Text and pictures/Yangcheng Evening News All-Media Reporter Deng Qiong (except for another signature) Video/Yangcheng Komiks Evening News All-Media Reporter Deng Qiong Literature and Art
When the phrase “Kaifeng Prefecture Bridge and Bian River Cinema Site” suddenly appeared at the press conference of the “Archaeological China” major project of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage on September 28, people did not realize that:
A appeared more than a dozen times in “Water Margin”, and Meng Yuanlao’s “Tokyo Dream Hualu” describes the cultural landmark that the ancient sages, including Wang Anshi, Fan Chengda, Mei Yaochen, and other ancestors, had seen the light of the sky again.
Ming Dynasty Prefecture Bridge Restoration Picture Kaifeng Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism Li Chen CinemaHand-drawn
In fact, even in the 4400 square meters of exploration site at the intersection of Zhongshan Road and Liberty Road in Kaifeng City today, he looked down at the Henan archaeologists who had been digging for several years until <a On the winter day of December 2021, Babaylan, Cinema was careful, shoveled and chiseled, and excavated a giant seahorse and beast stone wall relief from both sides of the Bian River. Only then did I realize that a classic archaeological example of “mutual verification of culture and objects” was born from them.
The sixth phase of the main body excavation of the Zhouqiao Main Body (from east to west) Photo provided by Kaifeng Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism
The results notice of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage pointed out that the discovery of the Kaifeng Zhou Bridge and the Bian River site in Henan has outstanding universal value for studying the structural layout of the Beijing City in the Northern Song Dynasty and the history and culture of the Grand Canal, and has great practical significance for protecting and inheriting the Yellow River culture and promoting the construction of the Grand Canal Cultural Belt.
Sometimes, Yangcheng Evening News reporters came to this last place./a>The new major archaeological site, intuitively experience a search process that wipes away the smoke and dust of history and recreates the prosperity of thousands of years.
1. Bianhe Prefecture Bridge, a country that has been known for thousands of years. Why is the Prefecture Bridge so important?
“Standing on the state bridge is truly a thousand years old.” Wei Peishi, director of Kaifeng Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism, was very contagious. Zhouqiao was built during the middle period of Jian’s reign in the Tang Dynasty (780-783) and developed into a transportation hub and urban coordinates in the center of the capital Bianliang (now Kaifeng) by the Northern Song Dynasty.
The bright moon of Zhouqiao was once the “Eight Scenerys of Bianjing” Kaifeng Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism Li Chen Hand-painted
“Zhouqiao” is a common name for all the people throughout the ages. It was named “Tianhan Bridge” in the Song Dynasty because it faced Danei Yu Street, also known as “Yuqiao”. This important bridge across the Bian section of the Grand Canal is not only seen in various documents and literary works of the Song Dynasty, but has also been used throughout the ages until the end of the Ming Dynasty and was buried underground. Although the bridge is gone, “Zhouqiao Hu La Soup” and “Zhouqiao Snacks” have always been vividly left in the lives of Kaifeng people.
Archaeological site at the Zhouqiao site
On the huge archaeological site in front of you, between the exploration sites, walls and gullies that are excavated and protected in stages, it is no longer easy for viewers to judge the direction of the bridge deck and river. Wang Sanying, deputy director of Kaifeng Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute, patiently pointed out for us, “The bridge spans north and south, and the river flows from west to east.”
Historical records show that Zhou Bridge is located on Yu Street, the central axis of the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, crossing the Bian River (i.e. the Kaifeng section of the Grand Canal). To the north is Xuande Gate, the south gate of the majestic imperial city. Looking north, the government is full of government offices; to the south is Zhuque Gate, the south gate of the bustling inner city, with merchants gathering; the Bian River, which undertakes important functions such as canal transportation and transportation, flows through the bridge.
Historians have long confirmed that the population of Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty exceeded one million, and it was the largest city in the world at that time. Zhouqiao uniquely connects the three functional areas of politics, commerce and residence, which shows its advanced and prosperous history in the history of urban civilization development.
