绍兴古桥：璀璨的大越文化

屠剑虹

在中国桥梁史上有重要地位、现存最古老的城市桥梁——绍兴城内宋代八字桥。

Bazi Bridge in Shaoxing， the oldest urban bridge of China

在水乡绍兴，至今仍完好保存着唐宋元明清以及民国时期的古桥700余座，其中15座为全国重点文物保护单位。绍兴古桥类型众多，布局灵活，功能齐全，被列入国家级非物质文化遗产名录的高超的营造技术和深邃的表现艺术，展示了优秀璀璨的大越文化。

造型各异的古桥

我国现存最古老的城市桥梁，是位于绍兴古城内的宋代八字桥。这座梁式石桥，建于三条河的汇合处，东端南落坡与西端南落坡相对成八字形，桥因此得名。八字桥布局巧妙，结构合理，建造稳固，在中国桥梁史上有着重要地位。

绍兴的曲线拱桥以单孔半圆形拱桥居多，如绍兴市区的题扇桥等。马蹄形拱桥有单孔，有多孔，造型优美，精致典雅，目前全市有20余座。悬链线拱桥为国内鲜见的桥型，如嵊州玉成桥、新昌迎仙桥等，造型朴实无华，柔和悦目。

值得一提的是，在绍兴山区的石拱桥中，有不少全部用不规则的山石或溪坑卵石砌筑而成，但拱体稳固坚实，百余年不圮，造型粗犷自然、野趣横生。

绍兴的折边形拱桥，既有单孔，也有多孔。现存之中以三折边拱的比较多见。此外，尚有五折边拱的7座、七折边拱的6座，为全国其他地方所罕见。市区拜王桥是单孔五折边拱，谢公桥是单孔七折边拱。

组合式桥在绍兴也常见，较有代表性的是拱梁组合式和堤梁组合式。拱梁组合桥有始建于明天启二年（1622）的绍兴县太平桥，主桥为单孔半圆形石拱桥，引桥为八孔石梁桥，全桥造型别致，起伏联通，极富韵味。修建于清宣统三年（1911）的泾口大桥，主桥为三孔马蹄形连拱，南端落坡处接三孔石梁桥，全桥体现了江南轻盈灵动的风姿意蕴，可谓绍兴古石桥中的精品杰作。

堤梁组合桥有两种形式，一种是在两座梁桥之间设堤，如东湖镇永宁村的万寿桥。另一种是在梁桥落坡处设堤直接与岸相连，如越城区斗门镇禹陵村的长溇桥、绍兴县渔后桥和崇福桥等。

绍兴县柯岩街道的唐代纤道桥，目前保存完好有太平桥至湖塘板桥一带的两段。这纤道桥用条石砌成一个个石墩，墩上置青石板，平铺水面衍为桥。纤道桥往往间隔里许又建梁桥或拱桥，高低错落，变化有致。

精致美观的桥饰

绍兴古桥的石作雕刻装饰，既具有中国传统雕刻的深邃魅力，又体现了浓郁的地方特色，有极高的艺术价值。这些装饰主要在桥栏、龙门石、桥墩顶尖、间壁和长系石、桥面、拱券脸等部位，为桥上和水上所能驻瞻的部位。绝大部分装饰刻画的是龙、狮、象、麒麟等动物，也有将宝瓶、葫芦、莲花、灵芝、卷草等作为题材。

传说龙是水族之王，桥上刻龙表示镇守的意思。绍兴县广溪桥的龙门石刻是行走中的龙，龙体雕刻得极为细致，龙头、龙须、龙足、龙爪，就连龙身上的片片鳞甲都雕刻得十分清晰；太平桥、待驾桥龙门石中的龙，张嘴露牙，眼珠突出，威风凛凛。龙的装饰还较多地用于长系石头部和桥墩顶尖上，如华春桥、待驾桥、泾口大桥的龙头长系石，凤涧桥的桥墩尖部龙头雕刻。

狮以凶猛著称，多被雕饰在望柱上端和桥墩尖部，借助其威力守桥。迎恩桥望柱上端置有六只形态各异的石狮，或怀抱小狮，十分温驯，或脚踏绣球，顽皮可爱；廿里牌桥三个桥墩尖部各置一头石狮，中间一头石狮匍伏在地，昂首仰望，两旁石狮各作蹲伏，雄视四围。

