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Jinze Ancient Town in Qingpu District, located on the east side of the Grand Canal, was finest founded in the Southern Song Dynasty. Jinze is hailed“the first bridge town in Jiangnan”. Several of the ancient bridges from the Song and Yuan dynasties still exist. Among them, the Puji Bridge is the earliest-built and best preserved stone arch bridge in Shanghai.
Built in 1267, the Puji Bridge is a singlespan stone arch bridge and beside it is the Shengtang Temple. So, the bridge is also called “Shengtang Bridge”. The bridge was built with precious purple stones. When the sun shines on the bridge after rain, the bridge will emit lustre, glittering and translucent like gems, so it is also known as the“Purple Stone Bridge”.
The Puji Bridge is 26.7 metres long, 2.75 metres wide and with a span of 10.5 metres. It adopts the elliptic arch, which costs less labour and material than the semicircular arch in structure. Moreover, the arch span is larger and the slope is gentle, showing the superb construction skill. The arch masonry form of the bridge is the same as that of the famous Zhaozhou Bridge, with the arch stones placed side by side. But the two rows of parallel arch bars are slightly staggered in a disordered fashion. There is an approach on either end of the bridge. There are intertwined lotus patterns carved on the arch stone connecting the ends levelly. The bridge railing is close to the bridge deck to form a soft curve. It looks like a crescent moon in the distance, graceful and fascinating.
The bridge was rebuilt in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the stone railings were reconstructed in the early Yongzheng Period of the Qing Dynasty. There are wood frames on the top of the bridge to install a wood door that can be closed at night. Now the bridge body is mixed with bluestones and granites.