozhou in ancient times. It has a long history and is recorded in literature with a history of more than 2,500 years. ?

Zhao County is located in the south-central part of Hebei Province, 40 kilometers away from the provincial capital Shijiazhuang City. It is located in the alluvial plain of the Taihang Mountains. The terrain is open and flat, with a total area of ??675 square kilometers and a total population of 530,000. ?

For thousands of years, the hard-working and simple Zhaozhou people have cultivated, lived and multiplied on this land, and together with the entire Chinese nation, they have created a splendid national culture. In this land of abundant resources and outstanding people, unique and precious historical and cultural relics are within easy reach. There are the world-famous Zhaozhou Bridge, the first bridge in the world, and the Yongtong Bridge, also known as the sister bridge; there is the Zhaozhou Dharani Sutra Tower, which enjoys the reputation of "the first tower in China"; there is the thousand-year-old Zhaozhou temple that is famous at home and abroad. A large number of precious cultural relics and historical and cultural heritage such as Berlin Zen Temple. With a long history and profound cultural heritage, the ancient city of Zhao County has a prosperous and developed modern civilization while still shining with the light of ancient and profound Chinese civilization. ?

Zhao County has administered counties and prefectures several times in history, so it was called Zhaozhou in ancient times. Its historical evolution can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty. According to archaeological discoveries, Zhao County in the Shang Dynasty was the land of Fang State: Yu. It was first called Jipu during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and was granted the title of Jipu Hou Kingdom in the Western Han Dynasty. During the Sixteenth Kingdom of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Zhaojun (county) was established in Yinzhou in 529 AD. In 551 AD (the second year of Tianbao in the Northern Qi Dynasty), Yinzhou was changed to Zhaozhou to avoid the taboo of the name of the prince Yin. In the first year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign in the Sui Dynasty (581 AD), Zhaozhou was renamed Zhaojun. In the Tang Dynasty, it repeated several times between prefectures and counties, and finally returned to prefectural governance. In the third year of Daguan of the Song Dynasty (1109 AD), Zhaozhou was promoted to the Qingyuan Army Festival. In the first year of Xuanhe (AD 1119), it was promoted to Qingyuan Prefecture. In 1129, Qingyuan Prefecture was changed to Zhaozhou, and in 1151 it was renamed Wozhou. In 1234, Zhaozhou was abolished and Yongan Prefecture was established. In 1235, Yongan Prefecture was abolished and renamed Zhaozhou. In the early Qing Dynasty, Zhaozhou was promoted to Zhili Prefecture in 1725. In the second year of the Republic of China, Zhaozhou was renamed Zhaoxian. ?

Looking at the history of Zhao County, although its name, governance, and jurisdiction have changed many times over the generations, it has always maintained a large geographical scope due to various reasons such as geography, humanities, folk customs, and religion. It is the political, economic and cultural center of the city while maintaining its unique folk customs and customs.

And it has relatively maintained political stability and economic prosperity and development, laying a broad foundation for its cultural development. ?

With such a cultural background, it is not surprising that Zhaozhou Bridge was born in Zhao County. Regarding the life of Li Chun, the designer and builder of Zhaozhou Bridge, there is a lack of detailed records in historical materials. One theory is that Li Chun was from Zhaozhou. Although there is currently no sufficient basis for this statement, judging from the superb architectural art of the Zhaozhou Dharani Sutra Building designed and built by He Xing, Li Yu and others from this state and the Berlin Temple Tower later built. , since the Sui Dynasty, Zhaozhou has formed a group of architectural craftsmen with superb skills. It is only with the changes of time that this group gradually declined and shifted. ?

