屠劍虹

在中國橋梁史上有重要地位、現(xiàn)存最古老的城市橋梁——紹興城內(nèi)宋代八字橋。

Bazi Bridge in Shaoxing， the oldest urban bridge of China

在水鄉(xiāng)紹興，至今仍完好保存著唐宋元明清以及民國時期的古橋700余座，其中15座為全國重點文物保護單位。紹興古橋類型眾多，布局靈活，功能齊全，被列入國家級非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)名錄的高超的營造技術(shù)和深邃的表現(xiàn)藝術(shù)，展示了優(yōu)秀璀璨的大越文化。

造型各異的古橋

我國現(xiàn)存最古老的城市橋梁，是位于紹興古城內(nèi)的宋代八字橋。這座梁式石橋，建于三條河的匯合處，東端南落坡與西端南落坡相對成八字形，橋因此得名。八字橋布局巧妙，結(jié)構(gòu)合理，建造穩(wěn)固，在中國橋梁史上有著重要地位。

紹興的曲線拱橋以單孔半圓形拱橋居多，如紹興市區(qū)的題扇橋等。馬蹄形拱橋有單孔，有多孔，造型優(yōu)美，精致典雅，目前全市有20余座。懸鏈線拱橋為國內(nèi)鮮見的橋型，如嵊州玉成橋、新昌迎仙橋等，造型樸實無華，柔和悅目。

值得一提的是，在紹興山區(qū)的石拱橋中，有不少全部用不規(guī)則的山石或溪坑卵石砌筑而成，但拱體穩(wěn)固堅實，百余年不圮，造型粗獷自然、野趣橫生。

紹興的折邊形拱橋，既有單孔，也有多孔。現(xiàn)存之中以三折邊拱的比較多見。此外，尚有五折邊拱的7座、七折邊拱的6座，為全國其他地方所罕見。市區(qū)拜王橋是單孔五折邊拱，謝公橋是單孔七折邊拱。

組合式橋在紹興也常見，較有代表性的是拱梁組合式和堤梁組合式。拱梁組合橋有始建于明天啟二年（1622）的紹興縣太平橋，主橋為單孔半圓形石拱橋，引橋為八孔石梁橋，全橋造型別致，起伏聯(lián)通，極富韻味。修建于清宣統(tǒng)三年（1911）的涇口大橋，主橋為三孔馬蹄形連拱，南端落坡處接三孔石梁橋，全橋體現(xiàn)了江南輕盈靈動的風(fēng)姿意蘊，可謂紹興古石橋中的精品杰作。

堤梁組合橋有兩種形式，一種是在兩座梁橋之間設(shè)堤，如東湖鎮(zhèn)永寧村的萬壽橋。另一種是在梁橋落坡處設(shè)堤直接與岸相連，如越城區(qū)斗門鎮(zhèn)禹陵村的長溇橋、紹興縣漁后橋和崇福橋等。

紹興縣柯巖街道的唐代纖道橋，目前保存完好有太平橋至湖塘板橋一帶的兩段。這纖道橋用條石砌成一個個石墩，墩上置青石板，平鋪水面衍為橋。纖道橋往往間隔里許又建梁橋或拱橋，高低錯落，變化有致。

精致美觀的橋飾

紹興古橋的石作雕刻裝飾，既具有中國傳統(tǒng)雕刻的深邃魅力，又體現(xiàn)了濃郁的地方特色，有極高的藝術(shù)價值。這些裝飾主要在橋欄、龍門石、橋墩頂尖、間壁和長系石、橋面、拱券臉等部位，為橋上和水上所能駐瞻的部位。絕大部分裝飾刻畫的是龍、獅、象、麒麟等動物，也有將寶瓶、葫蘆、蓮花、靈芝、卷草等作為題材。

傳說龍是水族之王，橋上刻龍表示鎮(zhèn)守的意思。紹興縣廣溪橋的龍門石刻是行走中的龍，龍體雕刻得極為細(xì)致，龍頭、龍須、龍足、龍爪，就連龍身上的片片鱗甲都雕刻得十分清晰；太平橋、待駕橋龍門石中的龍，張嘴露牙，眼珠突出，威風(fēng)凜凜。龍的裝飾還較多地用于長系石頭部和橋墩頂尖上，如華春橋、待駕橋、涇口大橋的龍頭長系石，鳳澗橋的橋墩尖部龍頭雕刻。

獅以兇猛著稱，多被雕飾在望柱上端和橋墩尖部，借助其威力守橋。迎恩橋望柱上端置有六只形態(tài)各異的石獅，或懷抱小獅，十分溫馴，或腳踏繡球，頑皮可愛；廿里牌橋三個橋墩尖部各置一頭石獅，中間一頭石獅匍伏在地，昂首仰望，兩旁石獅各作蹲伏，雄視四圍。