For this reason, we cannot understand why the famous book “Water Margin”, which takes the Northern Song Dynasty and Bianjing as important time and space background, appeared dozens of times: the hero Yang Zhi was guided by someone and went to the Zhouqiao to sell his sword; Lu Zhishen asked for directions to find Daxiangguo Temple, and the neighbors pointed out that it was not far from the Zhouqiao; Song Jiang, Lin Chong, Yang Xiong, Shi Xiu, one of them went to a restaurant beside the Zhouqiao…
In Meng Yuanlao’s “Dream of Tokyo”, the Zhouqiao has not only become an important coordinate for positioning urban scenery, but also href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>Babaylan has a special chapter called “Zhouqiao Night Market”. It has been listing more than 60 attractive food and snacks in summer and winter months, and it is extremely important to express its grand occasion of opening all night and not abandoning the cold and heat.
People can therefore better understand why Wang Anshi, a famous minister of the Northern Song Dynasty, wrote a poem to recall: “The moon is like the mountain pepper, but looking back at the sorrow and not feeling the distance. I heard the old sob again tonight, but I looked at the moon and talked about the state bridge”;
The poet Fan Chengda of the Southern Song Dynasty went to the Jin Dynasty and passed through the former capital Bianjing, why did the “Zhouqiao is the sky street in the north and south, and the elders waited for the year to return every year. I endured my tears and asked the envoys, when will the six armies really come?”… The thought of family and country entrusted by famous quotes has made the Zhouqiao sound for thousands of years.
Judging from the current excavation situation, the river channel from Bian River is narrower, so the north-south length of the Zhou Bridge is only about 26 meters, but the width of its east-west bridge deck is more than 30 meters because it must match the width of the Yujie Street at both ends. Such a unique shape with a width greater than a length is very rare in the history of ancient Chinese bridge construction, and it can also vaguely see the prosperity of the “Bridge City” back then.
2. For more than thirty years, the remains are gradually seeing the light of day
Where is the Zhou Bridge? Archaeologists actually knew for a long time that it may still be preserved below the ground of today’s Zhongshan Road, the central axis of Kaifeng, which has not changed for thousands of years. Kaifeng was once the imperial capital of all dynasties, but due to the redirection of the Yellow River, the city has encountered more than once a “destroyment” of floods. The city of Kaifeng in the Qing Dynasty, Kaifeng in the Ming Dynasty, Bianjing in the Jin Dynasty, Tokyo in the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty, Bianzhou in the Tang Dynasty, and Daliang in the Wei capital of the Warring States Period, six cities were stacked from top to bottom, buried about 3 to 14 meters below the ground today – this is Kaifeng’s unique “city-crossing city” phenomenon.
In addition to the high urban groundwater level, this ancient capital guards such a “cultural rich mine”, but it has been difficult to carry out large-scale urban archaeology for a long time.
In 1984, when Kaifeng built a large sewer pipe in the middle section of Zhongshan Road, some state bridges were discovered.The bridge deck was found after archaeologists went down to the bridge hole to inspect it, and the existence of the prefecture bridge was confirmed and confirmed with the location recorded in historical records. But at that time, the conditions for excavation were not met, and the groundwater level was too high, so the ruins could only be backfilled for future generations.
The Qing brick bridge deck of the Ming Dynasty Zhouqiao excavated today
Although it was a shocking glance, there were also discoveries: Qiu Gang, who was once the captain of the Kaifeng Cultural Relics and Archaeology Team, once wrote an article in the 1990s that the wooden paper base found at the bottom of the Zhouqiao was earlier than the Southern Song Dynasty designs discovered in Jinji Bridge, Quanzhou, Fujian, which advanced the time for the use of this technology in ancient my country to the Northern Song Dynasty.
