Genling Inverted Bridge

Genling Inverted Bridge

Genling Inverted Bridge is located on the Jiuxi River, about 500 meters southeast of Genling Natural Village, Zhukeng Village, Maxiang Town. It was built during the Tang and Five Dynasties periods and was renovated during the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1875–1908). The bridge served as part of the ancient road connecting Liuwudian to Quanzhou Prefecture. It is a stone flat-beam bridge oriented east-west, with two piers and three spans. The total length is 26 meters, the span of each bridge opening is 5.5 meters, and the bridge deck is 2.5 meters wide. It is paved longitudinally with five granite slabs, each measuring 6 to 6.3 meters in length and 0.46 to 0.51 meters in width. The piers are constructed with strip stones laid alternately lengthwise and crosswise in a boat-like shape. The 1915 edition of the Tong’an County Annals, Volume 5, records: “The Inverted Bridge is situated at the boundary between the eighth and tenth districts below Kunling. Legend has it that the famous late Tang scholar Luo Yin once traveled here and prophesied, ‘Built again and again, it collapses again and again,’ hence the name Inverted Bridge.”