Baliqiao

Baliqiao

Baliqiao, formerly known as Yongtong bridge, was built in 1446 A.D. as a three hole stone arch bridge in Ming Dynasty. It spans the Tonghui River and is the only way from Tongzhou to Beijing Avenue. It gets its name because it is eight li away from Tongzhou. It is located in the East and south of Chaoyang District. It borders Tongzhou in the East, Guojiadian in the west, dongjunzhuang in the north and Tonghuihe in the south. The village got its name from the bridge. Baliqiao has been listed as a national key cultural protection unit and listed in the world cultural heritage list.

Historical evolution

When the Baliqiao was completed in 1446 A.D., it was named yongtongqiao. Later, it was 8 li away from Tongxian County, so it was commonly known as Baliqiao or Balizhuang bridge.

"Ming Yingzong Shi Lu:" in August of the 11th year of Zhengtong, the bridge of Balizhuang in Tongzhou was built, and Wang Yonghe, the right servant of the Ministry of work, was appointed to supervise the work. " According to TongZhou annals, "Balizhuang bridge is Yongtong bridge, east of Puji gate. In the 11th year of Zhengtong reign, Li Shimian was appointed as a memorial Li Shimian's Yongtong bridge: "the balihe River in the west of Tongzhou City, the confluence of the rivers in Kyoto and the East. Although the river is not wide, the rain overflows at the turn of summer and autumn. It is often worse to build a bridge of wood than a boat. Li De, the eunuch of the inner government, heard that he wanted to build a stone bridge with his place, so he ordered Wang Zhen, the eunuch of rites, to longitude it. Wu Xingfa, the governor of water transport, was in charge of Chen Xin, the Minister of the Ministry of industry, Wang Zhe, the accountant, Wang Yonghe, the minister, and Ruan an, the eunuch. Fifty feet from the east to the west of the bridge, there are three channels. The channel and the flat bottom stone are connected each other. They are surrounded by iron, and the water dividing stone is protected by iron pillars. When they rush, the bridge is 200 feet from the north to the south, with stone columns on both sides. Table two square, titled Yongtong bridge, covered with the given name. He also set up a temple to worship the river god. It began in August of the 11th year of Zhengtong, completed in December, and set up a stone in March next year. " Yongtong bridge has been repaired for more than 500 years in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Republic of China and the 1980s. The current situation of Yongtong bridge is stone three hole arch, and it runs north and south. Yongtongqiao used to be the throat of land transportation between Shanhaiguan in the East and Tianjin in the south. In history, there were two large-scale wars between China and foreign countries. The first time was after the British and French invading forces captured Tianjin and Tongzhou in 1860, the Qing government carried out the battle of Baliqiao to defend Beijing against the invading forces. The second is the invasion of Beijing by the Allied forces of the eight powers in the 26th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1900). On the north side of the Beijing Tianjin highway to the east of the bridge, there is a "imperial stone road stele in Tongzhou" erected in 1733, which records the construction of the stone road outside Chaoyang pass. The monument is listed as a cultural relic protection unit at district level. It is also said that there lived a man surnamed Hai in the village. His wife, Wang Ma, Han Ka, was the nursing mother of Emperor Qianlong Hongli. In 1725, the third year of Yongzheng reign, a monument was erected here, but it has not existed.

In 2013 and 2014, it was listed as a national key cultural protection unit and listed in the world cultural heritage list.

In June 2018, Baliqiao, nearly 600 years old in Beijing, banned cars at the end of the year, and the park plans to restore the stone road of the Qing Dynasty.

Renovation plan

Motor vehicles will be banned at the end of 2018. Asphalt will be removed and restored.

The new bridge will be a two-way six lane bridge, including four motorways, each 3.5m wide; two non motorways, each 3M wide; and two sidewalks, each 3M wide.

According to the layout elevation of the bridge, the road surface of the bridge will be flat, not the arched shape of the ancient bridge. The architectural style of the new Bali bridge is completely different from that of the ancient bridge. The relevant departments selected the wohong bridge from three design schemes. The planning and design of the new bridge is based on the principle of "not higher than the old bridge", so as to avoid affecting the historical style of the old bridge.

The repair plan of the ancient bridge is under preparation. As a national key cultural relic, the repair plan of Bali bridge will be submitted to the State Administration of cultural relics for approval. Because there are still vehicles passing on the bridge deck, the detection is difficult. By the end of the year, the plan that has been demonstrated by experts will be submitted to the State Administration of cultural relics. It is expected that from the second half of 2019, the ancient bridge will be repaired.

Current situation of Ancient Bridges

Baliqiao is as famous as Lugou bridge. It is one of the three ancient bridges in Beijing. It is also the location of "long bridge reflecting the moon", one of the eight scenic spots in Tongzhou in the past. There are 32 pairs of stone railings on both sides of the bridge deck, and the carving on the plate surface is rough and powerful. There are 33 pairs of hope pillars on the fence, and each pillar is carved with a stone lion. There are a pair of beasts at the East and West ends of the bridge, with long hyenas and dense Lin, holding their heads high.

