Huaiyang Golden Dragon Bridge

　　The Golden Dragon Bridge is situated in an inner lake in the southeastern part of the county town. Legend has it that it was 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 lined up on the city wall, and the bridge is adorned with carved green stone railings. Near the waterline of the bridge arch, there is a decorative red stone-carved dragon, with its head facing north and tail pointing south, giving the bridge an elegant, quaint, and delicate appearance. It is named the Golden Dragon Bridge because it stands opposite the Silver Dragon Bridge. In 1962, it was listed as a county-level cultural relic protection unit. It is now submerged underwater. Near the bridge were originally structures 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, with lamentations heard across the land and people unable to make a living. The emperor ordered the Fourth Imperial Uncle, brother of Empress Dowager Cao, to go to Chenzhou to sell grain. However, he used large measuring buckets to take grain in and small ones to give it out, mixed sand into the grain, exploited the people, amassed wealth, and forcibly abducted young women. The people of Chenzhou suffered greatly and voiced widespread grievances. The Imperial Uncle also killed Zhang Laohan, a starving civilian who dared to speak out, with his imperial-authorized purple-golden hammer. 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 complaints and witnessed the corrupt official’s many misdeeds throughout the streets of Chenzhou. He then donned his official robes, hung his golden plaque, carried the imperial edict, and brought along the executioner’s blade. At Golden Dragon Bridge, he angrily beheaded the Fourth Imperial Uncle, staining the bridge with blood, delivering justice to the people, and eliminating a great evil. Since then, the Golden Dragon Bridge has become a sacred site symbolizing the suppression of evil and the promotion of righteousness. It is said that the roots of the knotgrass near 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 creation of literati. However, the upright and incorruptible Bao Zheng undoubtedly did good deeds for the people of Chenzhou. He wrote bluntly and truthfully, reporting on the disasters in Chenzhou, such as “fire, rain, snow, freezing temperatures breaking mulberry and jujube trees,” silkworm harvests yielding only 30–50%, and wheat crops failing to ripen. He opposed the “brutal extortion of the people” and called for reduced taxes. Today, the Huaiyang County Annals still preserves his written petition titled “Request to Exempt Additional Tax Payments in Chenzhou,” which is a very valuable piece of historical documentation.

　　Source: Huaiyang Government Affairs Website