Huaiyang Golden Dragon Bridge

Huaiyang Golden Dragon Bridge

The Golden Dragon Bridge is located in an inner lake in the southeastern corner of the county town. It is said to have been built in the late Tang Dynasty. This single-arch stone bridge is 2.4 zhang long and 1.2 zhang wide. Outside the bridge pond, stone rollers are arranged on the city wall, and the bridge is equipped with carved blue stone railings. Near the water at the bridge’s arch, a red stone-carved dragon is decoratively placed, with its head facing north and tail to the south, giving the bridge an elegant, classic, small, and delicate appearance. As it stands opposite the Silver Dragon Bridge, it is named the Golden Dragon Bridge. In 1962, it was listed as a county-level cultural relic protection unit. It is now submerged underwater. Near the bridge, there were formerly buildings such as Yuebo Temple, Wenchang Palace, and Ancestral Master Temple.

Legend has it that during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, Chenzhou suffered from a severe drought for three years. Wails filled the land, and the people could hardly survive. The emperor ordered the Fourth Imperial Uncle of Empress Cao to go to Chenzhou to sell grain. However, he used large measures to collect and small ones to distribute, mixed sand in the grain, exploited the people for wealth, forcibly abducted young women, causing the people of Chenzhou endless suffering and widespread resentment. The Fourth Imperial Uncle even killed an old famine victim named Zhang, who dared to speak out, using the imperial purple-gold hammer bestowed upon him. Zhang’s daughter, Zhang Guiying, had no choice but to travel to the capital to file a complaint. Bao Zheng, the prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture, took up the case. Disguised and conducting undercover investigations, Bao heard the people's grievances in every corner of Chenzhou and witnessed the corrupt official’s numerous misdeeds. He then donned his official robes, hung his official plaque, carried the imperial edict, brought along the executioner’s blade, and angrily beheaded the Fourth Imperial Uncle by the Golden Dragon Bridge. Blood stained the bridge as justice was served for the people, and the evil was eliminated. Since then, the Golden Dragon Bridge has become a sacred place that suppresses evil and promotes good, upholding righteousness and suppressing wickedness. It is said that the roots of the stuttering grass by the bridge remain red to this day.

There is no historical record of the Fourth Imperial Uncle, and the story of Lord Bao going to Chenzhou seems to be a literary creation. However, it is certain that the upright and incorruptible Bao Zheng did many good deeds for the people of Chenzhou. He wrote bluntly, reporting that Chenzhou suffered from disasters with “fire, rain, snow, and freezing damaging mulberry and jujube trees,” “silkworm breeding yielding only thirty to fifty percent,” and “the wheat crop failing to mature,” and he opposed “oppressive taxation of the people,” advocating for reduced tax burdens. Today, the Huaiyang County Annals still preserve his written work, Request for Exemption of Additional Taxes and Conversions in Chenzhou, which is a very valuable piece of historical material.

Source: Huaiyang Government Affairs Website