Ancient Putang Bridge

Ancient Putang Bridge

The Ancient Putang Bridge is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangsu Province.

Ancient Putang Bridge

The Putang Bridge, located south of Putang Town in Lishui County, is the largest ancient bridge still existing in Lishui County. According to the county annals, the Putang River, also known as the Old New Bridge River, flows through Shijiu Lake to the Yangtze River, meandering continuously. There used to be an old Putang Bridge, which was a major bridge on the courier route from Lishui to Xuancheng. It fell into disrepair in the late Southern Song Dynasty. The government set up a ferry at Putang, where officials assigned laborers to operate boats to ferry people across. After the Yuan troops crossed the river, this ferry service was temporarily suspended. In the first year of the Huangqing era of the Yuan Dynasty (1312), Ni Xian, the deputy prefect of Lishui Prefecture, and Chen Rui, a professor, reinstated the ferry at Putang. However, “during spring and summer, the water was rapid and turbulent, and in autumn and winter, when the water receded, the surrounding rocks were steep and dangerous, often damaging boats. Travelers thus faced great hardship.” “During the Hongzhi period (1488–1505), when an imperial inspector passed by, he ordered local officials to encourage wealthy residents to join forces in rebuilding the bridge, but this was not accomplished.” Later, local residents Zhao Qi and his brothers volunteered to build the bridge on their own. “They donated their savings to purchase stone and hire craftsmen… The total cost was no less than 3,000 taels of silver, all funded from their own pockets, without taking a single penny from others.” Construction of the bridge began in the second month of spring in the third year of the Zhengde era of the Ming Dynasty (1508) and was completed in the tenth month of winter in the seventh year of Zhengde (1512), taking a total of five years. After completion, it resumed its original name, Putang Bridge. In the ninth month of the tenth year of Zhengde (1515), the county magistrate Chen Xian commended the Zhao family’s charitable act and renamed the bridge Shangyi Bridge (Bridge of Righteousness), also writing the “Record of the Shangyi Bridge.” Later, it reverted to the name Putang Bridge. During the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong era, Xiao Bixi, Zhao Shizhong, and others carried out renovations.

This bridge is a multi-arch continuous arch bridge. It has nine arches, is 91.3 meters long, and 5.7 meters wide, and is a flat arch bridge. Beneath the bridge are eight piers with cutwaters, supporting the nine arches, among which the central arch is the largest, with a span of 10.6 meters, while the arches on either side gradually decrease in size. The arch stones are made of locally sourced volcanic tuff, constructed using the method of dry-jointed parallel laying. According to records, during construction, “wooden piles were first driven across the river, then stones were used to reinforce both banks. In the middle of the river, stone footings were laid out in nine arches, allowing the water to flow unimpeded. The top was paved with slab stones, and stone parapets stood upright on both sides.” It has been over 480 years since the bridge was completed. In the early 1930s, when a highway was built, the bridge was reused as a road bridge. In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, retreating troops damaged the bridge, leaving a large depression on the bridge deck (which was later repaired). In recent years, with a sharp increase in traffic volume—especially frequent use by heavy vehicles—the load capacity of the bridge has been exceeded, resulting in partial collapse of the bridge’s sidewalls; multiple transverse tie stones in the arch rings have fractured; some arch rings and piers have tilted outward by about 30 centimeters; and serious water leakage on the bridge deck threatens its structural safety. A new bridge has now been built west of the old one, and the original bridge has been designated as a municipal and county-level cultural relic protection unit.

On October 22, 2002, the Ancient Putang Bridge was announced as part of the fifth batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relic Protection Units