Roofed Bridge

Roofed bridge, also called gallery bridge or pavilion bridge, is a kind of wooden cantilever beam-type level bridge on which gallery is built. In the inhabiting area of Dong, there are lots of rivers and streams, so nearly all Dong villages have their own roofed bridge, and some even have more than one. Roofed bridge is the only road for people to go into a Dong Mountain Village, and it is a shelter against winds and rains for pedestrians. Moreover, it doubles as the mountain village gate and also a place for villagers to have a rest or chat. The greatest and most famous roofed bridge is Chengyang Bridge in Sanjiang Ma’an Village of Guangxi Province. It spans over the Linxi River and it is totally 78m long. It has two platforms, three piers and five buildings. The middle building is the highest, and its top is a hexagonal pyramidal roof pavilion and the lower is square and has three cornices. The two next to it are both square and have four cornices and pyramidal roof. The other two are rectangle, and have four cornices and hip roof. Under the bridge railings, there are long eaves, covering the four-layer cantilever beam under the bridge.

Fengyu Qiao

In Dong people’s view, roofed bridges are a “life bridge” to connect both the nether world and the present world and also a “blessing bridge” to protect villages and gather fortune. Therefore, people spare no efforts to engrave and decorate the bridge and make it integrated with pavilion, tower, gallery and bridge. Roofed bridge, such a building that has surpassed the level of practical use and aesthetics, as a matter of fact, is Dong people’s cultural operation to reflect their idea of fengshui (geomancy).

When Dong people built roofed bridges, no matter how small or how shabby, they would build them with multiple eaves or at least double eaves and complex framework. They would do the same to the shortest and smallest bridges. People even build many multiple-eave pavilions on the top of bridge gallery. Such a kind of bridge seems a gallery with drum towers. The typical ornament on roofed bridges is dragon, the same as drum towers. People also like drawing lots of patterns and pictures on roofed bridge to make the tattoo.