The History of Locking Bridges in An Lan
An Lan Bridge in front of Erwang Temple is one of the five famous bridges in China. It spans the watershed between Neijiang and Waijiang, and is a famous ancient cable bridge at home and abroad. Formerly known as rope bridge or bamboo and rattan bridge, it is related to its material. It was renamed "Appraisal Bridge" in Song Dynasty. Destroyed by war in the late Ming Dynasty. In the eighth year of Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1803), He Xiande and his wife proposed to build a bamboo cable bridge, which was surrounded by wooden boards and railings so that pedestrians on both sides of the strait could tide over the tide safely, so it was renamed "An Lan Bridge"; In memory of He and his wife, it is also called "Couple Bridge". The bridge built by Mr. He fell into the water and died because there was no railing, and was executed by officials. His wife tried her best to repair the railing for her husband's injustice. The total length is about 500 meters. Waijiang Sluice was built in Yukou, and the bridge moved down by 100 meters. Bamboo cables were changed into steel cables, wooden piers supporting steel cables were changed into reinforced concrete piles, and the bridge body was reduced to 240 meters. From a distance, it looks like a flying rainbow hanging in the air, and it looks like a fisherman drying his net. The form is unique. Walking on the bridge, the Minjiang River roared through the mountains in the west and the irrigation canals in the east. The general situation and function of Dujiangyan project are more obvious. However, according to the records in Huayang Guozhi and Shuzhi, Li Bing is "capable". The book Water Classic Notes on Rivers records that "there is a bridge in Fujiang River", which proves that at least the construction of An Lan Bridge will not be later than the construction of Dujiang Weir. "Bamboo" means bamboo cable, which is the main building material of ancient cable bridge in western Sichuan, so Anlan cable bridge is also called bamboo bridge, cable bridge and bamboo rattan bridge.