Record of Visiting the Cao Family Ancient Bridge in Jinzhuang Village, Wenfeng Township
On the Sanli River in the north of Jinzhuang Village, Wenfeng Township, Wuyang County, there is an ancient bridge built in the mid-Ming Dynasty. Local villagers This bridge is called "Caojia Bridge", also known as "Cao Wanliang Bridge".
The ancient road where the ancient bridge is located is now an ordinary field road, but before liberation, it was the main road from Wuyang to the southwest mountainous area.
The ancient bridge was originally a seven-hole bridge. During the floods in the 1970s and 1980s, local villagers privately dismantled the two-hole bridge plates at both ends and built a small bridge across the river on other field roads. The bridge consisted of seven holes. The bridge became a five-hole bridge.
The existing ancient bridge deck is 9.5 meters long and 3.0 meters wide. It is paved with granite slabs and square holes. The lower piers are made of stone rolls, and the stone rolls are covered with bluestone strips. The distance between the piers is 1.3 meters, the piers are 2.5 meters long, 0.45 meters wide and 0.64 meters high. The bridge deck is basically intact, but due to disrepair, one of the stone slabs collapsed under the bridge, and another stone slab is missing and is in urgent need of repair and protection.
On the afternoon of June 22, 2019, Liu Gong from the Bridge Architecture Culture Research Center of the Provincial Civil Engineering Society, together with photographers from Luohe City, ancient bridge enthusiasts, etc., met with Cao Wanlianghou from Shangcao Village, Wugang City We went together to inspect the Caojia Ancient Bridge.
Regarding the construction of this bridge, Teacher Cao Shaoming, the 24th generation of the Cao family in Wugang City, told us: In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Henan suffered from successive disasters, and many people starved to death. The family gave food to the hungry people out of righteousness, and paid tribute and taxes for three years on behalf of the Wuyang people. In recognition of the Cao family's righteous deeds, the imperial court specially approved the construction of a three-foot-two-foot-wide (some say three-foot-six-foot wide) exclusive avenue for the Cao family from Wuyang County Yamen to Shangcao Village. At the Shuihe River, it is called the Wanliang Bridge because it was built by the Cao family after helping the people of Wuyang to pay the public grain and was rewarded by the government. For hundreds of years, this bridge has facilitated the passage of people along the way, and the righteous deeds of Cao Wanliang in Shangcao Village have also been widely circulated among the people.
"During the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, due to the disrepair and damage of the ancient bridge, the Cao family took the initiative to raise funds for maintenance and erected a monument of merit and virtue in the north of the bridge to show to future generations. Later, the monument was restored in the early 1970s. The nearby people moved to other places, and there was no news for many years. Now it is said that it is in a well in Xiaoyangzhuang, north of the ancient bridge. If the relevant local government departments can come forward to salvage it, we can know more about the past historical data of the ancient bridge. " Lawyer Cao Yaozeng, the 23rd generation of the Cao family, said.
We arrived at Jinzhuang Village and followed a winding path to visit the ancient bridge. The pastoral scenery on the roadside is endless. In the villagers' small vegetable gardens, beans are hanging like pigtails, and the leeks are green. Occasionally, farmers are weeding in the vegetable gardens. Lawyer Cao grabbed a handful of leeks, rubbed the dirt, stuffed it into his mouth, and said: I used to eat green and pesticide-free vegetables like this when I was a kid, but now it’s not easy to eat them.
Next to the path is a dry ditch with deep thatch and wattle flowers in full bloom.
"This is the ancient road from Wuyang County to Shangcao Village!" Lawyer Cao explained to us as he walked, "Have you ever heard of the word 'Dalugou'? The so-called Dalugou is Because it used to be a main road, with cars, horses and pedestrians walking back and forth, the soil on the road became increasingly solid and lower than the sides of the road. Heavy rains in summer washed away the road, and over time the path we are walking on now turned into a ditch. , it should have been next to the ancient road. After the ancient road became a ditch, look, is the path now lower than the fields on both sides?”
The path in front of you is sandwiched between the fields on both sides. It has indeed become a ditch. There is a ditch in the road. We walked north along the ditch. The Sanli River spread windingly on the left side of the ditch. There are shepherds tending sheep on the river beach, and white clouds are floating in the sky. What is reflected in the river is not only the clouds, but also the flocks of sheep walking around like clouds. After several twists and turns, the Sanli River flows down from west to east at the location of the ancient bridge.
"The Sanli River is a naturally formed river and can be called the "Jiuqu and Eighteen Bays". Because the many bays reduce the impact and damage of the water flow on the ancient bridge, the ancient bridge can be so well preserved." Liu Gong from the Bridge Architecture Cultural Center looked at the ancient bridge in front of him and said.
Because there had just been a heavy rain, a large amount of garbage washed down from the upstream was accumulated at the bridge hole of the small bridge, which looked very unsightly. Lawyer Cao ran to the river beach and found a long wooden stick. He pushed the garbage away little by little and let it pass through the bridge hole and flow down the river.
Several old farmers were clearing wasteland on the river beach near the ancient bridge. Cao Shaoming borrowed the old farmer's shovel to dig through rubbish to explore the depth of the water under the bridge. However, he was unable to find the bottom at all. Finally, he used a long wooden stick in Lawyer Cao's hand to reach the bottom of the river.
"Looking at the watermark on this wooden stick, it is estimated that the water is more than two meters deep." Cao Shaoming said.
According to Cao Shaoming, their family is continuing to write the Cao family tree, and their ancestor is Cao Zhen, Marquis of Jingchuan in the Ming Dynasty.
