One of the four ancient bridges in China, but without any historical charm, what happened to Zhaozhou Bridge in Hebei?

China has a long history, shining like a pearl in world history. Ancient China had great creativity in many arts. Chinese ceramics are as thin as paper and the color of the body is as snow; Chinese calligraphy and painting are characterized by staggering and precipitous character. And ancient Chinese architecture is also a must in China. From the Forbidden City to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, from Suzhou Gardens to the Summer Palace, and even the Yuanmingyuan, which was destroyed in history, we can all experience the wisdom of ancient Chinese architectural art and the pursuit of beauty.

In ancient Chinese architecture, the bridge is a very special kind of building, and its practical value often overshadows its artistic value. It plays an obscure role, carrying the weight that people give it, providing convenience for people, and witnessing the changes of the times and the replacement of dynasties in its own way. What this article is going to introduce is a bridge that has experienced thousands of years of wind and frost - Zhaozhou Bridge .

A large part of the reason why Zhaozhou Bridge is well-known is because I learned an article about Zhaozhou Bridge when I was in school, and from the article, I can appreciate the unique charm of Zhaozhou Bridge. After 1300 years of vicissitudes and changes, Zhaozhou Bridge has been damaged many times, and it has been maintained until today after several repairs. But in a renovation 62 years ago, Zhaozhou Bridge "disappeared". What happened?

Speaking of Zhaozhou Bridge, we have to mention its builder Li Chun . There are not too many detailed records about Li Chun's history books, and he can only rely on Zhao Zhouqiao, who paid his best, to spy on one or two. When building Zhaozhou Bridge, Li Chun not only designed unique, but also scientific and reasonable. It adopts a circular arc shape, which is convenient for passers-by to pass through, which is different from the semi-circular shape that was beautiful but inconvenient for vehicles and horses to pass before. By using the open shoulder arch, Li Chun not only made the bridge itself more stable and reasonable, but also reduced the use of building materials. This open-shoulder arc-arch structure is more than 600 years earlier than the West. Li Chun also made the site selection scientific and reasonable, and chose the place with coarse sand as the foundation to build the bridge, which not only improved the load-bearing capacity, but also strengthened the stability of the bridge itself . It is Li Chun's various reasonable and creative ideas that make Zhaozhou Bridge not only of excellent practical value, but also of extremely high research value and artistic value. Li Chun can be said to be the first bridge expert in the history of Chinese and even world architecture, and the Zhaozhou Bridge he built is also the oldest, largest and best preserved single-hole Tan arc open-shoulder stone arch bridge among the existing bridges in the world.

Even such a bridge cannot be damaged forever, and Zhaozhou Bridge has undergone many repairs in history. According to historical records, Zhaozhou Bridge was first repaired in the eighth year of Zhenyuan in the Tang Dynasty (AD 792). At this time, Zhaozhou Bridge has experienced 200 years. Because the big water washed away the diamond wall on one side of the bridge, causing the small arch to crack, so the Zhaozhou Bridge was successfully repaired with the method of filling stones and rebuilt it, and kept the original appearance. The second repair was in the Song Dynasty. At this time, the Zhaozhou Bridge appeared to be tilted. With the efforts of many craftsmen, it was straightened and restored. After that, it was repaired four times in the Ming Dynasty and once in the Qing Dynasty, and the Zhaozhou Bridge was preserved until modern times.

In 1933, Mr. Liang Sicheng made a detailed inspection record of Zhaozhou Bridge . During the inspection, Mr. Liang Sicheng discovered that the Zhaozhou Bridge was damaged, and suggested that the government at that time repair it. It was not until the founding of New China that the restoration work of Zhaozhou Bridge was implemented.

After a series of detailed surveys and mapping in the early stage, several departments discussed and finally decided to adopt the original five methods of berming stone, hook stone, waist iron, iron tie rod and scoring point, and added the advanced industrial technology at that time to make the It's safer and longer lasting. In 1955, the restoration project of Zhaozhou Bridge began, and in 1958, the restoration of Zhaozhou Bridge was completed.

Then why do you say that Zhaozhou Bridge "disappeared"? The reason is that because the Zhaozhou Bridge is too old, there are not many old materials that can be used, and many modern techniques are used. This is almost a reconstruction of the Zhaozhou Bridge. Modern technology reproduces the original appearance of Zhaozhou Bridge, but it no longer carries its past history, which also makes the historical Zhaozhou Bridge disappear, leaving a "brand new" bridge. In 1963, Mr. Liang Sicheng, who had inspected Zhaozhou Bridge, was dissatisfied with the result of such repairs and expressed his opinion to the relevant departments. He believes that the modern renovation of ancient heritage buildings is a serious damage to their historical and artistic value. The renovation of Zhaozhou Bridge has become a regret in his mind.

With the erosion of time and man-made destruction, many of China's great architectural art crystals have disappeared in the long river of history, and their elegance can only be glimpsed through the few words left by history. In order to reduce this kind of regret, the state is indispensable to the protection and restoration of cultural relics, but the method adopted is still open to question. Events such as Zhenhaihou and Zhaozhou Bridge should be avoided.