Hegel, a famous philosopher, thinks that architectural art is the most material art and literature is the most spiritual art. As we all know, building materials such as stone, concrete and steel have no spirituality at all, and they can only be shaped according to the law of weight. Any building must be built with engineering materials to meet its functional requirements, and it is restricted by mechanics. Its component combination and spatial modeling are basically geometric abstractions, so it is difficult to express its specific meaning in detail. Literature, on the other hand, is a kind of language art, which has unique advantages such as exquisiteness and flexibility in expression. The ideographic obstacle encountered by architectural language is precisely the literary language, especially the literary language of China. Our ancestors, with their unparalleled intelligence, grafted literary language into the architectural image, fully mobilized literary language to deepen the architectural implication. In this regard, Suzhou ancient bridge used this technique and adopted various forms such as erecting monuments, arranging columns and carving fences (poles), which enriched the architectural art of the bridge and formed a unique cultural image, which can be called a wonderful flower of Suzhou Wu culture.
Standing stone. Engraving on stone tablets and organizing them into bridge buildings is a more solemn form of combining literary language with traditional buildings in China. The flat plate can be a simple flat plate, a grand image composed of a flat plate seat, a flat plate body and a flat plate head, or even a flat plate pavilion. These stone tablets, which combine literature, calligraphy and sculpture, themselves constitute architectural sketches. For example, the tablet pavilion of Lugou Bridge in the western suburbs of Beijing is a typical work. The tablet is engraved with "Lugou Xiaoyue", which is the imperial pen of Emperor Qing Qianlong.
Suzhou ancient bridge monument is more common. For example, in baodai bridge, a 53-hole stone arch bridge with a total length of 317m was built in the Tang and Yuan Dynasties (8 16-8 19). It is one of the four ancient bridges preserved in China (see note). There are stone pagodas and stone pavilions in Yi Bei, and baodai bridge. The stone pagoda is made of granite and built on one roof. Although it is not as solemn and exquisite as the stone pavilion of Lugouqiao, it also looks simple and elegant. Stone Pavilion built-in stone tablet, engraved with the inscription of "Rebuilding baodai bridge" by Zhang Songsheng in Qing Dynasty. On Fengxian Bridge in Wujiang, Suzhou, there is a memorial tablet pavilion in the north and south, similar in style and size, facing each other across the river, like a pair of twin sisters; Both stone pavilions rest on the top of the mountain, with eight immortals carved on the main ridge, which is elegant in shape, and the wings on the four ridges fly like a swallow in the air; Stone railings are placed in the pavilion to sit on the sill for passers-by to rest; The inscriptions on the two pavilions are engraved with words, and the south pavilion is "turning the day into the sky, peaceful and calm; It's better to go through thick and thin, "said Beiting. Sit and talk, get up and walk; Old people are safe and a few are pregnant. "It vividly describes the peaceful atmosphere of passers-by and encourages young people to look to the future and explore a better life. It is quite interesting to read.
Today, there are still some bridge monuments in Suzhou Monument Museum, such as the monument to the reconstruction of Wang Ting Bridge and the monument to the reconstruction of Xibaitazi Bridge. In the 31st year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1905), the Record of Rebuilding Xibaitazi Bridge, which was engraved by Gu in Wuxian and Changzhou, briefly described the experience of repairing the bridge, recorded the names and amounts of donors during the rebuilding, and made it public in detail.
Bree. Erecting poles and carving couplets on bridges are the most common phenomena in Suzhou traditional bridge architecture. Today, many ancient bridges in Suzhou still exist. It uses the characteristics of one character, one sound and one meaning of Chinese characters to form a symmetrical form with six or seven short words and more than a dozen long words, with different styles and elegant characters; Some are refined poems, which are concentrated poems; Some are popular prose tones, fluent in language and profound in thought; Some are ordinary vernacular, describing the surname and year of the bridge builder. Couplets are connected with the bridge building and supported by columns, which are called couplets and placed on both sides of bridge opening. There are also several pillars arranged at the top of the bridge, called door couplets.
