[Epoch Times, August 7, 2022]On the evening of August 6, the Wan’an Bridge in Pingnan County, Ningde City, Fujian Province caught fire, and the bridge body was burned and collapsed. The bridge was built in the Song Dynasty and has a history of more than 900 years. It is the longest existing wooden arch bridge in China.
The Paper reported that on the evening of August 6, a fire broke out at Wan’an Bridge in Pingnan, Ningde, Fujian, the longest existing wooden arch bridge in China. The fire was extinguished at 10:45 pm.
At present, the ancient bridge has been burned down to the skeleton and basically collapsed. No casualties yet.
Wan’an Bridge has a history of more than 900 years.
Wan’an Bridge is a five-pier six-hole wooden arched house bridge. The bridge is 98.2 meters long and 4.7 meters wide, with boat-shaped piers and unequal spans. The shortest arch span is 10.6 meters and the longest arch span is 15.2 meters. The bridge house has 38 bays, 156 columns, a bucket-type wooden frame, a double-slope roof, and wooden benches on both sides.
There are 10 stone steps at the east end of the bridge, 36 stone steps at the west end of the bridge, and 13 couplets under the eaves of the bridge house. There is a double eaves bridge pavilion in the northwest of the bridge. The bucket-type beams fly over the eaves, and the roof is covered with double blue tiles. The craftsmanship is ingenious, majestic, simple and dignified. It is worthy of being the most ancient wooden arch bridge in China, and it is of great value to the study of ancient bridge architecture.
Wan’an Bridge was burned in the forty-seventh year of Emperor Kangxi’s reign in the Qing Dynasty, rebuilt in the seventh year of Qianlong (1742), and burned again in the thirty-third year of Qianlong’s reign. It has been repaired in subsequent generations.
In the 25th year of Qing Daoguang (1845), it was rebuilt as a 34-bay 136-pillar bridge house, which was burned down in the early Republic of China. In the 21st year of the Republic of China (1932), it was rebuilt again. The bridge body was extended to the right bank with 38 bays and 156 columns. There was a double eaves bridge pavilion in the northwest of the bridge.
On May 25, 2006, Wan’an Bridge was announced as one of the “Northeast Fujian Covered Bridges” as the sixth batch of “National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units”.
Some netizens questioned the burning of Wan’an Bridge.
Netizen “Lanling laughed for a lifetime”: What happened? Why did Wan’an Bridge suddenly burn down? Was it man-made or natural? What a pity!
Responsible editor: Fang Xiao #