象力大于獅，但性情溫馴，可以駕馭。佛教以獅為文殊座騎，象為普賢座騎，以示佛法無邊。新昌皇渡橋借用此意，望柱上端即置有象、獅等飾物。

橋飾中的植物花卉，最常見的是蓮荷。蓮荷含有向佛向善、普渡眾生之意，在橋梁望柱上端、欄板、長系石頭部等處多見。葫蘆、折杖花等也是望柱頭部的裝飾物。紹興縣古虹明橋在橋面石板上刻有浮雕卷草紋圖案一幅，為其他橋梁所少見。橋上欄板更是雕飾內(nèi)容最為豐富的部位，如存德橋的欄板東側(cè)雕有雙龍及麒麟，欄板西側(cè)雕有雙獅戲球。太平橋、泗龍橋、涇口大橋、華春橋等欄板上雕有寶蓮瓶、各種花卉、盤絳紋、博古等圖案，華麗而秀美，抱鼓石上也多見各種精湛別致的雕刻，令人百看不厭，賞玩無盡。

瑯瑯上口的橋諺

紹興有許多有關(guān)橋的諺語，瑯瑯入口，生動風(fēng)趣。紹興城內(nèi)多橋，人們便以數(shù)序列目，用紹興方言編成了一首順口溜：“大（俗以‘一為大）木橋，凰儀（諧‘二）橋，三接橋，螺螄（諧‘四）橋，鯉（諧‘五）魚橋，福祿（諧‘六）橋，蕺（諧‘七）望橋，八字橋，酒（諧‘九）務(wù)橋，日（諧‘十）暉橋?！?/p>

更多的橋諺，則反映了當(dāng)?shù)氐拿袂轱L(fēng)俗。昔日，在新橋橋北設(shè)花轎店，娶親人家在此租轎，故有諺云：“歡天喜地跨新橋”；過往埠船停泊馬院橋邊，里人來此乘船上城，諺云：“上城坐船馬院橋”；薛家橋?qū)γ媾獌?nèi)多道士、藝人，諺云：“吹吹打打薛家橋”；鄉(xiāng)人亡故，其家人到廟里點燭化錠，謂“燒廟頭紙”，諺云：“哭哭啼啼走廟橋”；大川橋（洞橋）橋南有肉店，橋北設(shè)魚攤，諺云：“買魚買肉過洞橋”；西巷橋西側(cè)有許多診所，諺曰：“求醫(yī)治病西巷橋”。也有一些橋諺是人們生活中的經(jīng)驗之談，如“瞎子怕過橋，撐船怕擱牢（淺）”，“船到橋門自會直，船頭撞破有幾只”。有些橋諺則是贊賞修橋鋪路之善舉的，如“修橋鋪路管子孫，燒香念佛圖自身”。

古樸純厚的橋俗

紹興有許多與橋梁相關(guān)的地方習(xí)俗。

“修橋、鋪路、造涼亭”，歷來是被人稱譽的大好事。橋落成后，要立橋碑，以示后人，但只能敘事記功，不能虛夸溢美。有的在橋體上刻字，多見橋名、建橋年月，或造橋人姓名，一般不刻建橋事由。有的橋身上刻有禁令，反映了當(dāng)?shù)禺?dāng)時的社會風(fēng)情。如建于清嘉慶七年的紹興縣咸寧橋，其欄板上刻有“八社公禁女人不準(zhǔn)橋上看戲”的字樣。

過橋的各種習(xí)俗也由來已久。結(jié)婚是人生大事，為討個彩頭，圖個吉利，新娘子不管是住城里或者住鄉(xiāng)下，必定要坐著花轎走過城內(nèi)福祿橋、萬安橋、如意橋這三座橋。

男孩滿月，要辦剃頭酒。剃頭后，長輩會抱著嬰兒去橋名吉祥的橋上走一圈，如太平橋、福祿橋或者狀元橋、鯉魚橋、錦鱗橋等。

俚語說：“無橋不成市，無橋不成鎮(zhèn)，無橋不成路?！睒蛄簽樗懡煌ㄒ?，人氣頗旺。人們喜歡坐在橋頭聊天，湊在一起對弈。紹興市區(qū)的小江橋、迎恩橋等，均筑有坐椅式石欄。

紹興古橋結(jié)構(gòu)美、裝飾美、楹聯(lián)美，大量流傳的橋詩、橋諺、橋梁故事、橋俗等蘊含著豐富的橋文化內(nèi)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.