The Precious Belt Bridge, also known by other names, is a stone

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its structural load, loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either si ...

near

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It is located at the intersection of the Grand Canal and Tantai Lake about southeast of central Suzhou.

Names

The names Precious Belt Bridge and Bridge of the Bejeweled Belt are

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

s of the bridge's Chinese name, written in

traditional characters Traditional Chinese characters are a standard set of Chinese character forms used to write Chinese languages. In Taiwan, the set of traditional characters is regulated by the Ministry of Education and standardized in the ''Standard Form of ...

and in simplified ones. It is also sometimes known as the Baodai Bridge from the

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

romanization In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Latin script, Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and tra ...

of the

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

pronunciation of the Chinese name. The name references the story that Wang Zhongshu, the prefect of

, funded its construction with his own lavishly decorated belt rather than through

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

or additional taxation. In Chinese, it is also known as the "Small Long Bridge".

History

The Precious Belt Bridge was first built in AD 816 under the Tang

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

. It is located about from the Fengmen Gate in Suzhou's old city walls. The bridge was reconstructed several times, with the current bridge principally dating to the 1446 reconstruction under the reign of the Zhengtong Emperor of the Ming as repaired in 1873 under the Tongzhi Emperor of the

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. During the 1793

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Macartney Embassy, John Barrow visited the Precious Belt Bridge, accurately describing its length and the manner in which its central arches are higher than the others. The bridge was inscribed as the 285th Major Cultural Heritage Site under National-Level Protection added during the 5th round of nominations in 2001.

Structure

The bridge is constructed entirely of stone. It has a span of with 53

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

es along its length. It is usually wide. The three central arches are enlarged to allow for the passage ofby historical standardslarger river vessels without masts. The average span of each arch is . Although the bridge was originally protected by pairs of foo dogs at each end, today only a single stone lion remains at the north entrance. The stone tower and stela pavilion originally located at the north end of the bridge have similarly vanished.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . * .

External links

China.org.cn
Deck arch bridges Bridges completed in the 15th century Buildings and structures completed in 1446 Transport infrastructure completed in the 1440s Bridges in Suzhou Stone bridges in China Ming dynasty architecture Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Jiangsu 15th-century establishments in China 1446 establishments in Asia 1440s establishments in Asia {{Suzhou-stub