Guifang Bridge, Hangzhou, Zhejiang

Guifang Bridge is a single-arch stone bridge with a unique structure. There is a sluice gate under the bridge to discharge water from the Shangtang River. After the sluice gate was silted up, the bridge piers were built on the east-west bridge, hence the name "Bridge on Bridge". According to the Ming Dynasty's "Renhe County System", "The original construction is unknown, and the old name is Mao Bridge". The name "Guifang" comes from the fact that Xu Xuan, a native of Linping in the Southern Song Dynasty, and his brothers Yin and Gai, all passed the imperial examination. The three of them, together with dozens of students from the Imperial College, wrote a letter to impeach Jia Sidao and were imprisoned. After Jia's defeat, their grievances were redressed, and the Xu brothers returned home in glory. To honor the Xu brothers, the villagers renamed the bridge Guifang Bridge during its reconstruction, implying the brothers' success. Guifang Bridge was built using the longitudinal joint parallel segmented masonry method. The bridge is 18.55 meters long, 6.6 meters high, 5.06 meters wide, and has a span of 10.45 meters. The three characters "Guifang Bridge" are inscribed in regular script on the east and west arches of the bridge. There is a stele at the bridgehead, "Reconstruction of Guifang Bridge", which records the reconstruction and repairs over the years, written by Sun Yuanpei, a local. Today, Guifang Bridge has become the most representative Song Dynasty cultural site in Linping, providing valuable physical evidence of Linping's local history and culture. It is a national key cultural relic protection unit.