The couplet of Puji Bridge at the eastern foot of Huqiu Mountain in Suzhou is: "Hongcheng Water surrounds the mountain pond for seven miles, and the Fuyu Yunyan Tower in Xizhan Lake stands in the spring and autumn". The bridge connection of Xukou Houtang Bridge in Wuxian County, Suzhou is: "May God always produce good people and people always do good things". The couplet of Xishanmiao Bridge is "a new rainbow beam across the water, and the tiger and the blessing meet to grab the whirlpool". The couplet on the Bailong Bridge in Shengze, Wujiang City, Suzhou City is: "The wind sends a thousand sounds, and it is easy to celebrate in the middle of the road; It's clear, with three feet of waves, so I can think more about the source of water. "The couplets of Wulongqiao in the southern suburbs are:" Key towns, three to five, drinking Changhong regulations for half a month; The clock is five waters, which is far from the whole lake. "The couplet of the Xushuguan Fengle Bridge in the northwest suburb of the city is:" The water is far away, and the ancient mouth is connected with Taiwan; People are happy at all times of the year, and the scenery at all times is better than the earth. "
Carved balustrade most of the existing ancient bridges in China are built with stones. Stone carving balustrade is an important aspect of bridge plastic arts, and its form is mostly artistic sculpture, but rarely literal art. In a broad sense, artistic sculpture also belongs to the category of literal art, such as the stone lion on the balustrade of Lugou Bridge and the floral decorations on the balustrade are typical examples.
There used to be a Hundred Lions Bridge on the Guantaixu River in the ancient city of Suzhou. It is a single-hole stone arch bridge built in the Southern Song Dynasty. It is made of wukangshi, which is rough and simple. The railings on both sides of the bridge body are embossed with lions, and the knife method is exquisite. There are nearly 100 lions walking, sitting, lying and squatting, which are lifelike. Now, the bridge has been demolished, and part of the lion carving fence has been moved to the small bridge in Daoqian Street.
Not long ago, a stone bridge in an academy was discovered in Chefang Town, the eastern suburb of Suzhou. The bridge was built in the seventh year of the Northern Song Dynasty (A.D. 1047) and rebuilt in the eleventh year of the Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 135 1). Exquisite patterns are carved on the stone railings on both sides of the ancient bridge, and dragon balls are on the east side. The dragon is short and thick, flying in the clouds, becoming more and more obvious. There are pictures of orbs, bats, heavenly horses and immortals in the west. There is a big bowl of King Kong Lux carved at the bridge head, with a simple image. These precious artistic patterns are valuable heritages for studying ancient culture. Today, the bridge has been listed as a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit in Jiangsu. The writing art of bridge railings is mostly bridge topics, and almost all the existing bridge railings in Suzhou have bridge monuments. Such as Fengqiao, Jiangcun, Wuqiao, Rebuilding Wumen, Da Lang, Qinglong and baodai bridge. As for the door couplets carved on the railing of the bridge, there are two pairs on the top of the Maple Bridge, which are "good but not evil", "all good is pursued, all evil is done" and "all good and filial piety come first, all evil comes first".
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Through these forms, the ancients skillfully rubbed literary language into the architectural environment of bridges, which played a variety of roles in the sublimation of ancient bridge buildings.
First of all, it provides people with appreciation guidance. Historically, many famous scenic spots in China have been handed down from generation to generation by poets, such as Preface to Wang Teng Pavilion by Wang Bo, The Story of Yueyang Tower by Fan Zhongyan and The Story of Drunk Pavilion by Ouyang Xiu. It is these inscriptions and poems that make Wang Tengting, Yueyang Tower and Zuiweng Pavilion famous. Similarly, the Maple Bridge next to Hanshan Temple, an ancient bridge in Suzhou, was originally a common single-hole stone arch bridge in the city, with no span, but it was famous only for the poet's a night-mooring near maple bridge in the Tang Dynasty. Later, Gao Qi, a poet in the Ming Dynasty, wrote a poem praising: "Draw a city with 300 paintings reflecting the river, and Fengqiao has a different name in the poem", which made Fengqiao's reputation go to the world. Another example is Wuqiqiao in the ancient city of Suzhou, which is also poetic because of the poet Bai Juyi's famous sentence "Lotus Green City is full of autumn grass, Wuqiqiao sunset is red".
