Traditional Design and Practices for Building Chinese Wooden Arch Bridges
01 · Historical Records
The tied-beam wooden-arch covered bridge (bianliang mugong langqiao) originates from the special type of wooden-arch bridge known as the "Three-Beam Bridge" (San Tiao Qiao) of the Tang dynasty, possessing special historical research value and occupying an important place in the history of Chinese bridge-building. According to the Guangxu-era "Qingyuan County Gazetteer," since the Song dynasty more than 230 various wooden-arch covered bridges have been constructed within Qingyuan County, of which over 90 still survive—the most of any county in the nation. In September 2005, the Qingyuan Houkeng tied-beam wooden-arch covered bridge received the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation, Award of Excellence (first class). Among these wooden-arch covered bridges, the Xidong Bridge from the Longqing reign period of the Ming dynasty has the longest history.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Chinese bridge-building craftsmanship has a history of several thousand years. The laboring people of antiquity, relying on their own ingenuity and wisdom, created excellent bridge-building techniques. The craft of constructing tied-beam wooden-arch covered bridges is one such technique, now mainly transmitted in Zhejiang, Fujian, and other places. The Zhejiang–Fujian tied-beam wooden-arch covered bridges have a long history, rich forms, and great numbers, standing unrivaled among comparable covered-bridge structures in the country. Qingyuan County lies in the southwest of Zhejiang Province, with deep valleys and secluded ravines; its people long suffered from "impassable waterways," sighing at the chasms. Under these circumstances, the wooden-arch covered bridge arose in response to the need, becoming an indispensable transportation facility in the mountainous area.
The symmetrical frame of Tongle Bridge
At 36 by 5.8 by 14 metres, Tongle Bridge was the first newly built timber arch bridge in half a century, distinguished by aligned segments and balanced symmetry.
The long narrow covered ways on the bridge
Because the bridges span narrow gullies, the covered ways are long and narrow, forming a roofed passage rather than an open deck.
Teaching apprentices on the bridge site
Dong Zhiji taught by working alongside apprentices on the site; each completed bridge doubled as a teaching model.
Bridges led by Dong Zhiji
From 2005 he led the building of Tongle Bridge in Taishun and Qionghua Covered Bridge at Sanyang Wetland in Wenzhou.
From assorted trades to folk construction
Born in Taishun in 1925 and a third-batch national inheritor, Dong Zhiji worked in several trades before concentrating on folk construction.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Taishun is among the counties with the densest concentration of preserved tied-beam wooden-arch covered bridges in southern Zhejiang, with a considerable number of covered bridges in the county, of which fifteen have been listed as nationally protected cultural relic units. Most bridges are sited along streams, spanning short yet deep mountain gullies, so their spans are mostly around twenty to thirty meters, the bridge bodies slender and elongated, and the covered walks above narrow and long. Transmission is concentrated in the master-apprentice teams. Dong Zhiji worked in various trades in his early years and later mainly engaged in folk building construction; from 2005 he presided over the construction of the Taishun Tongle Bridge and the Wenzhou Sanyang Wetland Qionghua Covered Bridge, taking Taishun's tied-beam method beyond his home county. In terms of form, the Tongle Bridge is 36 meters long, 5.8 meters wide, and 14 meters high—the first newly built tied-beam wooden-arch bridge in the country in half a century—and the method it represents, emphasizing regularity and symmetry, differs slightly from the old-style method of the Qingyuan line, serving also as important physical evidence for judging Taishun as a separate branch of the building tradition. The mode of transmission has also changed with the times: Dong Zhiji took on apprentices and imparted his craft at bridge construction sites, transforming the originally work-bound oral transmission into on-site teaching using a specific bridge as the classroom.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Taishun County in Zhejiang Province also preserves a large number of tied-beam wooden-arch covered bridges, of which 15 have been listed as nationally protected cultural relic units. Dong Zhiji (from the official records of the associated inheritor): Representative inheritor of the third national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage for the traditional craft of building wooden-arch bridges. He later engaged in various trades, mainly folk building construction. Starting in 2005, he successively built the Taishun Tongle Bridge and the Wenzhou Sanyang Wetland Qionghua Covered Bridge; among them, the Tongle Bridge (36 m long, 5.8 m wide, 14 m high) was the first newly built tied-beam wooden-arch bridge in the country in half a century. Through bridge construction he took on apprentices and imparted his craft, ensuring the transmission of the skill. Male, Han ethnicity, born in November 1925, died in April 2018, a native of Taishun County, Zhejiang Province.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Dong Zhiji 03-1434
- Zheng Duojin 03-1435
- Huang Chuncai 04-1913
- Hu Miao 05-2870
- Cengjiakuai
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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