Zhang Hanqiao

Zhang Hanqiao

On the Tuhai River, about ten li northeast of the old county seat in Yucheng, there stands a large bridge called Zhang Hanqiao (also once known as Guangtong Bridge). During the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty, in Liuzhuang on the west bank of the river, there lived a kind-hearted man surnamed Zhang and named Han. He was deeply troubled by seeing merchants and travelers struggling to move their carts and horses across, often witnessing people slipping and drowning in the river. Unable to stand idly by, he resolutely purchased bricks, stones, and timber, gathered workers to build a nine-arch bridge, and also constructed a Zhenwu Temple south of the road on the west bank of the river to guard the bridge and the river. Merchants and local residents alike were overjoyed, and Zhang Han’s reputation grew immensely. People spontaneously began calling the bridge Zhang Hanqiao. Later, the bridge was further expanded with five additional arches, making it a fourteen-arch bridge—even more magnificent than before. In the autumn of 1604 during the Wanli reign, continuous heavy rains caused the river to swell violently, sweeping away the bridge once again. Soon after, righteous individuals led by Liu Bao and Zhang Maofang initiated a fundraising effort, rallying villagers to rebuild the great bridge and adding two more arches, completing a sixteen-arch bridge. To commend the virtuous deeds of Zhang, Liu, and others who had repeatedly funded and expanded the bridge, and to celebrate their contributions, the local gentry respectfully invited Xing Tong, a presented scholar and imperial inspector of Shanxi stationed in Linyi, to compose a commemorative stele. Following suggestions from scholars and literati, the bridge was renamed “Guangtong Bridge.” The inscription was titled “Record of the Reconstruction of Guangtong Bridge.” Yet, people still commonly referred to it as Zhang Hanqiao.

By 1937, after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Japanese imperialism invaded the Central Plains. For military and economic aggression, they enslaved local laborers to expand the road from Linyi to the Yucheng train station (then called the automobile road) and built a five-arch stone bridge (located about one li north of the original Zhang Hanqiao). The bridge featured stylish cast-iron railings, giving it a distinctly foreign look, so locals dubbed it the “Yangqiao” (Foreign Bridge). After the Yangqiao was built, the old brick bridge constructed in the late Qing Dynasty remained lying in the riverbed. In the early 1960s, under the national call to “completely harness the Hai River,” massive hydraulic engineering projects were carried out across the country. With the widening and deepening of the Tuhai River, both the original old bridge and the newly built “Yangqiao” were dismantled by laborers using wheelbarrows and shovels, making way for a modern reinforced concrete bridge.

Source: Editorial Committee of Yucheng City Local Chronicles