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Xianghua
Bridge
There is another ancient bridge standing near the Stone Buddha Temple
called Fragrant Flower Bridge. Fragrant Flower Bridge lies over the
Changsheng River in south of Stone Buddha Temple. It is a single arch
stone bridge which is north-south trending, with descriptions of "Fragrant
Flower Bridge" on both ends of it. There are five stone steps
in the north side, and three stone steps in the south side. The guardrails
of the bridge are newly built. There is a couplet on the columns in
the east of the bridge: "thousands of rivers make these grand
waves; Stone Buddha Temple propagates traditional culture" The
Stone Buddha Temple was renovated during the period of Emperor Zhengtong's
reign of Ming Dynasty. It had eight sights including Fragrant Flower
Bridge. |
Now the Fragrant Flower Bridge has two stones standing parallel in
the north of the west side of the bridge. The left stone inscription
writes in cursive handwriting:" Zhang Guanghan, the assistant
magistrate candidate, independently built this Fragrant Flower Bridge,
in the 37th Year of Emperor Qianlong's Reign." The right stone
inscription writes in printed handwriting: "the bridge, was independently
removated by the official, Zhang Guanghan in the 37th Year of Emperor
Qianlong's Reign, and was renovated in the 20th Year of Emperor Guangxu's
Reign by the fund support from Zhu Cai, the officer and the timber
support from Wang Zhenyuan as well as the fund support from locals
called Feng Xuegu, Lu Ruisheng and Feng Xueyitong. We can see that
the bridge was renovated in the 37th year of Emperor Qianlong's Reign
of Qing Dynasty (1772. A.D.) and renovated again in the 20th year
of Emperor Guangxu Reign of Qing Dynasty (1894. A.D.) .
The landscape of Fragrant Flower Bridge is beautiful. There is a pool
underneath the bridge with lotuses flowering in the summer, spreading
elegant fragrance. The green trees and fresh flowers are prosperous
all around the year with birds twittering. It recalls the wonderful
scenery described in poem of Pan Hongmo, the famous poet in Fengqiao
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