page_title: Luoyang Bridge
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Luoyang Bridge / History
caption_attribution_description: 中文（中国大陆）‎: 蔡襄石立像
context_page_description: The Luoyang Bridge, also known as Wan'an Bridge, is located in Quanzhou, Fujian province, China. The stone bay bridge is situated at the mouth of Luoyang River. Being the first stone bay bridge in China, it enjoys the reputation of " one of the four ancient bridges of China".
  The project started from the fifth year of Huangyou's ruling period in northern song dynasty. Cai xiang, the chief of Quanzhou prefercture in the 3rd year of Jiayou's reign, took over the task of constructing the bridge, who had overcome several difficulties concerning bridge deck pavement and bridge pier by applying a raft foundation and raising oysters in the river to solid the base. In the fourth year of Jiayou's reign, the construction of Luoyang bridge was completed and Caixiang wrote "The Wan'an bridge" for it. The bridge had been reconstructed and repaired in the later dynasties. In the southern song dynasty, pagodas and fengshui pagodas were built outside the guardrail of the bridge.
  The bridge is 1200 meters long, and has 46 piers in total. The north part of the bridge is in the territory of Hui'an county while the south is in Luojiang district.
context_section_description: Luoyang bridge, also known as Wan'an bridge, is named for being situated on the Luoyang river. Legend has it that in the Tang dynasty, emperor Xuanzong of Tang disguised himself and went to the street to inspect people's lives. He stopped by a river in north-west hui'an county, Quanzhou, and claimed the scenery by the river was somewhat similar to what he saw in Luoyang. Therefore, the river has been called Luoyang river ever since.
  Before it was built, there was a ferry crossing called Wan'an to help locals cross the river. The ferry was in the estuary, and accidents frequently resulted from harsh winds and high seas, and crossings were impossible for several days. During the reign of Qingli in northern song dynasty, one of the Quanzhou locals, Lichong, used stones as piers and wood as deck to build a floating bridge to help passersby cross the river; however, it was destroyed by water more than once. In the fifth year (1053) of Huangyou's reign, another Quanzhou local, Wangshi, capped and fixed the floating bridge, which was the starting point of constructing Luoyang bridge officially. During the construction, they encountered many problems including the lack of funds, the extreme difficulty of building seven of the bridge piers and the deck.
  In the July of the 3rd year (1058) of Jiayou's reign, Caixiang was appointed as the chief of the Quanzhou prefecture, and then he actively participated in the construction of the bridge. He called on donation, cultured oysters to fix the piers, and took advantage of the ebb and flow to successfully build the deck. In the December of the 4th year (1059) of Jiayou's reign, the construction was completed, and Caixiang wrote "The Wan'an bridge" to memorialize it. Luoyang bridge became the first bay bridge in Chinese history. From the northern song dynasty to contemporary times, eight pagodas and fengshui towers have been built around Luoyang bridge.
  According to records, Luoyang bridge had been repaired and maintained 17 times from its completion to 1993, among which the one made in the 8th year (1138) of Shaoxing's reign in southern song dynasty was the first. In the 6th year (1408) of Yongle in Ming dynasty and the 4th year (1453) of Jingtai, the bridge went through reconstruction. In Jiajing's reign of Ming dynasty, barracks were built on the Zhongzhou island, the middle part of Luoyang bridge, to resist Japanese pirates.
  The bridge survived unscathed a major earthquake in the 32nd year (1604) of Wanli in Ming dynasty.
  During Chongzhen's reign, Japanese pirates almost disappeared, and a pavilion was built on the old barracks, which was named "Jinghong pavilion" (rainbow in the mirror).
  In the 20th year of Qing emperor Kangxi's reign (1681), in the eighth year of Yongzheng's reign (1761) and the 23rd year of Daoguang (1843), the bridge was damaged and was repaired. In the 10th year of Xianfeng (1860), attempts were made to carry out further repairs. The 19th Route Army, who were garrisoned in the Quanzhou area, reinforced the main body of the bridge in 1932, fixing piers and using steel reinforced concrete for girders and decking.
  During the Sino-Japanese war, this bridge was destroyed by the Japanese army. It was repaired in 1946, but during the second Chinese civil war, the national revolutionary army destroyed the bridge again. The cultural relics were all ruined, and the only thing left was the pier. Later, the People's Republic of China spared every efforts to repair the bridge. In 1961, it was listed as one of the cultural relics unit of Fujian province. In 1974, because of the serious damage of Luoyang bridge, it was no longer capable of serving as a transporting bridge, thus the highway bureau built a new highway bridge 700 meters away from the Luoyang bridge in the upstream. Luoyang bridge officially became the passage to connect the shores of Luo river, and also a heritage bridge. It became a cultural relics unit under national protection in 1988. In 1991, it was officially listed as a reconstruction project, which started in 1993 and completed in 1996. It was selected as 
caption: The stone sculpture of Cai Xiang
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