As you approach Zhaozhou Bridge Park, the first thing you see is the antique imitation Tangshan Gate. The plaques in front and behind the main hall of the gate "Zhaozhou Bridge in China" and "Looking at the Strange and Admiring the Strange" are all made by famous artists. . Zhaozhou Bridge Park covers an area of ??87,000 square meters. The pavilions and pavilions in the park are well-proportioned, with green grass and green pines, and Zhaozhou Bridge is like a bright pearl embedded in it. The bronze statue of Li Chun surrounded by cherry blossoms stares into the distance with penetrating eyes. The commemorative bronze plaque on the east side of the bridge marks the appropriate evaluation of the thousand-year-old bridge by international authoritative organizations. If you are interested, you can go boating on the clear water and appreciate her poetic charm of "the clouds appear in the early moon and the rainbow drinks in the stream". At the same time, you can also taste ancient bridge tea, read the legend of Zhaozhou Bridge, and understand the impact of a bridge on a nation's culture. Of course, you can also sit in the pavilions or under the grass and trees and have a relaxing and pleasant dream. As a nationally famous cultural relic and scenic tourist attraction, Zhaozhou Bridge Park was rated as one of the top ten scenic spots in Shijiazhuang City in 1999. In 2000, it was rated as a municipal-level civilized unit and a three-star window unit in Hebei Province. Zhaozhou Bridge attracts a large number of visitors from all over the country with its outstanding appearance. Party and state leaders, well-known domestic and foreign experts, scholars, and international friends come to Zhaozhou Bridge to visit and inspect it. There are countless people who are interested in Zhaozhou Bridge. Its majesty and elegance left a deep and beautiful impression. ?

Zhaozhou Bridge, with its unique great value and significance in national history, culture and science, through continuous increase in facility construction and expansion of educational content, is attracting tourists from all over the country, especially in the vast number of It plays a huge role in the patriotism education of young people. In April 1996, it was designated as a county-level patriotic education base; in August 1997, it was designated as a Shijiazhuang City patriotic education base; in 1999, it was named a provincial-level patriotic education base by the Hebei Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government. ?

Building a patriotic education base is the need of the times and the need of history. Zhaozhou Bridge is a typical example of the five thousand years of glorious civilization history of the Chinese nation. Its value and significance lies in enhancing the national self-esteem and pride of the Chinese people, allowing history to inform the future, inheriting the glorious past, and shouldering the mission of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. historical responsibility. ?

Zhaozhou Bridge Patriotism Education Base relies on the buildings and facilities of Zhaozhou Bridge and Zhaozhou Bridge Park. After reconfiguration and transformation, it has been given updated content and more comprehensive educational significance. ?

At present, the base has built two showrooms and exhibition rooms. There are more than 20 kinds of books, materials and promotional souvenirs introducing the history and current situation of Zhaozhou Bridge. There are 5 full-time interpreters. There are nearly 100 sets of video and video equipment and audio-visual materials, as well as base signs, etc. It provides an important place for the people of the province and city to carry out patriotism education, hometown love education and revolutionary traditional education. ?

In order to give full play to the educational function of the base, it has established a comprehensive construction and education relationship with the Department of Architecture of Tsinghua University, some colleges and universities in the province, and primary and secondary schools in the county. It receives universities and middle schools every year. There are hundreds of thousands of educated people and tourists including junior college students, primary and secondary school students, young workers, foreign friends, etc. The social benefits are very significant. Taking advantage of the annual March 18th Adult Day, May 4th Youth Day, etc., we organize local and young students, young volunteers, and youth league members from all over the province to carry out a series of commemorative activities; in conjunction with the fourth-grade primary school Chinese textbook "Zhaozhou Bridge" The teaching organization received a large number of primary school students from nearby counties and cities as well as primary school students of the same grade in the county for on-site visits and publicity and education activities. It organically combined love for the motherland, love for hometown education, ideal education, and national history, culture and tradition education, and achieved significant educational results. ?

In order to improve the environmental appearance of the base and expand the educational function, on the basis of the expansion and reconstruction of Zhaozhou Bridge Park, a World Bridge Museum will be built that integrates national style and modern art. After completion, the World Bridge Museum will use 500 representative miniature bridge models from all over the world, both ancient and modern, and will also display more than 1,000 stone carvings and more than 5,000 pictures from Zhaozhou Bridge, Yongtong Bridge and Yongtong Bridge. The total length of the exhibition line is 1,000 meters, the total exhibition area reaches 2,000 square meters, the bridge pavilion covers an area of ??3,300 square meters, and the construction area is 5,436 square meters. The Zhaozhou Bridge Patriotism Education Base will more fully exert the influence given to it by history and the times. significant role.

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