China News Agency, Chaozhou, May 10th: Chen Xianwu: Why has Guangji Bridge become the spiritual coordinate of the influx of people at home and abroad?

　　Author Sun Qiuxia

　　Chaozhou Guangji Bridge, commonly known as Xiangzi Bridge, is located outside the east gate of Chaozhou City and spans the Han River. It has a history of more than 800 years.

Guangji Bridge is not only a landmark building in Chaozhou, a national historical and cultural city, but also one of the four ancient bridges in China.

　　Guangji Bridge integrates girder bridge, pontoon bridge and arch bridge. The middle pontoon bridge is connected by 18 shuttle boats.

Mao Yisheng, a famous bridge expert, praised it as "the earliest open-close bridge in the world".

　　For thousands of years, Guangji Bridge has witnessed the changes of Chaozhou from ancient to modern, and it is the first image that emerges when Chaozhou people at home and abroad recall their hometown.

Why did Guangji Bridge become the spiritual coordinate of the influx of people at home and abroad?

Chen Xianwu, a member of the Chaozhou City Cultural Relics Protection Expert Database, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "East and West Questions" and made an in-depth interpretation.

　　The following is a summary of the interview transcript:

China News Service reporter: There is a long-running folk song in Chaozhou: "If you don't reach the bridge until the tide, you will walk in vain."

Why is a bridge so closely related to Chaozhou?

What is the background of the construction of Guangji Bridge?

Chen Xianwu:

The story of Guangji Bridge starts from Han Jiang.

From the Tingjiang River originating in Wuyi Mountain all the way to the south, it joins with the Meijiang River at Sanheba, collectively known as the Hanjiang River.

In ancient times, land transportation was inconvenient, and all goods had to be transported by water. The Hanjiang River enabled the Meizhou area to communicate with the Chaoshan Plain.

However, the Han River is a big river with a very variable flow.

During the summer flood season, the ferry boat can only go back and forth four or five times a day, and the wind and waves are violent in the middle, and there is often the danger of the boat overturning and drowning.

This is not commensurate with the increasingly busy traffic, and people want to build bridges over the river.

　　During the Southern Song Dynasty, Chaozhou's economy ushered in a peak period of development.

In the seventh year of the main road (AD 1171), Chaozhou prefect Zengwang connected 86 boats to form a pontoon bridge, ending the history of the separation of the two sides of the Han River from east to west, and at the same time opening the history of successive prefects and prefectures relaying bridge repairs.

From its construction in 1171 to the ninth year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty (AD 1530), the pattern of "eighteen shuttle boats and twenty-four continents" was formed, which lasted 359 years, which is amazing.

There was no second bridge over the Han River until the 1990s.

Guangji Bridge has a deep memory for Chaozhou people. From this bridge, we can see both Chaozhou culture and Chaozhou economy.

Aerial photography of Chaozhou Guangji Bridge.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Chuhong

China News Service reporter: Guangji Bridge is praised by famous bridge expert Mao Yisheng as "the earliest open-close bridge in the world". The wooden boat in the middle can be un-cabled and moved, leaving the river channel for navigation.

Why did the bridge builders design it this way?

　　Chen Xianwu: The middle section of Guangji Bridge is connected by 18 shuttle boats. The underwater leylines are interrupted, and the middle current is turbulent. No piers are built in the middle section of the bridge.

On the other hand, the use of pontoon bridges can not only reduce the pressure of the torrent, but also make people feasible. When the river water is soaring, opening the pontoon bridge to overflow, and also protect the girder bridge to clear the waterway, which is also a wise strategy under the conditions at that time.

The pontoon part of Guangji Bridge is connected by wooden boats, which are installed in the morning and dismantled at night to facilitate the navigation of passing ships.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Chuhong

　　It is this "helpless" approach that makes Guangji Bridge a movable bridge that can be divided and combined, as Mao Yisheng said, is a special case in the history of bridges in my country.

This bridge was built in the Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, sailing ships went straight to Chaozhou City, and Bijiashan kilns were sold overseas. At the same time, the huge wooden rafts went downstream from the upstream to the sea. A rather large bridge hole can be opened.

Therefore, there is a large mouth in the middle of the two stone bridges, and the pontoon bridge is connected, which can be opened or closed. Horses are still flowing.

The workers sailed to Guangji Bridge to prepare for the closing of the pontoon bridge.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Chuhong

China News Service reporter: Like the Old Bridge in London, Guangji Bridge once provided a place for Chaozhou people to do business, forming a peculiar landscape of "one mile long bridge and one mile city".

What impact does Guangji Bridge bring to Chaozhou's economy?

Chen Xianwu:

During the Southern Song Dynasty, commerce in the Hanjiang River Basin began to rise, and Chaozhou became the economic center of the Hanjiang River Basin because of its geographical location.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, Chaozhou's overseas trade began to develop.

The adventurous tide merchants traveled to and from the sea, brought back silver, and stimulated the rise of handicraft industries such as ceramics, textiles, and sugar making, and goods traveled from north to south through Guangji Bridge.

In the Qing Dynasty, the Ministry of Household set up a special salt road yamen in Chaozhou. After the tide salt was sent from the salt field, it was shipped directly to Guangji Bridge for distribution, and then sold everywhere.

The salt merchants who sailed on the Han River and the sea came to and fro, and the Guangji Bridge became "the meeting place of the salt merchants from all directions".

In the Qing Dynasty, Chaozhou City had become the second largest commercial center in Guangdong Province after Guangzhou.

　　When salt merchants from all over the world came to Guangji Bridge to buy salt, they did not come with empty boats, but brought many hometown specialties.

The pavilions and pavilions of Guangji Bridge used to be lined with shops, just like Beijing Road in Guangzhou. Walking on the bridge is like entering a large shopping mall.

