中英雙語話中國藝術 第12期:中國第一橋—趙州橋

12. China's Number One Bridge

12. 中國第一橋一趙州橋

Zhaozhou Bridge has a novel structure meters and beautiful shape. It is 50.82 meters long and 9.6 meters wide, with a Span of 37.37 meter. It is a one arch bridge consisting of 28 independent arches. At each shoulder of the big arc there are two small round arcs used to help drain flood water, reduce the weight of the bridge and save some stone. It is a pioneering work in the history of bridge construction. On the parapet of the bridge, there are various delicate and vivid pictures and designs. Structurally speaking, the bow-shape big arc and the small round arcs on the shoulder make the bridge look light despite its bulk body and give you the feeling that it is about to fly away. Its outline is very strong but gentle, stable but vivid, magnificent and meaningful. The sculpture of a dragon head on the top of the main arc and the Yangtianshi at the side of the bridge in the shape of a nine-petal lily expresses the wish that the bridge will be spare from the damage of floods and lasting forever safely.

趙州橋結構脯，造型美觀，全長50.82米，寬9.6米，跨度爲37.37米，是一座由28道獨立拱券組成的單孔弧形大橋。在大橋洞頂左右兩邊拱肩裏，各砌有兩個圓形小拱，用以加速排洪，減少橋身重量，節省石料，這是建橋史上的創舉。橋面兩邊的欄板望柱，雕有各種精美圖案，刀法蒼勁，造型生動。在結構上，弧形平拱和敞肩小拱給人一種巨身輕靈、躍躍欲飛的動感。線條剛勁之中見柔和，穩重之中顯輕靈，雄偉之中含雋永。在主拱頂上雕有龍頭的龍問石一塊，八瓣蓮花的仰天石點綴於橋側。這些雕像，寄寓着大橋不受水害，長存永安的願望。

Ever since the song Dynasty，there was a prevailing myth of lu Ban building the bridge, and people honor li Chun "saint". The legend says in ancient time, the river Jiao was always full of rolling waves in summer and autumn, and often flooded t during which people who lived by the river could not cross it even when they had emergencies. At regular time they crossed the river in a ferry, but it was very inconvenient. One night, the moon was brightly shining, lu Ban, the father of craftsmanship, drove a herd of white sheep to the bank of the river, and suddenly ail of them were converted into all kinds of stones. lu Ban wielded his hammer and started to work. By dawn, a grand stone bridge, in the faint rays of the dawning sun, had stretched over the Jiao River. This good news caused a sensation. People ran around spreading the news, even the world af immortals knew about it. Zhang Guolao, one of the "eight gods", was very surprised to hear that. He made an appointment with Prince Chai to test the bridge. As itwent, Zhang Guolao, riding his donkey, went in front, in a bag on the back of the donkey were the sun and the moon; Prince Chai followed him pushing a handicart with the five great mountains of China in it. As they advanced to the middle, the bridge began to shake under the pressure, and looked like if was about to be crushed. Grasping the peril, lu Ban plunged into the river and proped up the bridge with his hand. Only by his effort could the bridge survive. On the surface the bridge, there are some deep footprints left over by the donkey when it was exerting; as the handicart was too heavy, there was a deep rut too; prince Chai left a knee mark on the bridge when he slipped because of over exertion. Beneath the bridge, lu Ban left a big hand print when he tried to prop up the bridge. This is how these marks on the bridge come from.

自宋代以來，廣泛流傳着魯班修橋的神話故事，人們把匠師李春喻爲"聖人"。相傳古代，蛟河水一到夏秋兩季便濁浪翻滾，常常氾濫成災，兩岸百姓有急事誰也過不了河；平時也只能靠木船擺渡，很不方便。一天夜裏，月光皎潔，工匠祖師魯班，趕着白花花的羊羣來到蛟河邊，瞬間，羊羣化作各種各樣的石頭，魯班揮錘工，至拂曉時分，一座雄偉壯麗的大石橋身披晨曦橫跨蛟河兩岸，這一喜訊即刻轟動了百姓，人們奔走相告，同時也風聞到仙界。“八仙”之一的張果老十分驚訝，約了柴王爺一同試橋。只見張果老倒騎毛驢在前，驢背褡褳裏裝着日、月；柴王爺推車在後，車上裝着五嶽名山。行至橋中心，將橋壓得搖搖欲墜。魯班見勢不妙，縱身跳人水中，用於將橋托住，才使大橋安然無恙。橋面上，毛驢上坡吃力，留下了幾個深深的驢蹄印;小車過重，車輪碾出了一道深溝;柴王爺用力過猛，右腳一打滑跪在橋上，留下了一個大大的膝蓋印;大橋下面，魯班用力托住橋身，留下了一隻大手印。這就是大石橋上留下各種痕跡的由來。

Zhaozhou Bridge has a deep influence on the construction of Bridge in our country. Yongtong Bridge, located outside the west gate of the capital of Zhao Country on more than five kilometers away from it, is an example. Yongtong Bridge is also called "small stone bridge", stretching over Qingshui River. Built during Cahangnian year of the Jin Dynasty(1190-1195), it has a completely the same structure and formation as that over the An'ji River. It, too, is a single whole arc bridge, with a length of 32 meters，a span of 26 meters and a width of 6.3 meters, consisting of 20 single arches standing side by side. The carves on the parapet are exquisite. There is a popular saying among native people: "Have honor for the big stone bridges，and apprectiate beauty of the small stone bridge. " That is to say，from the big stone bridge, we can learn that it has made a great contribution to the history of bridge construction，and from the small bridge, we can appreciate the exquisite decoration. Legend has it that the night when Lu Ban was building the big stone bridge, his sister, Lu Jiang, was building the small stone bridge. They competed with each other and agreed to finish their work in one night. Lu Jiang was not as skilled as her brother, and was forced to imitate her brother's work The day was about to dawn，yet she was not at all finished. Fortunately, she got helps from a god, and beat her brother. Some part of the bridge was even more beautiful than the big bridge. Another legend says that this bridge was built by Lu Ban's second pupil Yongcong, so it was named Yongcong Bridge. As time went by, there were slips of mouths about "Yongcong" and "Yongtong"，and it was called Yongtong Bridge in the end.

趙州橋對我國橋樑建築影響深遠。坐落在趙縣城西門外、與其相距不足五里之遙的永通橋便是一例。永通橋又稱"小石橋橫跨清水河上。建於金代明昌年間 (1190 -1195)，與安濟橋結構形式完全一樣，亦爲單孔石拱橋，全長 32米，跨度 26米，寬 6.3米，由 20道並列的單拱構成。橋上欄板雕刻精美，當地老百姓中流傳着一種說法大石橋看功勞，小石橋看花草。"意思是說，大石橋看的是對世界橋樑史的貢獻，小石橋看的是精美的裝飾。俗傳魯班修大石橋時，其妹魯姜修小石橋，兄妹爭勝，限一夜完工;魯姜技藝不如魯班，只得處處模仿大石橋，天將拂曉，工猶未竣，幸得天神暗中相助，妹竟勝兄，且若干部分較大橋爲優美。另有民間傳說，此橋爲魯班的二徒弟永聰所造，因而小石橋名永聰橋，年代久了，人們叫溜了口，叫成了"永通橋"。