Chapter 28 Chapter 24 Small Bridges, Flowing Water, Houses...

One day I stood on a small bridge in my hometown and wrote these few words: This is my perception of the small bridges and flowing water in my hometown as a wanderer.In fact, the "little bridges and flowing water" in Suzhou contain many and broad contents. There are many rivers and many natural bridges.The rivers in my hometown are as numerous as a net, and the small bridges in my hometown are therefore as numerous as stars.No need to be on the ground, just close your eyes, the meandering rivers are like dancing white trains, and the bridges are like shining pearls on the train belt...they will all flash in my mind.If the rivers are compared to staves, then the ancient bridges should be beating notes.They add radiance to each other and resonate with each other, turning the beautiful scenery of Wudi into a masterpiece that can be left in the world and in the poems of poets.

There are so many small bridges in my hometown that people are surprised. It is not an exaggeration to say that she is "two bridges in one step". "Green Waves, water from east to west, north to south, and 390 Honglan bridges." Bai Juyi said. "When you come to Gusu to see you, everyone sleeps on the river; the ancient palace has little idle land, and there are many water ports and small bridges." Du Xunhe wrote this.According to the records of "Gusu Chronicles", there were 301 bridges in Suzhou city in the middle of Ming Dynasty, and 573 small bridges inside and outside the city.This naturally does not include those small bridges between counties, townships, towns and villages in Suzhou.If you add up the small bridges in the countryside, there should be no less than 10,000 old small bridges in Suzhou.I know that a small town on the outskirts of Suzhou has preserved 35 stone bridges within a township area of ​​only one square kilometer. The magnificent scenery of "Bridge Township" can be seen!

The earliest surviving bridge in Suzhou is the "Baodai Bridge".It was built beside the ancient canal in the southeast suburb of the city, across the mouth of Tantai Lake.The Baodai Bridge you see now has a total of 53 holes, all of which are bluestone arches, with a total length of 317 meters.Baodai Bridge has two major features in its construction: one is the use of flexible piers to replace the lengthy dikes, thereby reducing the weight of the bridge body, and the construction of rigid piers in the bridge can prevent the continuous collapse of porous bridges The second is that the bridge's arch coupon building method is also very special, which is different from the single-arch joint method of Zhaozhou Bridge and the stone-arc method of Lugou Bridge. Instead, it adopts a multi-hinge arch combining the two.Baodai Bridge is listed as one of the 16 ancient bridges in China because of its unique construction features. "The clouds open to the sky and the Han is far away, and the spring goes deep into the five lakes. The sky is full of rainbows, and the heart of the wave is golden." Wen Zhengming, a talented scholar in Suzhou in the Ming Dynasty, described the fairyland of "Baodai Bridge" so strangely, it is amazing.

The smallest ancient bridge in my hometown is only 2.5 meters in length, 0.9 meters in width, 1.3 meters in span, and only 0.2 meters in height.Although the bridge is small, its form and structure are all available. It is a typical small stone arch bridge in the Song Dynasty, so it is also a very historically valuable ancient bridge in Wudi. On the side of Cong Guixuan on the hill in the southeast of the garden pool. "Yinjing Bridge" is unique in the whole country. Among the more than 10,000 ancient bridges in my hometown, the most famous one is of course the Fengqiao next to Hanshan Temple.This single-hole stone arch bridge spanning the ancient canal is famous all over the world for the song "Night Mooring at Maple Bridge" by Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Ji.

And when you visit Suzhou City, you will not be bored even if you recite poems like "Fengqiao Night Mooring" ten times a day. There are many bridges in my hometown. The most obvious reason is undoubtedly that there are many rivers and they had to be built.Most of the small bridges were built by villagers spontaneously donating money.The ancient bridges are basically stone bridges, there are also a few wooden bridges, and a few are bamboo bridges.The stone bridges are mainly arch bridges and beam bridges, which are strong and beautiful, especially when reflected in the water. The small bridge plays a very important role, mainly to facilitate pedestrians, carriages and horses, and to facilitate the communication between the two sides of the river.

