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.
Turning lashings into mortise-and-tenon joints
Zheng Duojin developed the lashed joints into mortise-and-tenon joints, shifting load transfer from rope friction to interlocking timber.
The shear strut known as jiandao miao
A pair of crossed struts added to resist lateral thrust, raising the arch and distributing load so that no tie ropes are needed.
Dabao and Luanfeng bridges
Of the bridges he built, Dabao is a provincial protected site and Luanfeng, noted for span, height and daring siting, a national key site.
Seventeen bridges built, nine surviving
Of seventeen timber arch bridges he built, nine survive, underscoring that the craft includes caring for existing structures.
Siting bridges along mountain paths and landings
In Shouning a bridge usually serves a single village, sited between the mountain path and the landing after the gully and rock base are assessed.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Shouning lies in the mountainous northeast of Fujian, where streams have cut many gullies suitable for bridging; villages and bridges often stand in a one-to-one relationship, so although the wooden-arch covered bridges within its territory are less dense than Qingyuan's, they connect with mountain paths and wharves into a single whole, the bridge often being half of the village. Technically speaking, the Shouning branch went further than others in structure: craftsmen developed the original lashing structure into a mortise-and-tenon structure, shifting the load-bearing points from wrapping-and-biting engagement to mutual interlocking of components, and added anti-tilt "scissor struts" (jiandao miao) on the diagonal braces; thus the bridges they built rise high in their arch and bear loads well, becoming self-stable after closure without relying on cables. This modification came from Zheng Duojin, a national-level representative inheritor, who was born in Shouning in February 1929 and died in May 2021; over his life he built seventeen wooden-arch bridges, nine of which survive, among them the Shouning Dabao Bridge, listed as a provincial-level protected cultural relic unit, and the Luanfeng Bridge, listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level for its great span, high bridge, precipitous setting, and beautiful environment—the bridge's grade and the craftsman's skill corroborating each other here. Beyond on-site apprenticeship, the craft's external transmission also uses visual media; China Central Television once specially filmed a science-education documentary to promote it.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Traditional Design and Practices for Building Chinese Wooden Arch Bridges · Traditional Design and Practices for Building Chinese Wooden Arch Bridges · Traditional Design and Practices for Building Chinese Wooden Arch Bridges.
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. Zheng Duojin (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 developed the wooden-arch bridge's lashing structure into a mortise-and-tenon structure and added anti-tilt "scissor struts" (jiandao miao), so that the bridges built rise high in arch and bear loads well, better conforming to mechanical principles. Apart from building bridges, he also actively cultivated successors in the traditional craft of wooden-arch bridge construction. China Central Television filmed a science-education documentary about him to promote and publicize the traditional craft of wooden-arch bridge construction. Male, Han ethnicity, born in February 1929, died in May 2021, a native of Shouning County, Fujian Province. In all he built seventeen wooden-arch bridges, nine of which survive; among them the Shouning Dabao Bridge is listed as a provincial-level protected cultural relic unit, and the Shouning Luanfeng Bridge, with its great span, high bridge, precipitous setting, and beautiful environment, is listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.
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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