Ancient Bridges of Deqing

Ancient Bridges of Deqing

The Ancient Bridges of Deqing are a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Ancient Bridges of Deqing (including Shouchang Bridge, Yong’an Bridge, Jianji Bridge, She Bridge, Pujie Bridge, Qingyun Bridge, and Wanshan Bridge—seven sites in total) consist of twelve stone bridges built during the Song and Yuan dynasties. They are divided into two types: arched bridges and beam bridges. All the arched bridges have a single span, while the beam bridges include both single-span and multi-span structures. Among them, there are four arched bridges, all featuring segmental arches built using the spandrel method, without coping stones, plain couplet stones, and railings mostly in the form of Sumeru pedestals and inverted-lotus-shaped balusters, showing distinct Song dynasty characteristics. There are seven beam bridges, including one single-span bridge, five three-span bridges, and one five-span bridge. Their piers are all made of several parallel stone slabs, featuring simple shapes and an ancient style.

Located in the western part of the Hangjiahu Plain, Deqing has a dense network of rivers and numerous ancient bridges. In particular, the preservation of more than ten stone bridges from the Song and Yuan dynasties is quite rare and valuable, making it an important physical example for the study of ancient Chinese bridges.