Banzha Bridge

Banzha Bridge

Banzha Bridge is a cultural heritage site protected by the Ruzhou Municipal Government.

Banzha Bridge is located in Banzha Village, Mangchuan Town, Ruzhou City. It dates back to the Ming Dynasty. On January 22, 2016, Banzha Bridge was designated as part of the Seventh Batch of Provincial Cultural Heritage Sites by the Henan Provincial People’s Government.

Banzha Bridge is located east of Banzha Village, Mangchuan Town, Ruzhou City, Henan Province, spanning the Wanquan River from north to south. It is a two-arch stone bridge. The bridge foundations were built on the bedrock of the Wanquan River using rectangular rough stones arranged in a “guī” (a type of ancient ritual vessel) shape. The foundations on the southern and northern sides were constructed using the natural rock formations on both banks, aligning level with the “guī”-shaped foundations on the riverbed to form supporting points before the arches were built. Both bridge arches span 3.75 meters and have a height of 1.8 meters. The arches were constructed with finely cut bluish-gray stones that are concave inside and convex outside, laid in an orderly fashion to form the high-rise structure. The sides of the arches are trimmed with coarse sandstone slabs shaped in arcs, secured between them with flat iron bars to prevent loosening due to long-term vibrations. At the upper part between the two arches on the upstream side of the bridge, there used to be a carved stone dragon head, now broken. Above the bridge openings, 8–10 layers of irregularly shaped flat stones were laid horizontally. Due to years of wear by vehicles and pedestrians, the bridge deck bears two sets of ruts of varying depths, indicating the heavy traffic and frequent use of this bridge. On the western side of the bridge, there is a stone stele inscribed with the text: “Reconstructed and established on the eighteenth day of the tenth month in the first year of the Taichang era of the Great Ming (October 18, 1620 AD).”

Banzha Bridge is located in a shallow mountainous area. Its geographical position lies along the ancient trade route of the north-south transport line during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was a vital passage for merchants from Shanxi and Shaanxi traveling through Luoyang toward the Jing (Zhou) and Xiang (Yang) routes. The bridge provides rare physical evidence for the study of the vast commercial and tea trade routes of the Ming and Qing periods.

Banzha Village: Banzha Village…… More details about Banzha Village++

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of Henan Provincial Cultural Heritage Sites