Bali bridge is 30 meters long and 16 meters wide. As a three hole bridge, the height of the hole is 8.5 meters and the width is 6.7 meters. The height of the two holes is only 3.5 meters, which is quite different. This structure is specially designed for the needs of water transport. Most of the grain carriers in Tonghui River are sailing boats. If the ordinary arch bridge is built, the navigation of the boat will be hindered. If the middle hole is built very high, the boat can go straight out and straight in. Therefore, there is a saying that "Bali bridge does not drop the mast". Due to the steep slope of Bali bridge, it is difficult for motor vehicles to climb the slope, and the two sides of the bridge were raised.

Bali bridge on both sides of the bridgehead, each marked as 2.3 meters of height limit pole, as well as the weight limit of 10 tons of signs.

protective measures

In 2007, the height limit pole was installed to prevent the passage of heavy vehicles and protect the ancient bridge.

In 2010, in order to solve the problem of posting small advertisements on the ancient bridge, the cultural relics section of Chaoyang District Cultural Committee asked the relevant departments to clean and clean the small advertisements on the bridge, and installed guardrails to prevent the posting behavior.

In 2013, it was listed as a national key cultural security unit.

In 2014, it was listed in the world cultural heritage list.

In mid-2017, Chaoyang District Culture Commission also installed four monitoring probes on the Baliqiao to conduct 24-hour monitoring on and under the bridge. There is a large area of graffiti on the side facade of the southwest approach of Bali bridge.

building structure

Baliqiao is 50 meters long from north to South and 16 meters wide from east to west. There are 32 pairs of stone railings on both sides of the bridge deck. The carving knife on the surface of the plate is smooth, rough and powerful. There are 33 pairs of pillar on the fence, and each pillar is carved with stone lion. Stone lions come in various shapes and are lifelike, comparable to the famous stone lions of Lugou bridge. At both ends of the bridge, there are a pair of beasts, long hyenas and dense Lin, holding their heads high. On the revetment stones lie four water holding beasts, twisting their necks and tilting their heads, glaring at the green waves. 200 meters to the east of the south of the bridge, there is a stone tablet made by Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty. On both sides of the bridge, there are green willows, white poplar, luxuriant grass and picturesque scenery. In the daytime, you can see the majestic ancient city by looking to the east from the railings; at night, you can see the water from the railings, and the moon is dancing in the thin waves, either like a jade plate or a silver hook. If there is a passenger cargo boat through, oar broken jade plate, water broken silver hook, very spectacular. One of the eight scenic spots in Tongzhou in the past, long bridge reflecting the moon, refers to this place.

The original name of Baliqiao should be "yongtongqiao", because it is located on the Tonghui River, about balidi from Tongzhou, so it is commonly known as "Baliqiao". Baliqiao was built in 1446, the 11th year of emperor Yingzong of Ming Dynasty. Bali bridge is a typical straight arch bridge. The center stone of the bridge deck is the central axis of the bridge deck. Compared with curved arch bridge, its bridge deck is a very straight access road. Therefore, this kind of bridge is mainly used for transporting goods by mule, horse and cart.

The bridge is made of granite with a large span arch in the middle and a small arch on each side. The bridge is 50 meters long and 16 meters wide. The piers are boat shaped. There is a water diversion point at the front end. Triangular iron piles are installed on the point. A ring of waist iron is reinforced at the position of the water level line of the pier and bridge arch to prevent the collision of ice in spring thawing or the collision of flood and passing ships in summer.

Tonghui river is the main channel for transporting grain in the capital. Most of the boats carrying grain are sailboats. Therefore, the arch in the middle of Bali bridge is very high, with the highest point of 8.5 meters and the width of 6.7 meters. This design is very practical. Sailboats can pass through it directly, and Bali bridge has the reputation of "Bali bridge does not drop the mast". The middle arch of Bali bridge is very high, while the small arches on both sides are only 3.5 meters high. Such a wide proportion also brings a very unique sense of form to Bali bridge.

The arch of Bali bridge is from Beijing. In addition, its stone carving decoration is also very beautiful. On the pillar of 32 white marble guardrails, stone lions with different shapes and vivid shapes are carved. In addition, on the East and west sides of the bridge, there is a stone beast lying on the bank. Zhenshui stone beast is huge. Although it has been damaged after years of wind and rain erosion, its posture is still majestic and vigorous, and its look at the river is also very vivid. It is said that Zhenshui beast is a clam pit viper, one of the nine sons of the dragon. Its image is very strange. It is said that the dragon is not a dragon, but a shrimp is not a shrimp. It likes swimming and is accompanied by water, so people use its image as a decoration on the bridge to suppress the flood.

The Longmen stone (Vault stone) on the arch of Baliqiao bridge is also carved with special features. One by one, there is a strange image of a monster with inverted hair and two horns staring at the river angrily. This stone carving is commonly known as "maoshui beast". It is decorated on the arch of the bridge to express the good wishes of the common people for peace.

Historical wars

bloody battle

Baliqiao is not only a scenic spot, but also an ancient battlefield. In August of the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860 A.D.), 30000 Qing troops fought a bloody battle with the British and French invaders here.

Battle of Baliqiao

In July of the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860 A.D.), the Allied forces of Britain and France, who started the second Opium War, forced their way from Tianjin to Beijing because the negotiations in Tianjin were fruitless. On the seventh day of August, the British and French armed forces, with a force of 6000 men and under the cover of heavy artillery fire, carried out self-defense operations