In 2014, the Grand Canal of Sui and Tang Dynasties in China was successfully applied for World Heritage. Although Kaifeng is at an important node of the Grand Canal, no visible sites can be included. Driven by the construction of the National Grand Canal Cultural Belt, the excavation of the Bian River site has been put on the agenda.
Since 2018, the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the Kaifeng Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute have carried out continuous archaeological excavations of the Bian River and Zhouqiao sites.
The archaeological team members first started the exploration on the east side to reveal the Bian River in Kaifeng City layer by layer in the section; in March 2020, excavation work on the west side of the Zhouqiao Bridge began, and even more amazing discoveries were waiting for them. 
Wei Peishi (left), Wang Sanying (right) and others inspected the porcelain pieces unearthed from the Zhouqiao site
3. Work tirelessly and explore the style of the “Great Song Dynasty”
Can the Zhouqiao discovery can only stop at the remains of the Ming Dynasty?
Standing on the state bridge deck of the archaeological site, you can clearly see the blue bricks, ruts, etc. preserved from the original traces. Wang Sanying introduced that the structure and bridge body of this Ming Dynasty prefecture bridge are basically complete, with bluestone paved bridge decks and brick arches. The geese wings extending to both sides are also brick and stone structures.
The remains of the Four Kings of the Golden Dragon from the late Ming Dynasty were also found on the bridge, which is in line with the sacrifice of the River God. Three exquisite gold-patched bronze statues were unearthed. The temple has occupied a considerable part of the bridge deck on the east side of the bridge, which shows the change in the appearance of the Ming Dynasty’s Bridge, but it is still a prosperous city here.
Ming Dynasty Zhouqiao Restored Picture Kaifeng Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism Li Chen Hand-painted
After that the media released a photo of the state bridge with a bridge hole, it caused questions. Because Meng Yuanlao recorded in “Dream of Tokyo” that the Northern Song Dynasty Bridge was not an arch bridge, but a flat bridge with “stone columns under the bridge” and was flat and not a boat, but a convenient driving of the emperor’s car on the bridge.
For this reason, Wang Sanying specially led the reporter to the underpass and explained that the small bridge hole seen from the outside is actually the foundation of the Four Kings Temples of Jinlong, and the taller bridge hole inside belongs to the Ming Dynasty.
Arch under the body of the Zhouqiao Bridge in the Ming Dynasty
In order to allow the large canal ship to pass, the Zhouqiao bridge was converted into an arch bridge in the Ming Dynasty. The bridge hole was tall, and the distance from the top of the cave to the bottom of the river exceeded 6.5 meters, which is in line with the historical records of the Ming Dynasty. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>CinemaThe description of Zhouqiao Bridge’s high and deep water, “no masts are removed when you pass by the boat.” However, Zhouqiao was not moved, but used the bridge foundation of the Song Dynasty.
Although it is undoubtedly a Zhouqiao bridge, since the archaeological excavation began in 2018, the “Great Song Dynasty” style that people hoped for is still only a glimpse, which disappointed the archaeological team. The most important mission of the archaeology of the city lockdown is to find the original remains of the Song Dynasty and restore the scene of the imperial capital. For this reason, they worked tirelessly in the center of the prosperous city, hoping to find “empirical evidence”.
4. Stone carvings and murals, empirical “Menghualu” Zhouqiao
It was not until December 2021, the coldest season, that the archaeology of the Zhouqiao site was almost over, and a huge turnaround was ushered in.
At that time, archaeological team members Komiks were planning to explore the strata from the east side of the Zhou Bridge, and then follow the north bank of the river, and finally explored the strata, but unexpectedly found traces of the stone wall from the unusual crack. The further down, the more they were surprised.