Secondly, it deepens the cultural meaning of the bridge. It is the greatest feature of Suzhou traditional bridge aesthetics to endow the bridge scenery with sketches and themes to express lofty feelings and express the poetic rhyme of bridge architecture through couplets. In this regard, several examples have been listed before, and the following supplementary explanations are given. For example, Yong 'an Bridge outside Loumen, Suzhou, is a towering single-hole stone arch bridge. The east and west columns of the bridge have a pair of couplets, and the east couplet is: "The tide meets the pavilion, and the smoke waves welcome the painting; The city is full of officials and thousands of lights. " Western Union said: "The drums are moving, and the tower of the Zehu Lake is far away; Sail west and send a boat to Maanshan. " The beautiful words of the two couplets vividly depict the scenery of Jiangnan water town, just like a picture scroll, which is intoxicating. Xiaodongxi Bridge in Tongli Town, Suzhou is an ancient stone arch bridge, which was built in Zheng Deyuan of Ming Dynasty. On the north and south pillars of the bridge, couplets are engraved. In the south, it says, "The ancient bridge shakes the rainbow to meet the shadows, and Luo Xinghui streams the light." A pair in the north is: "A moonlight is shining, and books on both sides of the strait pick up songs." The neat regular script conjunctions are still clearly visible today. This couplet not only chants the scenery of the water town where the green water and the tower shadow set each other off, but also records the studious living atmosphere of people at that time, which is affectionate and fascinating. Suzhou Tongjing Bridge is better. Its northern alliance is: "looking to Jinchang in the east and reaching the lake in the west." The South Union is: "The land transportation is fine and sparse, and the personnel training is consistent." Obviously, the joint word indicates the course of the ship, and the joint word is unique. From talking about building bridges to cultivating talents, it is profound and thought-provoking, and it is still enlightening. The ancients showed the realm of bridge architecture through the art of writing, and sublimated the art of bridge architecture, all of which flashed the brilliant brilliance of the ancient working people in China.
Thus enriching the integration of the bridge with the beauty of calligraphy and craft. Most of the inscriptions and couplets on the ancient bridge were written by famous artists, including official script, regular script, running script and cursive script, with dignified and vigorous fonts; In terms of carving techniques, there are positive and negative carvings, which combine the beauty of bridge architecture, poetry, calligraphy and craftsmanship. Really beautiful and wonderful!
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"The historical cloud bridge has passed, and new things are coming." The victory of the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee ushered in the spring of China's reform, opening up and economic construction. Suzhou's urban construction is booming, a large number of new bridges have sprung up, and the protection of ancient bridges has also achieved gratifying results. In recent years, experts and scholars, bridge designers and skilled craftsmen in our city have cooperated hand in hand, exchanged enthusiasm, learned from each other's strong points, and continued and carried forward the fine tradition of ancient bridge building. While protecting, transforming and relocating the ancient bridge, we pay attention to carrying forward the architectural and cultural style of Suzhou ancient bridge, setting up sketches, arranging bridge monuments, arranging columns skillfully and selecting poetry couplets, which has achieved good artistic results.
For example, when the Xuguizi Bridge on the Linton River was rebuilt, couplets were arranged, and the lyrics were written by Mr. Wang Xiye. Nan Shi said, "The bridge is named after a gentleman, and Boying Garden is the moon."
Beilian is: "Two rows of willows are close to Lu Guan, and the balcony in the area is even painted with bridges".
Another example is the reconstruction of Laifeng Bridge in the east corner of Hanshan Temple, which is a single-hole flat stone arch bridge, rigid and beautiful, just like Changhong lying on the waves. There are leaking windows and couplets on both sides of the bridge, which are equipped with:
East is the official script: "Bai Lianhua opens near the sage's home, and the green phoenix flies to the Nine Bridges."
At the beginning of the west, it was written in regular script: "Jade Mirror Han in Langshan Village, Jiangfeng Fishing Fire Frost Bell Moving Water".
On the bank of Xinmin Bridge rebuilt by Shantang River, couplets were also left:
"The distant mountains are covered with trees. Let's go sightseeing by boat."
"When the new moon waves, you will know that people are painting."
In order to protect the old Midu Bridge (an ancient stone arch bridge built in Yuan Dynasty) in the southeast corner of Suzhou City, a magnificent new Midu Bridge was recently built on its south side and decorated on the new bridge.
