Lugou Bridge

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Lugou Bridge

The Lugou Bridge (Simplified

Simplified Chinese character

Simplified Chinese Characters are one of two standard sets of Chinese characters of the contemporary Chinese written language. They are based mostly on popular cursive forms embodying graphic or phonetic simplifications of the "traditional" forms that were used in printed text for over a thousand years....
: ???; Traditional

Traditional Chinese character

Traditional Chinese characters refers to one of two standard sets of printed Chinese characters. The modern shapes of traditional Chinese characters first appeared with the emergence of the clerical script during the Han Dynasty, and have been more or less stable since the 5th century The retronym "traditional Chinese" is used to contrast tr...
: ???; Pinyin

Pinyin

Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most commonly used Romanization system for Standard Mandarin. Hanyu is the Chinese Language, and pinyin means "phonetics", or more literally, "spelling sound" or "spelled sound"....
: Lúgou Qiáo), also known as the Marco Polo Bridge, is a famous stone bridge located 15 km southwest of the Beijing

Beijing

is a metropolis in northern China and the Capital of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the four municipality of China, which are equivalent to province in China's Political divisions of China....
city center across the Yongding River

Yongding River

The Yongding River is a river in northern China. It is one of the main tributaries in the Hai River system and is best known as the largest river to flow through Beijing Municipality....
—a main tributary of Hai River

Hai River

The Hai River , previously called Bai He , is a river in China which flows through Beijing and Tianjin into the Bohai Gulf of the Yellow Sea....
(although, in recent years, the water of Yongding river is diverted to different areas of Beijing

Beijing

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The Lugou Bridge (Simplified

Simplified Chinese character

Traditional Chinese character

Pinyin

Beijing

Yongding River

Hai River

Beijing

Fengtai District

Fengtai District/Precinct is a precinct of the municipality of Beijing. It lies to the southwest of the greater urban area of the city.It is 304.2 square kilometers in area, making it the third-largest precinct in the greater urban part of Beijing, and is home to 790,000 inhabitants....
of Beijing.

The Lugou Bridge is well-known because it was highly praised by the Venetian traveler Marco Polo

Marco Polo

Marco Polo was a trader and exploration from the Venetian Republic who gained fame for his worldwide travels, recorded in the book Il Milione also known as Oriente Poliano and the Description of the World....
during his visit to China

China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
in the 13th century (the bridge was later known in Europe simply as the Marco Polo Bridge), and for the Marco Polo Bridge incident

Marco Polo Bridge Incident

The Marco Polo Bridge Incident was a battle between the Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army, marking the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War....
, which marked the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945).

"Over this river there is a very fine stone bridge, so fine indeed, that it has very few equals in the world." - The Diary of Marco Polo

Marco Polo

Construction of the original bridge on this site commenced in 1189 and was completed in 1192 and was later reconstructed in 1698. The Lugou Bridge is 266.5 m (874 ft) in length and 9.3 m (30.5 ft) in width, supported on 10 piers and 11 segmental arches

Arches

Arches may refer to:* Arch * Arches of the foot* The Arches* Arches National Park* Arches, Cantal, a commune of the Cantal d?partement, in France....
[Note that the number of "legs", or piers, is correct here, even though, with X arches one would expect X+1 piers. The "discrepancy" is that each end, or abutment, doesn't count as a pier, though, were they to be counted, one would have the proper number of piers (12) for the 11 arches mentioned.]. Hundreds of artistically unique stone lions from different eras line both sides of the bridge. The most intriguing feature of these beasts is the fact that there are more lions hiding on the head, back or under the belly or on paws of each of the big lions. Investigations to determine the total number of animals have been carried out on several occasions but the results have proved inconsistent, ranging anywhere from 482 to 496. However, record has it that there were originally a total of 627 lions. The posture of each lion varies, as do their ages. Most date from the Ming

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty , or Empire of the Great Ming , was the ruling Dynasties in Chinese history of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty....
(1368-1644) and Qing

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty , also known as the Manchu Dynasty, followed the Ming Dynasty in History of China, and was the last ruling Chinese Dynasties of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 ....
(1644-1911) dynasties, some are from the earlier Yuan Dynasty

Yuan Dynasty

The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was both the continuation of the Mongol Empire and the Mongol founded historical state in Mongolia and China, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368....
(1271-1368); while the few lions dating from as long ago as the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) are now quite rare.

Four ornamental columns each 4.65 meters (15 ft) high and a white marble stele stand at the ends of the bridge. One stele

Stele

A stele is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living ? inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab....
records the reconstruction of the bridge by Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty in 1698. The other stele bears calligraphy

Calligraphy

Calligraphy is the art of writing . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner" ....
by Emperor Qianlong, the grandson of Kangxi. It reads 'Morning moon over Lugou', and for the 700 years since its completion, the bridge has been a well known scenic spot in Beijing.

As well as being famed for its aesthetic features, Lugou Bridge is also considered to be an architectural masterpiece. It is built of solid granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of Intrusion , felsic, igneous rock rock . Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as Porphyry ....
, with a large central arch flanked by ten smaller ones. Each of the ten piers is protected by triangular iron pillars that have been installed to prevent damage by flood and ice.

However, Lugou Bridge holds a very special place in the modern history of China, and more for painful memories rather than either its stunning beauty or amazing architectural achievement. It was here on the Marco Polo Bridge that the eight-year-long War of Resistance Against Japan commenced on July 7, 1937, that culminated with the surrender of Japan in 1945. The walls of the Wanping Fortress, standing next to the bridge, still bear traces of the Japanese shelling, and the Memorial Museum of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japan (???????????) has been opened inside the fortress.

Lugou Bridge

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