象力大于狮，但性情温驯，可以驾驭。佛教以狮为文殊座骑，象为普贤座骑，以示佛法无边。新昌皇渡桥借用此意，望柱上端即置有象、狮等饰物。

桥饰中的植物花卉，最常见的是莲荷。莲荷含有向佛向善、普渡众生之意，在桥梁望柱上端、栏板、长系石头部等处多见。葫芦、折杖花等也是望柱头部的装饰物。绍兴县古虹明桥在桥面石板上刻有浮雕卷草纹图案一幅，为其他桥梁所少见。桥上栏板更是雕饰内容最为丰富的部位，如存德桥的栏板东侧雕有双龙及麒麟，栏板西侧雕有双狮戏球。太平桥、泗龙桥、泾口大桥、华春桥等栏板上雕有宝莲瓶、各种花卉、盘绦纹、博古等图案，华丽而秀美，抱鼓石上也多见各种精湛别致的雕刻，令人百看不厌，赏玩无尽。

琅琅上口的桥谚

绍兴有许多有关桥的谚语，琅琅入口，生动风趣。绍兴城内多桥，人们便以数序列目，用绍兴方言编成了一首顺口溜：“大（俗以‘一为大）木桥，凰仪（谐‘二）桥，三接桥，螺蛳（谐‘四）桥，鲤（谐‘五）鱼桥，福禄（谐‘六）桥，蕺（谐‘七）望桥，八字桥，酒（谐‘九）务桥，日（谐‘十）晖桥。”

更多的桥谚，则反映了当地的民情风俗。昔日，在新桥桥北设花轿店，娶亲人家在此租轿，故有谚云：“欢天喜地跨新桥”；过往埠船停泊马院桥边，里人来此乘船上城，谚云：“上城坐船马院桥”；薛家桥对面弄内多道士、艺人，谚云：“吹吹打打薛家桥”；乡人亡故，其家人到庙里点烛化锭，谓“烧庙头纸”，谚云：“哭哭啼啼走庙桥”；大川桥（洞桥）桥南有肉店，桥北设鱼摊，谚云：“买鱼买肉过洞桥”；西巷桥西侧有许多诊所，谚曰：“求医治病西巷桥”。也有一些桥谚是人们生活中的经验之谈，如“瞎子怕过桥，撑船怕搁牢（浅）”，“船到桥门自会直，船头撞破有几只”。有些桥谚则是赞赏修桥铺路之善举的，如“修桥铺路管子孙，烧香念佛图自身”。

古朴纯厚的桥俗

绍兴有许多与桥梁相关的地方习俗。

“修桥、铺路、造凉亭”，历来是被人称誉的大好事。桥落成后，要立桥碑，以示后人，但只能叙事记功，不能虚夸溢美。有的在桥体上刻字，多见桥名、建桥年月，或造桥人姓名，一般不刻建桥事由。有的桥身上刻有禁令，反映了当地当时的社会风情。如建于清嘉庆七年的绍兴县咸宁桥，其栏板上刻有“八社公禁女人不准桥上看戏”的字样。