"Fenxi looks at the treasure belt and takes Wu Disan Ming Yue.
Gudu crossed Hong Xin, expressing the musical space of the Millennium Water City. "
These new bridge couplets, expressing feelings through the scenery, focus on describing the style of the times, and better continue the tradition of Suzhou ancient bridge architectural culture, which has been well received by all walks of life and citizens.
What needs to be described in particular is the Panlong Bridge, which was relocated the year before last. This is based on the original Zaoshi Bridge on Xujiang River. The bridge is a three-hole pedestrian stone arch bridge with a span of eight meters on both sides and fifteen meters in the middle, with a total length of 56.8 meters. It crosses the moat from south to north, connects East Street in the north and Nanmen Road in the south. The completion of Panlong Bridge not only facilitates the communication between citizens on both sides of the strait, but also adds a new landscape between Wumen Bridge and Ren Minqiao. "Panlong Bridge" is named because it is located in the ancient Panmen of Suzhou, and the gatehouse is carved with flying dragons.
After the completion of Panlong Bridge, Suzhou Municipal People's Government erected a bridge monument named "Panlong Bridge Monument" in the northeast of the bridge site, and briefly described the whole process of the relocation of the bridge. The stone on the top of the bridge is carved with the reincarnation pattern of "Shuanglong Play Pearl", which is simple and elegant.
There are four couplets on the piers and piers on the east and west sides of the bridge, two of which are dead couplets and two are eleven-character couplets, which are described as follows:
The seven wonders of the east are:
"Hang Huangpu in the west and Taihu Lake in China Eastern Airlines".
Eleven-character couplets are:
"Ruita Lingxiao scenery will win in the future, and Wang Hong will enjoy Wu Fengyue's water clouds."
The seven wonders of the west are:
"The wind is full of blue waves, and the three-ring moon is connected to Wuyuan."
1 1 character links are as follows:
"Qiao Song added new poems with pillow tower shadow, and Wu Dizhong moved the ancient rhyme with Jiang Hong to reflect the ancient que".
The east and west piers of Panlong Bridge are equipped with neat granite revetments, and a stone lion is installed on the sentry box of the ancient fence, which is too numerous to mention. Mooring stones and drainage holes are embedded in the stone revetment wall at intervals. Panlong Bridge is a towering pedestrian stone arch bridge. In order to facilitate cross-strait people's communication, there are five-meter wide bicycle chutes on both sides of the bridge deck. Forty-five pedestrian steps are installed at the north and south ends of the bridge, and the steps are supplemented by feldspar, which is about 40 cm wide and only 12 cm high, which is much flatter than the stone steps of common ancient bridges. Pedestrians feel gentle and happy when going up and down in Gao Qiao. If you look closely, the front edge of each ladder is roughly chiseled with texture, which is a measure to prevent people from slipping in rainy and snowy days. All these exquisite humanized designs are permeated with the spiritual beauty of bridge designers and craftsmen.
Look at Panlong Bridge and its architectural sketches, which are simple, elegant and refreshing, and are successful masterpieces in the landscape of Suzhou ancient city. Nowadays, tourists climb the bridge step by step and see the moat water gradually flowing eastward. Cruise ships pass by from time to time, which is a charming water town scenery.
Nowadays, China's economy continues to develop steadily, and it has become the knowledge of the whole society to create a harmonious living environment to continue and carry forward our national traditional culture. In this favorable environment, as long as we are good at integrating all aspects, the architectural culture of Suzhou ancient bridge will get better prosperity and development.
Note: The four famous ancient bridges in China are: Anji Bridge in Hebei, baodai bridge in Suzhou, Zhupu Bridge in Sichuan and Chengyang Bridge in Guangxi.
96 bamboo pavilions supported by Yulong bamboo, each 8 meters high and more than 22 centimeters in diameter, will be unveiled at the Shanghai World Expo Park. The reporter learned yesterday that as the finale of the German-Chinese friendly cooperation project "German-Chinese counterparts", "German-Chinese counterparts' home" will be unveiled in the European exhibition area of the World Expo, and will be open to the public from May/Kloc-0 to June 30 this year.