Some parts of the stone wall on the north bank of the Zhou Bridge
Ming Dynasty bricks and wrapsThe branches and peonies are carved with grass patterns, then there are auspicious clouds, cranes, and auspicious beasts with unicorns… This is very consistent with Meng Yuanlao’s description of the Northern Songzhou Bridge – “The pillars are all made of bluestone, stone beams, stalagmites, railings, and stone walls near the sides of the bridge, and are carved with seahors, water beasts, and flying clouds. The stone pillars are densely arranged under the bridge” – they have long been able to recite it.
So, starting from the northeastward extension of the geese wings closest to the bridge, the archaeological team advanced east along the river bank and found a giant stone carving mural with a length of more than 21 meters and a height of about 3.3 meters. Then, at the corresponding position on the southern bank of the river, a “same style” stone carving mural with a length of more than 23 meters was found.
These rare treasures, which brought Shouze, a craftsman of the Song Dynasty, finally confirmed the existence of the Northern Song Dynasty Zhouqiao with cultural relics.
Some parts of the stone walls on the south bank of Zhouqiao
The murals of Zhouqiao currently discovered are concentrated on the east side of the excavated bridge, embedded in the embankments on both sides, each made of hundreds of stone slabs. Each stone slab is carved toward the facade of the river, and the whole is stacked like a puzzle, forming the graceful relief murals that can be seen on the bridge and in the river. The murals on both sides of the strait have three groups of patterns, each group consisting of a sturdy and sturdy “sea horse” and a crane and auspicious clouds that surround you, and go up against the current. Two horses, one in front and one behind, galloped forward with their heads raised, their manes fluttering, and the horse in the middle looked back and looked at them, and their eyes followed.
The “sea horse” auspicious beast on the stone wall on the south bank of the Zhouqiao still flows in gas. The white mark on its body is the original site. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>CinemaThe modern building above the building rubbed the stone wall during construction and pile driving. The archaeological team members speculated based on this that there should be murals of the same size on both sides of the west side of the Zhou Bridge. The two sides added up, and then the bridge body of the Zhou Bridge itself will reach about 100 meters in total. This is alsoOnly by matching the width of the streets at both ends.
Scholars then found another document to prove the origin of the stone wall of the Zhouqiao. According to Zhang Zhifu’s notes in the Song Dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Zhezong of Song Dynasty, Prime Minister Zhang Dun appointed Jia Zhongmin to repair the prefecture bridge. Jia first changed the bridge to a stone bank, but was laughed at by an official who was good at controlling water: “The stone bank is very unique, but it is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom!” Jia hurriedly asked for advice, and Song suggested: “Please be a sea horse to expand the bottom.” Jia then did as he did.
Looking back to the past, the Zhou Bridge was between the bright moon and the clear waves, with auspicious animals rushing on both sides of the shore, connecting the rivers and the seas. What a vast and graceful imperial capital atmosphere!
Auspicious clouds and cranes on the stone wall
5. A rare treasure, which can be updated with art history
At present, archaeological operations are still continuing, and the lower edge of the stone wall on the south bank has been pushed to the cleaning of the “sky” layer. At the same time, the special protection plan for stone carvings and murals is also constantly being improved and unfolded.
Wang Sanying pointed out a detail: these carved stone slabs are obviously made and numbered separately, and then “assembled” into an overall pattern in sequence. Each stone slab is engraved with numbers in the empty space where the carvings are not affected. For example, the reporter randomly identified the words “Sitting Twelve”, “ShanCinema16″, and “Scarlet Twenty-seven” at the scene.
The code “27” visible on the stone wall on the south bank. Photo provided by Kaifeng Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism
The vertical serial number from the bottom to the top. The north wall takes the characters from the Song Dynasty from the Meng Book of Practicing the characters “The supreme scholar is from the mountains and rivers, the middle man sits on the bamboo forest, the king has his own nature, and the Pingzi is paying attention.” The south wall uses the “Heaven and earth are mysterious and yellow, the universe is vast and vast, and the sun and the moon are full of brightness. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>Cinema, Chensu Liezhang”;
From west to east, it is in accordance with ChinaKomiksThe two groups of overlapping positioning are not messy at all, and they are very interesting.
