Chapter 12 Who is willing to do it (Thanks to the 001 chief @Cheng_Da)

Wan'an Bridge.

Muguang Bridge.

Built in AD 1090, the fifth year of the Yuanfeng era of the Northern Song Dynasty.

This ancient bridge has undergone reconstruction three times.

In the seventh year of Emperor Qianlong, the twenty-fifth year of the Daoguang era, and the twenty-first year of the Republic of China.

Respectively, these are the years AD 1742, 1845, and 1932.

The number of minor repairs it underwent is countless.

Even so, within the ranks of muguang bridges, Wan'an Bridge can hardly be considered as one with a fraught destiny.

It could even be said to be fortunate.

Truly ill-fated muguang bridges have long since disappeared from the face of the earth.

Some survive in old photographs, while many seem as though they never existed at all.

In the twenty-first year of the Republic of China, Nie Guangyi's grandfather was just a child of a few years old.

That year, Wan'an Bridge underwent its third reconstruction.

Nie Guangyi's grandfather, a young and mischievous child who did not know any better, clamored and scrambled to the peak of the unfinished bridge arch.

In an unguarded moment, he fell from a height of more than eight meters.

Free fall.

The carpenters working on the bridge all cried out in shock.

But it was of no use.

And then...

That naughty little boy swam to the shore unharmed.

This event quickly became widespread gossip in the village.

Some said the child had a huge stroke of luck.

Many more believed it to be a miracle bestowed by the ancient bridge itself.

Before the falling incident occurred,

The villagers called this bridge Changqiao, or 'Long Bridge'.

The Long Bridge is indeed long,

Unmatched in its category.

The village where this bridge is located was named Changqiao Village.

After the falling incident, this Long Bridge got a new name—Wan'an Bridge.

Since then, Wan'an Bridge has not just been a mere bridge, but also the faith of people from miles around.

Nie Guangyi's grandfather thus formed an unbreakable bond with this bridge,

Devoting his entire life to it and gradually becoming an intangible cultural heritage inheritor of traditional muguang bridge construction techniques.

As early as 2009, the traditional construction techniques of muguang bridges were listed by UNESCO in the first batch of 'Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding'.

Located in a remote village, Wan'an Bridge may not be well-known to the general public.

Yet, there is one muguang bridge that many have heard of to some extent.

To say it is well-known would not be an exaggeration.

It appears in a painting.

A painting among China's ten most famous enduring masterpieces.

It has unparalleled national recognition.

It is a national treasure-level cultural relic.

It is—"Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival".

With true-to-life brushwork, it depicts the bustling scenes of Bianjing, capital of the Northern Song Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Huizong, across a scroll over five meters long.

The natural scenery along the banks of the Bian River, the architectural features within the city of Bianjing, and the thriving life of the city's inhabitants are all vividly portrayed.

Compared to the other nine famous enduring paintings, "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" stands as a unique cultural heritage.

It is grounded in everyday life.

It has realistically recorded the urban life of the Song Dynasty people.

It provides significant historical material for the study of urban life during the Song Dynasty for future generations.

Its historical value is even greater than its artistic value.

Just like Dream of the Red Chamber, "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" also has its own dedicated "school" of study.

Research on "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" encompasses social history, architectural history, transportation history, shipbuilding history, urban history, commercial history, advertising history, folklore history, clothing history...

In the center of the scroll, the bridge that spans the Bian River is a prime example of a muguang bridge.

However, the bridge over the Bian River, although also a muguang bridge, is only similar to the construction techniques used for Wan'an Bridge.

The construction of Wan'an Bridge used the most unique, narrowest, and most refined subcategory of muguang bridges—the woven wooden arch bridge.

This subcategory is an extraordinary gem among ancient Chinese bridges.

In the entire world, only the region between Zhejiang and Fujian still showcases bridges built with this technique.

It's not that the woven wooden arch bridges are particularly exquisite.

Quite the opposite, these bridges represent the most practical technology applied under the most challenging conditions and restricted costs.

Da Vinci had also designed a similar arch bridge structure.

This progenitor of the High Renaissance era is unquestionably a genius.

But Da Vinci's achievements in arch bridge design hardly compare to those of the Northern Song carpenters who were born several centuries before him.

Most of Da Vinci's designs were not feasible in practice,

Like his armored tank and vehicle.

They remained merely concepts.

The traditional construction techniques of wooden arch bridges, however, are a crystallization of the wisdom of ancient people's way of life.

The muguang bridge stands as an original achievement of ancient carpenters in the field of bridge building.

The woven wooden arch bridge, even more so, is an ingenious bridge-building technique born out of extremely primitive foundational conditions.