Ruins of Chuihong Bridge

Ruins of Chuihong Bridge

The Ruins of Chuihong Bridge is a protected cultural heritage site of Jiangsu Province.

Chuihong Bridge was widely famed as the “Longest Bridge in the Jiangnan Region.” It is located outside the eastern gate of Wujiang City. Originally named Liju Bridge and commonly called the Long Bridge, it was first built in the eighth year of the Qingli era during the Song Dynasty (1048), initially constructed from wood. At that time, there stood a pavilion named “Chuihong” elegantly positioned at the center of the bridge. In the twelfth year of the Yuan Dynasty’s Zhiyuan era (1275), it was rebuilt as an 85-arch bridge, then expanded to 99 arches in the eighth year of the Yuandade era (1304). In the second year of the Taiding era (1325), it was reconstructed with stone and reduced to 62 arches. The central section featured three large arches raised to allow boat passage, with two pavilions named “Huize” and “Diding” erected at both ends, each guarded by a pair of vividly carved stone lions. It underwent renovation during the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty. There are also records indicating more than 62 arches after the stone reconstruction. For example, the “Record of the Reconstruction of Chuihong Bridge” by Qian Pu during the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong era, as cited in the Wujiang County Annals of that time, states the bridge was “over a thousand feet long with seventy-two openings below”; Tao Zongyi’s miscellany “Nancun Chuogeng Lu,” compiled in 1366, records: “The long bridge of Wujiang has seventy-two spans”; the “Annals of Suzhou Prefecture” from the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong era, Volume Seven on Water Conservancy, Section Two under the entry for the eighth year of the Hongzhi era, quotes Ming scholar Yang Xunjis’s “Records on River Dredging,” which says: “The Wujiang river outlet lies beyond the Long Bridge, which is two li in length and has seventy-two spans”; the “Section on Water Control Proposals” by Shen Ji of Wujiang from the tenth year of the Chongzhen era (1637), as recorded in Volume Forty-One of the Qing Dynasty’s Wujiang County Annals, states: “Just look beneath the Long Bridge, there are seventy-two gates”; the Ming Dynasty hydrologist and Wujiang native Shen [character missing] wrote in his “Study of Wujiang Waters”: “(Chuihong Bridge) is one hundred and thirty zhang in length, with sixty-four apertures,” while also noting “the county annals claim the bridge has seventy-two apertures.” The entry on “Chuihong Bridge” in the “Ciyuan” dictionary, first compiled in 1908 in the 34th year of the Guangxu era, states: “The bridge has seventy-two spans, built in the eighth year of the Qingli era of the Song Dynasty. Commonly called the Long Bridge. See the 78th volume of the Jiaqing-era ‘Comprehensive Gazetteer,’ Section Two on Suzhou Prefecture.” When it was renovated in 1915, only 44 spans were visible. By August 1957, when it was designated as a Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit, 47 spans were observed, with the rest buried underground.

On June 5, 2006, the Ruins of Chuihong Bridge were announced as part of the sixth batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units