The wisdom of the ancients is just as unimaginable
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This painting depicts an arch bridge over the Bian River, outside the city of Bianliang in the Northern Song Dynasty. But it is different from the stone arch bridges we are familiar with; it is made of wood, with huge square timbers joined together through interlocking connections, supporting and restraining one another, thus turning straight lines into curves to create a magnificent arc bridge.
For a long time, scholars have believed that this was a historical structure unique to China, and one that had disappeared. Among the Chinese people, there is a game of using chopsticks to build bridges; it’s not known when, where, or by whom it was invented. Their structural compositions are very similar, and we believe the two are related to some extent.
This type of wooden arch bridge is not unique to China; later scholars learned that Leonardo da Vinci also created similar designs. Da Vinci’s paintings were created more than 300 years after The Along the River During the Qingming Festival, so scholars in both Europe and China tend to believe that he must have been influenced by the East.
Qunce Bridge, Maoba Town, Lichuan City, Enshi, Hubei