Jade Belt Bridge: Imperial Waterway

2018-10-17

Built in the 15th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the Jade Belt Bridge in the Summer Palace is a tall single-arch stone bridge with a height of 8.7 meters. It spans over the water inlet of the Kunming Lake that connects with the Yu River in the west. Originating from Yuquan Hill, the Yu River used to be the imperial waterway for Emperor Qianlong to move between the Qingyi Garden and the Jingming Garden. Departing from the Qingyi Garden in a gaily-painted pleasure boat, the emperor and the empress would cruise to the Jingming Garden of Yuquan Hill for sightseeing. As the imperial boat had to pass through the Jade Belt Bridge, it was designed in a semicircular shape and steady in construction. Made of white marble and greenish white marble, the Jade Belt Bridge, with its tall arch and thin deck, is designed in a graceful semicircular arc, just like a jade belt worn by ancient people. The white bridge railings are decorated with carvings of flying cranes in auspicious clouds. With its unique design, the Jade Belt Bridge is a combination of practicality and beauty, like a bright gem on the west causeway. Its aesthetic effects are also enhanced by the interpretation of its name.

Three characters reading “Yudai Qiao” in elegant brushstrokes are engraved on the railings of the facade of the east end of the Jade Belt Bridge. On the two sides are the antithetical couplets written by Emperor Qianlong, which vividly depict the surroundings of the Jade Belt Bridge. Gazing out at the west lake on the bridge, you can see the ruins of the Zhijing Pavilion in the northwest lake and the ruins of the Zaojian Hall in the southwest lake. At the place where the two lakes meet, there is the Changguan Hall. On the island of the southwest lake stands the Zhijing Pavilion. It was built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong.

The pavilion was originally a high building in the style of a round castle which had internal and external walls with each wall having four gates. High-grade pavilions were built on the internal walls surrounded by four two-column and three-tower archways. The plaques above the four gates are inscribed with the characters “Bright East”, “South Water”, “West Ridge” and “North Hill” according to their directions. From here, you can view the surrounding scenery.

When the Anglo-French Forces torched the Qingyi Garden in the 10th year of the reign of Emperor Xianfeng, the Zhijing Pavilion survived because it was surrounded by water and far away from the main buildings on the Longevity Hill. In 1888, the 14th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, Empress Dowager Cixi ordered the reconstruction of the Summer Palace. Due to lack of funds, the bricks and woods of the Zhijing Pavilion were removed for the enormous palace on the Longevity Hill. The island therefore became desolate, leaving only the ruins of the original buildings as we can see today.

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