Stone bridges have many benefits for nearby residents.I remember when I was a child, every summer evening, my grandfather would always move a small wooden stool and sit on the stone bridge with a fan in his hand to tell my friends and me about his youth.Xiaoshiqiao has left me with many fond memories of my childhood.It can be said that when we were young, we walked through the sound of running water on the small stone bridge. The stone bridge in Suzhou, in history and people's daily life, has had earth-shattering experiences, as well as trivial chores. The small bridges in the water town are actually the elders of history in my hometown. They are responsible for recording the footprints of every village, every town, and every person in the country.Therefore, people have a very serious sense of awe for the small bridge, and dare not easily damage its skin and bones.

The little bridge is also a very sacred place and boundary.When I was young, my grandma once said to me: When arguing with someone, you can’t cross the bridge and then curse at others; crossing the bridge and then cursing is a "disgusting person".She taught me not to be a "disgusting person" at any time. "Disgusting person" in our Wu dialect is a big villain with a broken mind.It can be seen that the small bridge is still a watershed between likes and dislikes. Grandpa told me that when they were doing business, they mostly "met" on the bridge. "Meet" means to meet, to meet. "Whether the business is going well or not, we will see each other on the bridge." I can still remember this sentence that my grandfather said.It can be seen that the small bridge is still a place to negotiate with outsiders and connect with the outside world.

The small bridge in my hometown is very strong, no matter how heavy the burden is, no amount of porters can overwhelm it.The most lovely thing about the small bridge is its shadow reflected in the water, and it is even more beautiful when it shakes with the waves. "Cut across the spring stream to break the rainbow, and lean on the railing to think about the wind." If you are a poet, you will definitely stand on the small bridge to compose poems and recite, because the scenery of the small bridge arouses your creative passion. The beauty of the bridge lies in the flowing water under the bridge.If the water under the small bridge is active and flowing, the small bridge will become full of life, and its life will be accompanied by passion, vitality, gurgling, and euphemism... But if the small bridge If the water under it does not move and becomes a pool of stagnant water, then this small bridge will also die and become a permanent thing.

The small bridge and the running water are a pair of opposites, and it is a double scene of one movement and one stillness: the small bridge shows strength and strength, reliability and credibility in the flow of the water; and fearless.The small bridge is like a man, and the flowing water is like a woman.Men need to show strength in front of women, to show the kind of indomitable power.Women should express warmth and grace in the eyes and caress of men... This is the secret and family affection between the small bridges and flowing waters in my hometown. Only those who have lived with them for a long time will have such experience and understanding.In this sense, we Suzhou people are all descendants of Xiaoqiao Liushui, so we always retain the dual genes of strength and softness in our blood.

Now the small bridges in my hometown have been submerged by many steel bridges and spiral overpasses.They are no longer "traffic key personnel", but only remain in the alleys and streets, or sleep soundly in the grass behind the houses in front of the village.But my folks never abandoned them, and still regarded them as close friends, because everyone knew this very well: you can't stay on the overpass at the intersection of the highway for long, even if you smoke a cigarette, you will have a good time. A sense of dizziness and fear.However, it is different on the small bridge, which always makes you feel safe and intimate.As long as you are willing, you will be fine even if you lie on it naked, and you will feel calm, rest your eyes and rest your mind, and you will feel a kind of unspeakable comfort.

