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Restoring beauty along two riverbanks
By Xu Wenwen |
September 9, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
A government project plans to create a new tourist attraction near the Zhong and Dong rivers by revamping ancient bridges and adding sculptures, reports Xu Wenwen.
Hangzhou's beauty is no secret. The city is all about water with West Lake, the Grand Canal and other waterways all working to give the city a unique charm.
The municipal government is well aware of this and has initiated a project to convert an area along the Zhong and Dong rivers into a cultural and historical corridor that features more than 50 bridges.
The corridor is expected to open to the public by the beginning of next month.
The Zhong River stretches for 6 kilometers and was dug during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) while the Dong River meanders for 4 kilometers and was dug during the Five Dynasties (907-960 AD). The two rivers run parallel to one another from north to south and are linked by a recently dug channel at their southern end points.
Nearly 20 of the 51 bridges are hundreds or thousands of years old.
To turn the area into a tourism attraction, the city - once the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty (420-479 AD) - decided to renovate the old bridges and some nearby buildings. The project also included the creation of nearly 40 relief sculptures on the inner sidewalls of arches, 14 groups of sculptures beside bridges and more than 30 steles to provide a history of the spans.
The idea behind the project was to create an outdoor museum that introduces Hangzhou's culture and history with these sculptures and bridges.
By next month, people will be able to walk along the riverfronts or take small boats to tour the arch bridges. Below are some recommended places:
Sculptures
At the east side of Xianlin Bridge and Yan Bridge, a sculpture named Financial Culture comprises five huge granite stones carved into coins from the Southern Song Dynasty. The sculpture indicates that business once flourished in the are due to convenient river transportation.
At the end of Dengyun Bridge, two bronze sculptures show people talking just prior to taking the Southern Song Dynasty's civil service examination. The people are even wearing clothing from that period of history.
From the Dengyun Bridge to Fengqi Road, there's an eye-catching sculpture about porcelain. The abstract piece features four huge pieces of porcelain that are either broken or incomplete.
Lin Gang, the director of Hangzhou Sculpture Court, said the sculpture borrows the formal language of restoring porcelain.
"It implies the collection and rediscovery of historic and cultural fragments," Li said.
While the sculptures near the bridges spanning the Zhong River mainly tell the history of the Southern Song Dynasty, those along the Dong River feature local folk culture.
East of Caishi Bridge over the Dong River, there is a bronze sculpture of an old person holding chopsticks and a bowl while watching two kids play with a crab. It's called "A Family Living beside Dong River."
While at Fengqi Bridge near Hangzhou Silk Town, a sculpture of a leopard cat with bright piercing eyes is sitting on a pillar.
The sculpture depicts an old legend.
Long ago Hangzhou suffered from an infestation of rats, which ate many silkworms. A leopard cat came at nights to get rid of the rats. Since then, every person who raises silkworms keeps cat-like figures at home because they are believed to be auspicious.
Visit in the evening
While walking along the riverfronts allows a better chance to see the sculptures, a boat tour provides the best way to see the relief sculptures on the bridges.
The best time to do this is in the evening as soft lights illuminating the water reflect on the metal sculptures on the arches of bridges. It's as though you ventured into some mysterious land on a dark night.
There are dozens of similar relief sculptures, but the most recommended is called, Calligraphy, Painting and Seals.
Beside Zhonghe Highway over Zhong River, three approach spans feature a group of sculptures about calligraphy - two are copies of calligraphies and one features ancient literati who wrote down the words.
Chinese calligraphy reached its climax in the Southern Song Dynasty. The sculpture features 10 classic works that are representative of the dynasty by 10 famous literati such as Li Qingzhao, Zhu Xi and Lu You.
Old 'name cards'
The "name cards" are actually steles for every old bridge over both rivers. The steles tell the history and stories attached to each bridge.
Traditional Chinese elements like paper cutting and thread-bound edition are added in the design of these "name cards."
Each bridge is unique in the city and "almost each one has an ancient poem written about it, and some even boast more than one," said Zhong Xiangpin, professor of Zhejiang Gongshang University.
He said Liubu Bridge, which crosses the Dong River, was named after "Liubu Poem," which records a mutiny that occurred near the bridge during the Southern Song Dynasty.
