Bridges
Many of the covered bridges in China are not rainbow bridges because they have underlying supports that differ from the woven timber arch-beam structure. The genesis of covered bridges in China, with traditions that predate covered bridges elsewhere in the world, is quite varied and the forms that are still seen are strikingly different from those that occur in Europe and North America. Covered bridges emerged in Europe in the fourteenth century, principally in mountainous areas in Bulgaria and Switzerland, before subsequently being built throughout the continent. While the few covered bridges remaining today in Europe are individually distinct and historically important, they generally do not have the aura of romance and nostalgia that wafts about covered bridges in North America. In the United States and Canada, covered bridges became common only in the first decade of the nineteenth century, subsequently becoming iconic elements of American rural and urban landscapes when horse-drawn vehicles dominated. Using patented truss designs, they proliferated until 1855 when the introduction of improved steel alternatives led to a dramatic drop off in their construction. Over the years, fire, flooding, vandalism, rotting, and overloaded vehicles swept away thousands of wooden covered bridges. Today, fewer than a thousand covered bridges remain of the 14,000 once standing in North America, where wooden covered bridges are universally recognized as worthy of preservation and valued as emblems of times past. Today, it is estimated that at least 3,000 covered bridges are in existence in China, a number that far exceeds those elsewhere in the world, and are among the oldest structures still standing. Yet, old bridges continue to be lost due to floods, typhoons, vandalism, fire, and replacement by modern bridges to meet current needs. It is often difficult to spot the ruins of old covered bridges because timbers and stone are usually quickly scavenged for use as building materials elsewhere.
While old photographs of bridges in China frequently pointed to the existence of small structures atop even single-arch stone bridges or to pavilions along longer bridges, rarely were large ostentatious structures photographed, probably because they were not encountered. Indeed, until very recently long covered bridges in China were essentially unknown outside China. Yet, whether the covered housing sits atop several stone columns, a series of brick or stone arches, a cantilevered wooden structure, or a “woven timber arch-beam,” it is now apparent that the Chinese constructed some of the most complex, most ornamented, and most beautiful covered bridges in the world. The renovation, rebuilding, and new construction of covered bridges in China have been increasing in recent decades. While many of these various types will be extensively discussed on pages 218–61, some will be introduced here.
Most covered bridges in China are constructed in exactly the same fashion as local houses and temples, using timber frame construction and a conventional set of elementary parts. The superstructure of the bridge serves as the “foundation,” with the floor of the bridge being paved with bricks or stone or overlain with sawn timber. Most covered bridges are I-shaped structures that are comprised of the number of bays necessary to span a particular distance. Often, as with land-based structures, the number of bays is an odd number since such numbers are considered auspicious. Wooden benches, some quite elaborately made, usually run along the full length of any covered bridge. Some of these covered bridges are analogous to roadside pavilions, differing only in that they span a body of water.
The covered corridor of the Santiao Bridge, Taishun, Zhejiang, is reminiscent of the wooden framework of common houses or temples. On the other hand, the underlying lifting structure is comprised of three sets of timber chords.
Said to have been built in the Tang dynasty, the Wo (Reclining or Holding) Bridge in Lanzhou, Gansu, served as a river crossing on the Silk Road. This mid-twentieth century photograph shows the bridge as it was restored in 1904, long before it became the prototype model for the Baling Bridge in Weiyuan.
Taken at the end of the nineteenth century, this covered bridge has an open pavilion atop it.Weizhou, Sichuan.
Long timbers laid horizontally on the stone abutments provide support for this modest covered bridge in the Sichuan countryside, which was photographed at the end of the nineteenth century.
Structurally a cantilevered timber bridge rather than a woven timber arch bridge, the Baling Bridge in Gansu is regarded as a “rainbow bridge.”
The Buchan (Stepping Toad) Bridge in Qingyuan county, Zhejiang, was first built between 1403 and 1424 and then rebuilt in 1917. Its single stone arch has a diameter of 17.8 meters while the corridor bridge itself has a length of 51.6 meters. Fifty meters away from the bridge is a stone in the water that is said to resemble the fabled toad in the moon, which led to the belief that one could reach the moon by crossing this bridge.
The Yingjie Temple Bridge in Jushui township, Qingyuan county, Zhejiang, is adjacent to a temple built during the Song dynasty, rebuilt in 1662, and then restored in 1850 to its current state.
Modest covered bridges like this one in Fujian are found throughout southern China, where they provide not only easy passage over a stream but also offer a place for farmers and travelers to rest.
The 15.1-meter-long Sanzhu (Three Posts) Bridge, Zhejiang, has a clear span of 10.1 meters. The horizontal logs that support the timber frame corridor are held up by three stone pillars sunk into the streambed.
Good examples of covered bridges of many types are found throughout southern Zhejiang and northern Fujian provinces. Taishun and Qingyuan counties in mountainous Zhejiang share characteristics with the neighboring Fujian counties of Pingnan, Shouning, Zhouning, Gutian, Fu’an, and Fuding, each of which has a large number of striking covered bridges.
Only three stone columns hold up the timber assemblage supporting the Sanzhu Bridge, a relatively short covered bridge, 15.4 meters long, in Xia Wuyang village in Taishun. Also in Taishun is the 36-meter-long two-storey Yongqing Bridge, whose structure includes a piled cantilever timber beam bridge set upon a single midstream pier. Just upstream of the Yongqing Bridge, one can still see the chiseled-out indentations in the rocky bottom of the stream into which a set of pillars once supported a precursor bridge. Although its origins are unknown—it was last restored in 1916—the covered corridor of the Buchan Bridge in Qingyuan county was constructed over a massive single stone arch. Built above a smaller stone arch, the Yuwen Bridge is sited well among old trees and a rambling stream. A path paved with smooth stones drops from the adjacent hillsides, suggesting that the bridge is an anchor site in a system of mountain–valley byways. The imposing set of altars on the upper level of the bridge affirms its centrality in village worship. The Yingjie Temple Bridge in Qingyuan county is adjacent to one of the oldest extant temples in the region, which was built during the Song dynasty and then rebuilt in 1662. Also a two-storied bridge structure, the Yingjie Temple Bridge spans a narrow stream atop a series of long, parallel logs. Richly ornamented inside, the bridge continue as a vital community center. Among the most outstanding covered bridges in Shouning is the Luanfeng Bridge in Xiadang township. Built first in 1800 and restored in 1964, the bridge has a clear span of 37.6 meters,