过桥的各种习俗也由来已久。结婚是人生大事，为讨个彩头，图个吉利，新娘子不管是住城里或者住乡下，必定要坐着花轿走过城内福禄桥、万安桥、如意桥这三座桥。

男孩满月，要办剃头酒。剃头后，长辈会抱着婴儿去桥名吉祥的桥上走一圈，如太平桥、福禄桥或者状元桥、鲤鱼桥、锦鳞桥等。

俚语说：“无桥不成市，无桥不成镇，无桥不成路。”桥梁为水陆交通要道，人气颇旺。人们喜欢坐在桥头聊天，凑在一起对弈。绍兴市区的小江桥、迎恩桥等，均筑有坐椅式石栏。

绍兴古桥结构美、装饰美、楹联美，大量流传的桥诗、桥谚、桥梁故事、桥俗等蕴含着丰富的桥文化内涵。

（本文照片由作者提供）

Charm of Ancient Bridges in Shaoxing

By Tu Jianhong

Shaoxing， a region in eastern Zhejiang crisscrossed by numerous rivers， boasts a large number of bridges， including more than 700 ancient ones. Of the ancient bridges， the oldest date back to the Tang （618-907） and the youngest were erected in the early decades of the Republic of China （1911-1949）. The ancient bridges in Shaoxing come in a variety of shapes， functions and structures， displaying the glory and grace of the bridge building technology in the ancient land of Yue. Of the 700 plus ancient bridges， fifteen are cultural relics under national protection and many are now on the list of national intangible cultural relics.

Bridges

Shaoxing boasts Bazi Bridge， the oldest urban bridge of China. In the shape of Chinese character 八， it was constructed in the Song Dynasty （960-1279）. The bridge sits at a place where three rivers converge.

The arched bridges in Shaoxing are usually a single-arch structure. There are 20 plus arched bridges that take the form of a horses hoof. There are also catenary arched bridges in Shaoxing， rarely seen anywhere else in China.

An unusual type of bridges in Shaoxing is worth mentioning. Many arched bridges in Shaoxing are made of irregular quarried rocks or boulders from riverbeds. They look natural， offering a look of simple charm， but arches are strong. Some of them are more than 100 years old.

A particular kind of bridges in Shaoxing presents a special arch： these bridges present no smooth-edged perfect circular arch. The special arch shows a number of obtuse angles. The most common is a bridge with an arch of two obtuse angles. There are seven bridges with a single arch that is composed four obtuse angles and six bridges with a single arch composed of six obtuse angles.

To accommodate local topographies， bridge makers in Shaoxing of ancient times came up with special designs. That is how some combination bridges exist today. Peace bridge， erected in 1622， is composed of two parts： the main part is a single-arch semi-circular stone bridge and the secondary part is a stone beam bridge with eight arches. Jingkou Bridge， erected in 1911， has three horses-hoof arches as its main part and on its southern end stretches a three-arch stone beam bridge. There are also bridge-levee structures in Shaoxing. This kind of bridges takes two forms： two beam bridges are connected to a central levee. Bridges in the second category usually have a levee as part of the bridge to connect with the bank.

In ancient times， there were many towpaths along rivers in Shaoxing. Today， two sections of such long towpaths remain. A towpath in Shaoxing is a long， flat ， narrow， low bridge standing on piers in the river and running in parallel with the bank. Such a towpath is paved with long slabs and is punctuated with an arched bridge every one or two kilometers.

Decorations

Ancient stone bridges in Shaoxing are richly decorated with stone carving. The stone carving is usually seen in important parts of a bridge. Most common zoomorphic images are the dragon， the lion， the elephant and the kylin. Some auspicious plants and objects are also seen. While dragons are often carved on the most important parts of a bridge such as the dragon-gate stone and the pier top， lions are usually carved on the full columns. The lotus flower is a symbol of Buddhism， implying that the religion helps people to get to the other side： universal salvation.

Local Life

The local life of Shaoxing has been shaped by bridges. Building bridges， roads and roadside pavilions was widely considered as charity programs in ancient times in Shaoxing. When a bridge was constructed， there should be a stone stele to mark the undertaking. Writing an inscription for a stone stele followed a rule： facts only and no purple passages. Usually a stele carries a bridge name and construction date. The minimalist-styled inscription usually tells no story of why it was constructed. A few bridges carry a local taboo. Take Xianning Bridge for example： it was constructed in 1802 and it carries a taboo： women are banned from watching a theater performance on the bridge. The bridge must have been a vantage spot near an outdoor theater stage.

As many bridges in Shaoxing have good names， people in the past chose to come to bridges with good names on important occasions such as a wedding ceremony or a babys one-month celebration. In the regional life， a bridge served as a market， a gathering place， an intersection from which you went everywhere. In the past， some bridges marked special services and shops nearby. You came to a bridge to hire musicians. You came to a bridge for buying meat and fish； you came to a bridge where clinics gravitated； you came to a bridge to hire a bridal sedan； you would cross a bridge first before you entered a temple and prayed.