"Our Cao family's "Jingchuan Hall" branch is descended from Cao Bin, King Wuhui of the Song Dynasty. For thousands of years, the Cao family of Jingchuan Hall has been a literary, virtuous and military hero, and has produced talents in large numbers throughout the ages: the ancestors of the Song Dynasty King Wu Hui Cao Bin, Ming Dynasty Jingchuan Marquis Cao Zhen, Republic of China Huangpu student Cao Dongling, contemporary Cao Dongchang, Consul General of the Embassy in Australia, Cao Gangchuan, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, Major General Cao Huachuan, Director Cao Zhiheng, Colonel Cao Feng, Colonel Cao Heng, Civilian Major General Cao Yingwu and others have made outstanding contributions to our Chinese nation." When the descendants of the Cao family talk about their ancestors, their faces are filled with pride and glory.
In order to remember the merits of their ancestors, descendants of the Cao family have visited the ancient bridge many times to find out the root cause.
Wugang and Wuyang were originally one county. To go from Wugang Mountain to Wuyang County, you must pass through the Shuishui River. There is only one bridge on the Shuishui River, so this bridge is the necessary link between Wuyang County and the southwest mountainous area. Through the road.
The ancient bridge that carries people's traffic has not suffered any subsidence or uneven settlement for hundreds of years. So what are the techniques for constructing the ancient bridge? The piers of the ancient bridge are all large stone rollers. How difficult was it to construct without mechanical equipment in ancient times? Why use stone rollers as bridge piers?
Regarding these doubts, teacher Liu Zhijie of the Bridge Cultural Center explained: Most of the piers of ancient beam-type bridges used cylindrical stones. First, it is convenient to transport (if the distance between loading and transportation to the site is long, it can be rolled to Waterside>, secondly, the water separation effect is good, reducing the impact on the bridge pier; thirdly, the shape is beautiful, giving people an artistic feeling.
Old man Su, who is clearing land on the river beach, is in his sixties and is from nearby Xiaoyangzhuang. Mr. Su recalled that he swam under the bridge many times when he was a child. When he swam to the bottom of the water, he personally felt that there were many wooden piles under the bridge.
"Since I can remember, many rivers have slowly dried up. Only this river has water at all times. No matter how dry the weather is, the water in the river keeps flowing." Old Man Su said .
As for the reason why the river water under the ancient bridge has not dried up yet, Mr. Su said that it is because there is a spring under the bridge that keeps pouring water out. "Further down the river, there are several springs! Water keeps pouring out. If you don't believe me, I can take you to see them!" Old Man Su said.
According to Director Kang of Wuyang Museum, the existence of springs in Wuyang is clearly recorded in the county annals, which is why the location of Wuyang City is called "Wuquan Town".
Lawyer Cao removed the garbage under the bridge. We carefully observed the water surface under the bridge and found that there were indeed many large and small water bubbles popping out from time to time.
"This is the first time our Luohe Ancient Bridge has heard about piling under the bridge since Xiaoshang Bridge! It is also the only ancient bridge among the remaining ancient bridges in Luohe that still has flowing water." Liu Zhijie said, "The Sanli River is a river mainly used for flood discharge. The tidal flat surface is wide, the middle channel is narrow, and the current is relatively fast. It carries away the silt from part of the river, causing the water in the river to become deeper and deeper. It is difficult to build a bridge. The bridge deck has so far been It is flat and has no sinking or uneven settlement. It is precisely because there are multiple wooden piles under the bridge that increase the bridge's ability to resist uneven settlement. The wisdom of ancient craftsmen is admirable! ”
Going southwest from Jinzhuang, there is another ancient bridge in Renqiao Village, Wugang City, about ten miles away. The stone monument at the head of the ancient bridge was artificially pushed down into the dry river. The stone tablet that was pushed was broken into three sections, and the writing on it was vaguely visible. Eighty-seven-year-old Ren Heiwa, who has lived next to Renqiao for generations, said that Renqiao was built in the Ming Dynasty. "This bridge has been like this since I was a child. It is a seven-hole bridge, stone roller piers, and granite bridge slabs. The date on the stone tablet is the 26th year of Jiajing." The old man said with certainty, "The road in front of the door used to be from Southwest Mountain to Wuyang City. If you go further north, you have to cross the Caojia Bridge on the Sanli River. "Isn't it possible to cross the Caojia Ancient Bridge? Is there no other way to Wuyang?" Teacher Liu Zhijie asked.
"No! You have to cross the Sanli River to get to Wuyang. There is only this bridge on the Sanli River. The elders passed down the bridge to Cao Cao's family. The ancestor of the Cao family, Cao Wanliang, paid for the people of Wuyang City. After receiving the tax money, the officials rewarded him with building a road and a bridge from Wuyang City to Cao Cao's family on the southwest mountain." Ren Heiwa said.
There is no conclusive evidence as to which village the ancient official road passed through. However, Ren Bridge and Jinzhuang Caojia Ancient Bridge were built in roughly the same era, and the bridge structure is the same. The building materials used are stone roller piers and granite bridge slabs; Renqiao Village is between Shangcao Village and Wuyang County, and Renqiao Village is located between Shangcao Village and Wuyang County. The roads in the village are likely to be branch roads of the ancient official road, and the bridges were also built during the same period.
Before leaving, Teacher Sun Aiguo and Teacher Zhang from Luohe Medical College specially took a photo of Ren Heiwa and the ancient bridge to commemorate the old man’s many years of protecting the ancient bridge.
For this inspection, the descendants of the Cao family, like Mr. Liu of the Luohe Bridge Architecture Cultural Center and Mr. Sun, the editorial photographer of "Love in Luohe", are based on discovering history and culture and saving cultural relics. , done sincerely to inherit the fine traditional virtues. Ancient bridges and ancient buildings need care and physical examination just like the elderly. If they are not inspected and registered in time and maintained in a timely manner, once they (them) are lost, the memory will never be recovered.