Lian Bridge, which spans the Zhong River, was once named Yan Bridge, or Salt Bridge, as it was a tax collection site for boats carrying salt, professor Zhong said. It was renamed Lian, which means bond, when it was widened.
Hangzhou's beauty is no secret. The city is all about water with West Lake, the Grand Canal and other waterways all working to give the city a unique charm.
The municipal government is well aware of this and has initiated a project to convert an area along the Zhong and Dong rivers into a cultural and historical corridor that features more than 50 bridges.
The corridor is expected to open to the public by the beginning of next month.
The Zhong River stretches for 6 kilometers and was dug during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) while the Dong River meanders for 4 kilometers and was dug during the Five Dynasties (907-960 AD). The two rivers run parallel to one another from north to south and are linked by a recently dug channel at their southern end points.
Nearly 20 of the 51 bridges are hundreds or thousands of years old.
To turn the area into a tourism attraction, the city - once the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty (420-479 AD) - decided to renovate the old bridges and some nearby buildings. The project also included the creation of nearly 40 relief sculptures on the inner sidewalls of arches, 14 groups of sculptures beside bridges and more than 30 steles to provide a history of the spans.
The idea behind the project was to create an outdoor museum that introduces Hangzhou's culture and history with these sculptures and bridges.
By next month, people will be able to walk along the riverfronts or take small boats to tour the arch bridges. Below are some recommended places:
Sculptures
At the east side of Xianlin Bridge and Yan Bridge, a sculpture named Financial Culture comprises five huge granite stones carved into coins from the Southern Song Dynasty. The sculpture indicates that business once flourished in the are due to convenient river transportation.
At the end of Dengyun Bridge, two bronze sculptures show people talking just prior to taking the Southern Song Dynasty's civil service examination. The people are even wearing clothing from that period of history.
From the Dengyun Bridge to Fengqi Road, there's an eye-catching sculpture about porcelain. The abstract piece features four huge pieces of porcelain that are either broken or incomplete.
Lin Gang, the director of Hangzhou Sculpture Court, said the sculpture borrows the formal language of restoring porcelain.
"It implies the collection and rediscovery of historic and cultural fragments," Li said.
While the sculptures near the bridges spanning the Zhong River mainly tell the history of the Southern Song Dynasty, those along the Dong River feature local folk culture.
East of Caishi Bridge over the Dong River, there is a bronze sculpture of an old person holding chopsticks and a bowl while watching two kids play with a crab. It's called "A Family Living beside Dong River."
While at Fengqi Bridge near Hangzhou Silk Town, a sculpture of a leopard cat with bright piercing eyes is sitting on a pillar.
The sculpture depicts an old legend.
Long ago Hangzhou suffered from an infestation of rats, which ate many silkworms. A leopard cat came at nights to get rid of the rats. Since then, every person who raises silkworms keeps cat-like figures at home because they are believed to be auspicious.
Visit in the evening
While walking along the riverfronts allows a better chance to see the sculptures, a boat tour provides the best way to see the relief sculptures on the bridges.
The best time to do this is in the evening as soft lights illuminating the water reflect on the metal sculptures on the arches of bridges. It's as though you ventured into some mysterious land on a dark night.
There are dozens of similar relief sculptures, but the most recommended is called, Calligraphy, Painting and Seals.
Beside Zhonghe Highway over Zhong River, three approach spans feature a group of sculptures about calligraphy - two are copies of calligraphies and one features ancient literati who wrote down the words.
Chinese calligraphy reached its climax in the Southern Song Dynasty. The sculpture features 10 classic works that are representative of the dynasty by 10 famous literati such as Li Qingzhao, Zhu Xi and Lu You.
Old 'name cards'
The "name cards" are actually steles for every old bridge over both rivers. The steles tell the history and stories attached to each bridge.
Traditional Chinese elements like paper cutting and thread-bound edition are added in the design of these "name cards."
Each bridge is unique in the city and "almost each one has an ancient poem written about it, and some even boast more than one," said Zhong Xiangpin, professor of Zhejiang Gongshang University.
He said Liubu Bridge, which crosses the Dong River, was named after "Liubu Poem," which records a mutiny that occurred near the bridge during the Southern Song Dynasty.
Lian Bridge, which spans the Zhong River, was once named Yan Bridge, or Salt Bridge, as it was a tax collection site for boats carrying salt, professor Zhong said. It was renamed Lian, which means bond, when it was widened.
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