The 13 iron chains weigh 40 tons. How was the Luding Bridge built 300 years ago? admire the wisdom of the ancients

The Luding Bridge over the Dadu River has a history of more than 300 years and is still in use today. It is located in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, spanning Panzhihua City in Sichuan Province and Kunming City in Yunnan Province, and spanning both sides of the Jinsha River. The bridge is 435 meters long and 20 meters wide. The bridge body is connected by 3 beams. Black metal rings 1313 chains and 12164 iron rings support pedestrians on and under the bridge. Tourists hold iron chains and step over wooden boards, admiring the tenacity and wisdom of the ancients. So how did the ancients build such a chain bridge?

Luding Bridge is located in Luding County, Sichuan Province, in the 43rd year of Emperor Kangxi (1704 AD). It was built under the auspices of Yunxiang, Prince Heshuo, the Minister of Lifan Yuan in Kham. It was completed and opened to traffic in the fifty-fourth year of Qianlong (1879 AD). It is a bridge built across the Sichuan-Tibet Highway and the Jinsha River Canyon. The bridge is 378 meters long. Xiong Tai, then secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee, played Emperor Kangxi, "80 miles away from Hualin Camp, the mountain site is solid, the place name is Anle, and the bridge is planned to be modeled on the iron cable bridge." Because it is in an important position from Sichuan to Tibet, the construction of the bridge will be more Conducive to Kangxi's handling of the Tibet issue.

Kangxi agreed, and the dove workers constructed it. Before that, in 1687, Jiarong Tusi Gongga Langjie and the Qing court signed a series of documents such as the "Announcement of Kang District Tongfan" and the "Regulations of Xie Gong", and named the bridge "Gongga Bridge". The bridge was finally completed on May 15, 1706, and Emperor Kangxi named the bridge "Luding", which means "Tibet on Luzhou Water".

Luding Bridge is an iron cable suspension bridge about 103 meters long from east to west. There are nine iron chains and wooden boards for people to cross the bridge. There are two iron chains running from east to west on both sides of the bridge, which serve as handrails. The bridge deck is about 30 cm wide, with guardrails on both sides, and many small holes are opened on the railings. The river under the bridge is turbulent and the current is swift. The river is very high, only about 1 meter deep under the water. This is the bridge we see today. On both sides of the river is an abutment, with a falling well, 8 iron piles made of pig iron, 4 iron chains connected to the handrail, 9 iron chains across the river anchor pile, tightly supporting the Luding Bridge .

However, the bridge body is unstable from top to bottom and can easily swing. And because the bridge deck is small, it is easy for pedestrians to slip; once a traffic accident occurs, it will cause casualties and huge property losses. Therefore, many countries in ancient times built various bridges. When the wind blows and the rain hits, the people on the bridge are even more swaying, so there has been a saying of "rope bridge thrilling" since ancient times. Crossing the bridge is so amazing, you can imagine the difficulty of building it.

Iron is the most used material for chain bridges, and the light iron parts of Luding Bridge weigh more than 40 tons. But there are no iron mines near Luding County, not even a few blacksmith shops. In the end, the workers had to go to Yingjing County, more than 100 kilometers away, to make iron, iron rings, and then transport it back to Luding. This is also the first time the Luding people knew and used the name "Iron Ring". Later, people discovered that the iron ring has many wonderful uses! At that time, in order to improve the quality of the iron chain, the court also ordered every craftsman to make the iron ring by himself, so that the accident responsibility behind the iron chain could be realized.

Then there's how to deliver the chain to the other end and secure it. That's where the rope is needed. The ancient Chinese began to use ropes to transport objects very early. Around 200 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions. He took some ropes along the Silk Road. The Dadu River rose so fast that ordinary boats entered the river and were quickly overturned by the water. In Tongzhi, Sichuan, there is a record that "the Dadu River in the southeast of Yazhou Prefecture has no bridges in ancient times, and the river is fast and does not rely on water transportation". Since it can't be shipped, how can the chain be on the other side?

Later, it was discovered that if there is no bridge, the river must be crossed, and the locals use ropes to cross the river, that is, through the ropeway on both sides of the river. This device is called a "rope cover", and it is woven from a wire with a very thin diameter and a length of more than one meter, and there are many small holes in it. When the rope was pulled up, a rope jacket was tied to it. The rope coat is on a large bucket that people tie to the bucket as they cross the river and slide along the rope across the river.

Inspired by this method, workers tie huge ropes on both sides of the river, then thread 12 short bamboo pipes into another rope, put iron chains inside the rope, and send the iron ropes to the other side of the river . Then a small wooden boat was dug out in the river, and there was a boat on it. There is a wooden board at the stern, which reads: "Luding Bridge - Documentary of Yongchuan People's Flood Fighting", which is the name of the bridge. Finally, the anchor chain, iron chain, iron pile, iron pile, anchor pile, anchor pile, and anchor pile are placed on the shore abutment to form such a Luding Bridge.

The completion of the Luding Bridge has not only facilitated cross-strait personnel exchanges, but has also become an important passage from Sichuan to Tibet, playing an important role in both military and civilian aspects. At the same time, due to its special geographical location and geographical environment, it has a very high historical research value, and has a profound and extensive impact on the level of social and economic development and people's ideology and culture at that time. The construction of the Luding Iron Chain Bridge also showed us the wisdom of the ancient working people, and its value has continued to this day.