Hong Bridge in the picture Riverside Scene at the Qingming Festival

In the picture Riverside Scene at the Qingming Festival, drawn by Zhang Zeduan in the late years of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), the Hong Bridge of all bridges over the Bianshui River is the most conspicuous and elegant. The bridge looks like the rainbow, and hence it got the name Hong (means the rainbow in Chinese) Bridge.

The Hong Bridge is of high status in the history of Chinese bridges. The Hong Bridge, Anji Bridge in Zhao County of Heibei Province, Wan'an Bridge in Quanzhou City, and Guangji Bridge in Haiyang County of Chaozhou City, are called the Four Great Ancient Bridges of China and gain high fame all over the world. In the past people thought the Hong Bridge had disappeared. But in October 1980, when Mao Yisheng, the famous bridge expert, was in charge of the compiling of History of the Chinese Ancient Bridge Technology, experts of the editorial staff carried out on-the-spot investigation and finally confirmed that the technology of Hong Bridge populated in the Northern Song Dynasty had been improved in southern Zhejiang Province rather than disappeared.

Centipede Bridge in Taishun County

Taishun County in southern Zhejiang Province is of meandering mountains, crisscrossed small valleys, steep hypsography and complex topography. Because of its numerous mountains, streams and bridges, Taishun County is called the Ancient Bridge Museum all along. The wooden corridor arch bridge, which is called Centipede Bridge among Taishun people, has the similar structure to the Hong Bridge in Riverside Scene at the Qingming Festival. After textual research, experts said the centipede-structure could bear more pressure. As long as both ends are fixed, the bridge can bear downward pressure very well. However, because of the special structure, the bridge often loses balance and is even destroyed by upward rebound pressure. That is why all the Centipede Bridges choose the corridor structure. It is amazing that the corridor on the bridge increases stability rather than being a burden. When the mountain torrents raise the water level, the bridge is on the edge of being shattered at any moment; so the villagers carry heavy furniture from their houses to put on the bridge to guarantee the safety of bridges.

Taishun people practise totem worship for bridges. They beg for good geomantic omen by planting trees and building bridges. A shrine for villagers to sacrifice is often seen on the bridges, by one side of the bridge or facing one end of it. In a word, the combination of bridge and temple is a prominent character in Taishun County and the boundary area of Zhejiang Province and Fujian Province.