The Paper Senior Reporter Wang Xuanhui and Intern Chen Enze

　　On the evening of August 6, a fire broke out on the Wan'an Bridge in Pingnan, Ningde, Fujian, a key cultural relics protection unit in China and the longest existing wooden arch covered bridge in China.

　　Knowing that Wan'an Bridge was on fire, Huang Minhui rushed back to Changqiao Town from Pingnan County for the first time that night. When he saw the raging fire, he was very uncomfortable but could do nothing.

After returning home, he told his father Huang Chuncai the news.

The old man in his 80s stayed up all night. "It hurts so much. The Wan'an Bridge, which was built so hard by my ancestors, has just disappeared."

　　Huang Minhui was born in a family of wooden arch bridge construction. His family has been engaged in the construction of covered bridges since his great-grandfather's generation. His father, Huang Chuncai, is the inheritor of the traditional construction techniques of wooden arch bridges, a national intangible cultural heritage.

In 1932, Huang Minhui's grandfather participated in the reconstruction of Wan'an Bridge.

In 1954, his father Huang Chuncai participated in the reconstruction of the two northwest arches of Wan'an Bridge that were washed away by the flood.

In 2016, due to a long period of time, Wan'an Bridge was partially deformed and some wood was corroded. Huang Minhui, his father and brother participated in the repair work of Wan'an Bridge and replaced the wood in the corroded part.

　　"Wan'an Bridge may be more of a memory for others at Changqiao. For us, there is another layer of things. It was built by my grandfather and repaired by my father. After so many years, the relationship is too deep." Huang Minhui said.

　　In fact, this is not the first time that Wan'an Bridge, which has a history of more than 900 years, has suffered a fire.

　　As for Wan'an Bridge, according to the "Pingnan County Chronicle": "(Wan'an Bridge) was built in the Song Dynasty. The stone was built as the fifth pier, and the pavilion was built on the top. It was rebuilt in the seventh year of Qianlong (1742)." In the 33rd year of Qianlong (1768), Wan'an Bridge was robbed and burned again. It was burned again at the beginning and rebuilt again in 1932.

In 1952, the two arches at the northwest end of Wan'an Bridge were washed away by the flood, and were rebuilt in 1954.

　　Huang Chuncai's grandfather, Jinshu, was the builder of Wan'an Bridge in 1932.

According to public information, Gold Calligrapher learned all the skills of Master Zhuo from Zhuo Maolong, a well-known master of wooden arch covered bridges at that time.

Since Master Zhuo was ill and could no longer build bridges, he used chopsticks to build a model of a simple covered bridge little by little.

In this way, by building models, Master Zhuo passed on his skills to Golden Books.

　　The wooden arch covered bridge is a wooden arch, and the bridge is covered with a gallery. It is a structural form with the highest technical content among the traditional Chinese wooden bridges.

Most of the existing wooden arch bridges in my country are concentrated in the border areas of northeast Fujian and southwest Zhejiang.

　　The Bianshui Hongqiao in the "Shanghe Tu at Qingming Festival" dating back more than 900 years is the earliest documentation of the traditional construction techniques of wooden arch bridges.

It is reported that the traditional construction techniques of wooden arch bridges are mostly passed down orally within the family and passed down from generation to generation.

　　When Wan'an Bridge was rebuilt in 1932, Huang Jinshu and his two sons, Huang Shengfu and Huang Xiangyan, built the bridge together.

This line of characters was left on the bridge: "Huang Shengfu and Huang Xiangyan of Changqiao Village; Qiu Yunqing, Quchiwei Village of this county, and Lin Qingxiang of Qianxi Village."

　　Huang Xiangyan's son, Huang Chuncai, has been learning the skills of making wooden arch bridges from his uncle and his father since he was a child. He said that the traditional building techniques of wooden arch bridges embody the wisdom of generations of folk artists.

　　Due to his age, Huang Chuncai, who is over eighty years old, has handed over most of the work to his two sons, Huang Minping and Huang Minhui.

Huang Minhui told The Paper that the wooden arch bridges have now been replaced by modern bridges, and they are more engaged in the restoration of ancient bridges.

　　The biggest feature of the wooden arch bridge is that it has no nails and no rivets, all of which are connected by tenon and mortise.

Because of the tenon-and-mortise technique, such bridges are often not afraid of torrents and can stand for a hundred years.

On June 7, 2008, "Traditional Construction Techniques of Wooden Arch Bridges" was included in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.

　　In 2009, the traditional construction techniques of Chinese wooden arch bridges were selected into the list of intangible cultural heritage in urgent need of protection by UNESCO.

　　In order to further inherit the bridge-building skills, Huang Chuncai formed a covered bridge-building team of about 20 people, went to Beijing to record the documentary "Chinese Craftsmanship", participated in the CCTV program, and went to Taiwan to participate in the "Intangible Cultural Heritage" exhibition.

This bridge-building family also established the Huang Family Wooden Arch Bridge Skills Training Institute and trained more than 10 craftsmen.

　　Today, Huang Minping and Huang Minhui can build bridges independently, and have been rated as provincial and municipal non-genetic inheritors respectively.

The addition of his grandson Huang Ying made Huang Chuncai very happy.

He said that good things still have to be passed down, and he hopes that after learning the skills completely, he can apply for the qualification certificate of construction engineer.

　　In an interview with The Paper, Huang Minhui said that according to the handed down technology, there is no technical problem in the repair and reconstruction of Wan'an Bridge. "If there is a need for us, we will definitely go all out." He introduced that if the entire team participates together , the reconstruction may be completed in about 8 months.

If the Huang family rebuilds this time, the bridge's relationship with the Huang family will continue.