On the construction site, some technicians call these murals “big treasures”. They are currently protected by appearance and are only for public visits for about two hours a day.
The murals on the north bank are more complete, but because they are facing the sun, the weathering is slightly heavier, and the patterns are not as clear as those on the south bank; while the murals on the south bank are beautifully undulating, but there are some traces of destruction and disturbance in later generations on the upper edge, and some are carved with peonies and curly grass patterns, which no longer seem to be in their original position… There are even several traces of modern engineering pile driving, which are very “approaching” stone reliefs, which make people feel a sense of “remaining after the disaster”.
The full view of the huge stone carving and auspicious mural in the south wall Photo provided by Kaifeng Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism
Liu Haiwang, director of Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, mentioned in his report to the State Administration of Cultural Relics that the main body of the Zhouqiao now uses lime-based adhesives, which are in line with the characteristics of the Ming Dynasty; while the adhesives of the river bank stone walls are mainly sandy and soil, which are in line with the characteristics of the Tang and Song dynasties.
In addition, according to the detection of X-fluorescence spectrometer and X-ray diffractometer, the oxide composition, phase composition and content of the stone walls on both sides of the banks are very close to the stones in the Duangou River area of Xingyang, Henan. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>Cinema.
At the expert discussion meeting held in September this year, Professor Zheng Yan of the School of Art of Peking University believed that the discovery of giant stone carvings and murals in Zhouqiao can be written into Chinese art history textbooks, and its format and quality can basically represent the highest specifications of the stone work system in the Northern Song Dynasty and the highest level of carving technology; and in addition, many of the contents in the Northern Song Dynasty classic “Creation of the French” can be understood in combination with the stone carvings of seahors and auspicious beasts, birds and cranes, and auspicious clouds discovered this time.
Stone wall on the north bank of Zhouqiao – Post-production gold-tracing line version Kaifeng Komiks Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Tourism
6. Deep archaeology research, connect the historical pulses to reflectKomiksReality
At present, with the popularity of TV series such as “Menghualu”, “Qingpingle”, and “Da Song Palace Ci”, the cultural enthusiasm caused by Song Feng and Song Yun is no different.
The archaeological achievements of Kaifeng Zhou Bridge and Bianhe Site, especially the huge stone murals of Zhou Bridge, are re-expected, marking the astonishing height of Chinese civilization a thousand years ago through the method of “mutual verification of culture and objects”, telling a contemporary archaeological story with “Chinese style”.
The greatest charm of archaeology lies in connecting history, reality and the future.
Northern Song Dynasty porcelain unearthed from the Zhouqiao site Photo provided by Kaifeng Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism
At present, KomiksScholars represented by Liu Qingzhu, former director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, are advocating the in-depth study of Zhouqiao and the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty to the value interpretation of the national political etiquette and the form of Chinese civilization, connecting the dual historical veins of Yellow River culture and Grand Canal culture;
The Northern Song Dynasty ship lamp unearthed from the Zhouqiao site Photo provided by Kaifeng Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism
The leaders of archaeological work such as Liu Haiwang and Wang Sanying hope to achieve a new breakthrough in archaeology in the Northern Song Dynasty through the excavation of the Zhou Bridge; Wei Peishi was busy taking into account the “excavation, protection, planning, and display” and running for the next step of building a national-level large ruins park integrating archaeological sites, archaeological museums, and cultural parks…
Citizens and tourists came to appreciate the Zhou Bridge, look at the murals, and send children to the newly established “public archaeological study demonstration base”, experience the simulation exploration method, Babaylan to enhance cultural confidence and touch it with your own hands. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>BabaylanThe history and culture of our nation.
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The original article was published in the A03 edition of “Yangcheng Evening News” November 1, 2022
Source | Yangcheng Evening News·Yangcheng School Editor | Editor Lu Dejie | Proofreader by Zhou Xinyi | Gui Qing