Hengshan Boshi Bridge

Hengshan Boshi Bridge

Hengshan Boshi Bridge is a cultural heritage site protected by Suzhou Municipality.

Originally named Bagua Bridge, Hengshan Boshi Bridge is located in Group 3, Sidu Village, Hengshan Town, Wujiang District.

Its exact construction date is unknown, but it was originally a wooden bridge. Legend has it that it was built during the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1398). The bridge sits at the intersection of two rivers: the east-west oriented Henggang and the north-south oriented Xigang. Southwest of where the two rivers meet lies a Niuziwei (a cultivated polder field). At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, a feng shui master came to the area and claimed that the Niuziwei resembled a reclining ox. He said that if two horns could be placed on the ox’s head, it would form an excellent dragon vein that would attract “ten thousand worshippers daily” and could produce a “true heavenly mandate emperor.” However, no such emperor emerged from the area around Bagua Bridge. It is lamented that the feng shui was ruined by Liu Bowen, the military strategist of Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty, who built a “Pengtou Guanyin” (Bottlehead Guanyin) at the “center of the ox’s brain” in the middle of Bagua Bridge. This statue acted like a nail, pinning the “reclining ox” to the ground, preventing the birth of the “true heavenly mandate emperor.” The Pengtou Guanyin still exists at the foot of Bagua Bridge and is visited by worshippers. Consequently, locals built one bridge over Henggang and another over Xigang, with the two bridges forming an “eight” shape, resembling a pair of horns on the ox’s head. These two bridges were originally called Bagua Bridge, but the name was later corrupted (or changed) to Boshi Bridge (in the local dialect, “Bagua” and “Boshi” sound similar). This new name reflected the locals’ hope for the emergence of a “noble person.” In the 12th year of the Tongzhi era of the Qing Dynasty (1873), the bridges were reconstructed using stones from the nearby dilapidated Chongwu Temple. Both bridges are beam-style stone bridges. On July 29, 1994, they were listed as cultural heritage control sites of Wujiang District.

The bridge over Henggang runs from north to south, with a total length of 11.7 meters, a width of 1.6 meters, an arch height of 3.05 meters, and a span of 4.8 meters. The bridge over Xigang runs from east to west, with a total length of 10 meters, a width of 1.8 meters, an arch height of 3.1 meters, and a span of 5.4 meters.

Source: Wujiang Archives Bureau