Yunnan's Seventeen-Span Bridge (Double Dragon Bridge) Compared to the Summer Palace's Seventeen-Span Bridge, Praised by Bridge Expert Ma Yisheng

The city of Jianwei, also known as Lin'an, was initially built during the Tang Dynasty and has a history of over 1200 years. It houses more than 50 well-preserved ancient buildings, which can be considered a “museum of ancient architecture” and a “museum of ancient dwellings”. It was listed as a Chinese Historical and Cultural City in 1994. Besides the various sizes of historical dwellings within this “museum of ancient architecture”, there are also many ancient bridges.

The ancient city is surrounded by bridges of various forms, dozens of which demonstrate the convenient transportation in Jianwei throughout the ages, serving as a major hub for personnel in Diannan. Some of these bridges, having undergone reconstruction and repair, have been carved and sculpted by local residents into artistic pieces that combine grandeur with beauty, skillfully integrating pavilions and bridges. They are of rustic and beautiful style. The Double Dragon Bridge is one of the most representative ones.

The Double Dragon Bridge is located 5 kilometers west of the Jianwei ancient city. In the past, the river surface here was not wide, only the Hu Jiang River flowed through, and wooden bridges were built across it. Until the Qing Dynasty, the third-hole stone bridge was built on the Hu Jiang River by the local people. However, the Changhe River was later diverted here, and the river surface was greatly widened, so the three-hole stone bridge was submerged by the water, and in the nineteenth year of the Qing Dynasty Daoguang, the local people raised funds to build fourteen more spans on the river, which were skillfully connected with the original three, forming a total of seventeen spans, with the first and last three spans connected in a dovetail pattern, forming one whole, hence the name “Seventeen Span Bridge”. Another bridge pavilion and building were built on the bridge section, creating a spectacular view of the Double Dragon Bridge.

What is the Double Dragon Bridge called “Double Dragon”?

A stone inscription states that it was named “Double Dragon” because it “spans the confluence of the Lushan River and the Changhe River”, and when you carefully examine the bridge, you can find that the first three spans are 36.7 meters long, with an average length of 12.2 meters per span, and the bridge is 4.3 meters wide, with the piers measuring 6.1 meters, and the later fourteen spans total 111.2 meters, with an average length of only 7.9 meters per span, the bridge is only 3 meters wide, and the piers are only 2.6 meters long.

Therefore, although the two bridges are connected, they have different appearances and proportions. The first three spans resemble an old dragon, they are rough and strong, they have been weathered and eroded, and have endured many earthquakes and floods, they are affectionately embraced by the smaller dragon at the foot of the bridge, which is lined up in a row, like a long rainbow drinking in the waves. The smaller dragon is significantly slimmer, but its load-bearing capacity is exceptionally strong, it carries a tall pavilion on its back, and delicately lifts a bridge pavilion with its tail. The “Double Dragon Connected to Form a Long Bridge” is truly the origin of the name “Double Dragon Bridge”.

compared it to the Seventeen-Span Bridge at the Summer Palace in Beijing.

The Double Dragon Bridge is the largest and most artistically valuable bridge in Yunnan’s ancient bridges. It integrates bridge construction science and artistic modeling, reflecting the superb technology and ingenuity of the Diannan people. Its scale and artistic value are among the few in China. It integrates bridge construction science and artistic modeling, it is a masterpiece of Chinese ancient bridges and occupies an important position in the history of Chinese ancient bridges.

Jianwei’s Double Dragon Bridge is renowned worldwide for its unique craftsmanship and distinctive shape. Bridge expert Ma Yisheng introduced its historical, scientific, and artistic value in multiple photos and texts in his book “Techniques of Ancient Chinese Bridges”, and he set a special chapter in “A History of Chinese Bridge Techniques” to introduce the Double Dragon Bridge and Beijing’s Seventeen-Span Bridge.

With the misty green willows on the banks of the Lushan River, more than ten ancient bridges stretch across them. The stone slabs on the bridges are now smooth and reflective. The Double Dragon Bridge, the Township Bridge, and the Rain-Wind Bridge still have roofs and corridors built on them, allowing passersby to rest, shelter from the wind, and avoid rain, filled with warm hospitality.

The Double Dragon Bridge today.

Some things, after being weathered by time, appear radiant, while others have aged gracefully and quietly, the Double Dragon Bridge belongs to the latter, even if there are winds and waves, and changes in time, it still stands firmly on the lake surface, quietly communicating with time, and singing the history of its rise and fall.

Perhaps the Double Dragon Bridge understands humility more than humans, for it, even if it has experienced hundreds of years in the vast universe, it is merely the smallest of dust particles, so it quietly listens to all the time given to it, and becomes a witness to history.

Do you have time to chat with me on my bridge's back, and tell me your sour, sweet, bitter, and lonely stories, I'll listen patiently.