This is the small bridge in Suzhou, it is peaceful, accessible, rich in structure and ability to support a society.Therefore, it is also the life essence of Suzhou people.If you are tired of the hustle and bustle of the world, you can stay on the small bridge for a while; if you want to continue the voyage of life, you can walk on the stone steps of the small bridge: it will teach you how to take more firm and steady steps. Suzhou people can never do without the small bridge, because the small bridge is the blood vessel in their body, connecting every part of the limbs; under the small bridge, there is a flowing river, like human blood, which continuously guarantees life continuation of... In my opinion, the small bridges and flowing water in Suzhou can be compared to the relationship between the city and the countryside, and the "small bridges", "flowing waters" and "people" are the entire society built on this beautiful and fertile fertile soil. The glorious history of thousands of years has told and proved that the land of Suzhou has been peaceful and accessible for countless years since ancient times, which is determined by the culture of this place.In the past 30 years, under the leadership of the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government, the people of Suzhou have never stopped their great practice and exploration around reducing and coordinating the relationship between urban and rural areas, just like cherishing the "small" left by ancestors and nature. Just like the heaven-sent harmonious beauty of "bridge", "flowing water" and "renjia", they constantly give "little bridge", "flowing water" and "renjia" new content and ideas according to the development of the times and the needs of people's lives. The form makes it more radiant and dominates the world. It can be said that in the past 30 years of Suzhou, successive governments have always set the goal of building a beautiful and unique modern city with coordinated development of urban and rural areas, and a "new paradise on earth" where citizens and farmers live together. This also makes us The "Southern Jiangsu model" of the hometown has a unique charm of shining golden lights.In the early stage of reform, along with the development of township enterprises, the development of small towns in Suzhou was at the forefront of the construction of small towns across the country.After the 1990s, under the continuous promotion of the export-oriented economy, under the guidance of the national macro-policy and local government, Suzhou's urban economy has developed rapidly, and township enterprises have also been reborn and have new development space in the baptism of the market economy. .As a result, the expansion of the central city and the re-agglomeration of small towns here have made the vast number of rural residents change from "leaving the soil and not leaving the country" to "leaving the soil and leaving the country".At this stage, Suzhou’s urban construction and content have undergone qualitative changes, that is, the original urban citizens and the new peasant citizens who have “leaved the land and their hometown” began to achieve a great integration, the transformation and rebirth of the old towns and the rapid development of the new towns. The rise has formed a new pattern.The combination of the globalized economy and the localized economy has formed a new high-speed development at the end of the last century, and in the past ten years since the beginning of this century, the overall urban and rural development of Suzhou has basically taken shape. The urbanization pattern of the whole region with dozens of key market towns as the main body presents an overall elegant demeanor.At this time, in the entire area of ​​Suzhou, transportation, health, education, social security, industrial bases, agricultural land, green water surfaces and other social and human survival and development elements have been improved in an all-round way.In the words of my folks, "the city is more like the city" and "the countryside is more like the countryside". What is meant by "cities are more like cities" and "rural areas are more like rural areas"?Take a look in Kunshan, and you will find the answer—— In the past, the old city of Kunshan was jokingly called "the size of a palm".It is only a few square kilometers, and there are not many decent streets.Today, if you walk around Kunshan, no one will doubt that it is not a medium-sized city with a truly modern level.The wide roads, beautiful and unique buildings, colorful shops, and citizen parks with red flowers and green trees one after another... This is the scene of the central urban area of ​​Kunshan. The urbanization of "Great Kunshan" is composed of a "central urban area" and a large pattern of seven areas.They are mutually coordinated, connected and unified, and each forms a system. The function of the "Central City" is positioned as an ecological garden city with developed high-tech industries, prosperous tertiary industry, and suitable for living; the northern area is formed by the integration of Zhoushi Town and Luyang Town, which is a high-tech industry and labor-intensive industry Developing regions simultaneously, and relying on the adjacent Taicang Port to expand export-oriented economy; the eastern area, relying on the famous Huaqiao International Business District, focuses on the development of tertiary industries such as commerce and logistics, and at the same time develops high-tech industries. Modern manufacturing; the Wusongjiang Industrial Park area is positioned as a modern ecological manufacturing base dominated by high-tech and supplemented by labor-intensive industries; the central ecological agriculture area is mainly focused on high-tech agricultural research and development, testing, and production; Yangcheng Lake The Leisure Tourism Area takes Yangcheng Lake as the core, with leisure, tourism, and vacation as the main functions; the South Water Town Ancient Town Tourism Area focuses on water town tourism, focusing on the development of the tertiary industry.While vigorously constructing the construction of a modern metropolis in the central urban area, carefully build and upgrade six traditional small towns with the characteristics of Jiangnan water towns, namely Zhouzhuang, Jinxi, Dianshan Lake, Qiandeng, Bacheng and Huaqiao.These small towns must not be underestimated. They not only make Kunshan perfectly retain the characteristics of "small bridges", "flowing water" and "people's homes" in the south of the Yangtze River, but also support the prosperity of the new Kunshan with six giant dragons flying through the clouds and driving the fog and making noise in the sky. building…… The urban and rural areas of Changshu, Zhangjiagang, Wujiang, and Taicang are all Kunshan-style "cities are more like cities" and "rural areas are more like rural areas".Not to mention the new downtown area of ​​Gusu. In the past 30 years, the area has grown several times, and the degree of modernization is not what it used to be.In the words of a Suzhou fellow, "I can't tell whether I live in a 'City in a Garden' or a 'Garden in a City'? It's so beautiful!" Suzhou is beautiful, beautiful Suzhou.The beauty of Suzhou lies in the "small bridges", "flowing water" and "houses"...