During the Tianshun period of the Ming Dynasty, the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi set up a tax factory in Guangji Bridge to collect taxes on the salt ships.

Tourists on the Guangji Bridge.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Chuhong

China News Service reporter: Guangji Bridge has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. Why did the governments and people of all dynasties attach so much importance to Guangji Bridge?

Chen Xianwu

: Opening the history of Guangji Bridge, maintenance is a theme that keeps popping up.

From floods, typhoons, earthquakes and other natural disasters to artillery bombings, engineering accidents and other man-made disasters, only the history can be traced, Guangji Bridge has been rebuilt more than 20 times.

Regardless of the damage, the obsession of building the bridge has always been in the hearts of the government and the people, which shows the importance of the bridge to Chaozhou society, economy, military affairs and life, and also reflects the perseverance and spirit of the Chaozhou people.

　　After the Guangji Bridge is completed, the customs are below and the business is above. The influx of people have clearly calculated the places where this bridge can make money.

In 1958, Guangji Bridge became a highway bridge, which only served as a transportation function. The original customs office and the original bridge city also disappeared.

In 1989, the Chaozhou Municipal Government built the modern Hanjiang Bridge one kilometer downstream of Guangji Bridge, thus ending the historical mission of Guangji Bridge as a transportation link.

Guangji Bridge was later rated as a national key cultural relics protection unit. In 2003, the maintenance project officially started, and the Guangji Bridge after the comprehensive repair became a tourist attraction.

　　The length of this stone bridge, the size of the stone piers, and the many types of bridges are rare among ancient Chinese bridges.

The difficult construction conditions and the long duration of the project are rare in the history of ancient bridge construction. The entire bridge construction process is a hymn of ancient bridge workers overcoming natural disasters.

Tourists at Guangji Bridge.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Chuhong

China News Service reporter: Chaozhou is an ancient city with a history of more than 1,600 years, and there are many cultural relics and historical sites. Why can Guangji Bridge become the spiritual coordinate of the influx of people at home and abroad?

Chen Xianwu:

Guangji Bridge is an indelible memory for the tide people. From its completion in 1171 until 1989, there was only a second bridge in Hanjiang.

After living in Chaozhou for many years, especially the Chaozhou people who came overseas, the memory of their hometown is often this bridge.

The most distinctive and unforgettable thing in Chaozhou is Guangji Bridge.

　　An interesting phenomenon is worth savoring: during the screening of the Teochew opera movie "Su Liu Niang", when the Guangji Bridge landscape appeared on the screen, the tide people at home and abroad often cheered softly.

Astute Teochew opera playwrights understand that Guangji Bridge is a selling point, so Guangji Bridge appears in plays such as "The Story of the Lying Mirror", "Seven Days of Red", and "Yichun", which has earned a lot of applause and has not been successful after repeated attempts.

　　From ancient times to the present, every time Guangji Bridge needs to be repaired, the hipsters will pay for it.

At the "Guangji Bridge Maintenance Project Donation Ceremony" in 2004, the local folks from home and abroad, regardless of region, scrambled to donate their money and enthusiastically sponsored the project.

Now the pavilions and pavilions on the Guangji Bridge are all donated and repaired by overseas influxes, which once again confirms the strong and fiery nostalgia maintained by the Guangji Bridge.

For overseas influxes, Guangji Bridge is a symbol of "hometown" and a symbol of "homeland". Therefore, it has become a spiritual bond to maintain influxes at home and abroad.

The stone statue of Han Yu in Han Wen Gong Temple overlooks the direction of Han River, Guangji Bridge and Chaozhou Ancient City.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Chuhong

China News Service reporter: How can we better play the role of Guangji Bridge as a spiritual link connecting domestic and overseas?

Chen Xianwu

: The image of Guangji Bridge is very common among overseas Chaozhou ethnic groups. Chinese calligraphers and painters often use it as the theme for their creations. Many Chaoren guild halls also use the Guangji Bridge pattern to add a trendy flavor and advertise Chaozhou blood.

The Johor Temple in Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia is a temple worshipped by the five gangs of Chinese in Johor Bahru. It was advocated by Chen Xunian, a well-known Hong Kong owner from Chaozhou, and others in the late Qing Dynasty, and has become an important pillar for contacting local Chinese.

The temple's annual tour of the gods held on the first month of the lunar calendar is a major local Chinese activity brand and has become an intangible cultural heritage in Malaysia.

In 2019, the float with the theme of Guangji Bridge participated in the night tour of the ancient Johor temple for a hundred years. In 2020, the Chaozhou Guild Hall Touring Clothes made with the pattern of Guangji Bridge will introduce Chaozhou to the locals through the eight Chaozhou scenic spots such as Guangji Bridge. people know.

　　When we promote Chaozhou to the world, we sometimes even equate Chaozhou with Guangji Bridge.

However, the promotion of Guangji Bridge culture is not enough at present, and the important role of Guangji Bridge in Chaoshan area and the Chaozhou people at home and abroad still needs further in-depth research.

It is hoped that more cultural projects will be introduced in related cultural and creative and bridge markets in the future, so that tourists can experience Chaozhou's cultural customs and experience "Tide-style exquisite slow life" on the bridge.

(Finish)

　　Interviewee Profile:

　　Chen Xianwu, a native of Chaozhou Fucheng, a member of the Chinese Historical Documents Research Association, a member of the Chaozhou City Cultural Relics Protection Expert Database, and a member of the Chaozhou City Planning Committee's Historical Building and Traditional Village Protection Expert Committee.

He is the author of "Chaozhou Guangji Bridge" and "Chaozhou Paifang Street", and has twice won the "Chaozhou City Philosophy and Social Sciences Outstanding Achievement Award (Government Award)".