The Pioneer and the Bridge Builder

The Science and Technology “Star”

Light—the Stars We Ought to Follow

Bian Dongzi （chief author）， Hou Yibing （chief photographer）

Anhui Science and Technology Press

June 2021

46.00 （CNY）

Bian Dongzi

A well-known writer and executive director of the Modern Science and Technology Historical Research Branch at the Association of the National History of the People’s Republic of China， he is the deputy director of the literary editing department at the China Children Press and Publication Group. His principal works include Dried Memories – The Story of Zhongguancun’s Special Building， From Curie’s Laboratory – Yang Chengzong’s Oral History， Three Major Offenses： Troops， Armory， and Missiles – Xu Lanru’s Oral Autobiography， and A Chronicle of Zhongguancun.

Hou Yibing

The deputy editor of Beijing Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics， he graduated from Tianjin Arts and Crafts Vocational College and is a member of China Photographers Association， the China and Foreign Biographical Literature Society， and a director of the Modern Science and Technology Historical Research Branch of the Association at the National History of the People’s Republic of China. He has published 15 large photographic albums， including The Grace of the Academicians， A Century of Scholars， and The Members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He has won the China Book Award twice.

During the Dragon Boat Festival in 1904， Mao Yisheng’s friends made planswith him to watch the dragon boat race from Wende Bridge on Nanjing’s Qinhuai River. He was just an eight-year-old boy. Kids at his age like dragon boat races， yet somehow， he fell sick that day and could not go. He felt so upset that he was depressed the whole day.

To his surprise， many people suddenly started running and yelling in panic： “There’s an accident at Wende Bridge！” “Wende Bridge has collapsed！ The bridge has collapsed！”

Wende Bridge used to be a wooden bridge. There were too many people watching the dragon boat race on the bridge， so the bridge railing broke， and the bridge collapsed. Hundreds of spectators fell into the water， and many drowned. A few of Mao Yisheng’s young friends also fell into the river. This incident left a huge impression on Mao Yisheng. He secretly resolved to build the most substantial bridge after he grew up.

Mao Yisheng had always been a keen and diligent student， good at independent thinking. At seven， he was admitted to the country’s first new elementary school， Siyi School. The school taught modern scientific knowledge， laying a good foundation for the boy.

Mao Yisheng was later admitted to Tangshan Road Mining School （now Southwest Jiaotong University）. He was a diligent student， and his grades were always among the best in school. After graduation， he was given an opportunity to study in the United States， thanks to his excellent grades. The next year he received a Master’s Degree from Cornell University， and in 1919， a Doctorate in Engineering from the Carnegie Institute of Technology （now Carnegie Mellon University）. In the 1930s， due to financial， commercial， and national defense requirements， two railroad lines， Shanghai-Hangzhou and Zhejiang-Jiangxi， had to be connected. The Qiantang River lay between them， and a bridge had to be built over the Qiantang River to connect these two lines. But was it easy？ The Qiantang River is famous for its massive tides. In the Song Dynasty， Pan Lang once wrote about its tides： “I have long recalled watching the tides. Everyone in the city fought for a glimpse of the river. As the tides raged， the boundless sea seemed empty， thundering like ten thousand drums.”

One can see that the surging， powerful Qiantang tides are seemingly impossible to restrain. During flash floods， there are unstoppable murky waves swelling and breaking. No one dared to dream of building a bridge over Qiantang River. The locals had sayings like “The Qiantang River is bottomless， no one can build a bridge” and “A bridge over Qiantang – it can’t be done”. Before the construction of the Qiantang River Bridge， China’s large modern bridges were designed by foreigners. A fervent patriot， Mao Yisheng， could not accept this. He kept wishing for China to design and build its own large bridges someday.

Around this time， the Construction Department Director of Zhejiang Province， Zeng Yangfu， visited Mao Yisheng， inviting him to preside over the design and construction of the Qiantang River Bridge. The director also made things very clear： “I’m responsible for the funding; you’re responsible for the project. You are authorized to use anyone. I trust you completely. However， if you fail to build the bridge， you have to jump into the Qiantang River. I will jump after you.”

Despite being faced with numerous difficulties and challenges， Mao Yisheng gladly accepted the assignment. In 1933， he began overseeing the construction of the first two-tier road-railway bridge in Chinese history. From then on， he would live and eat at the building site， often forgoing sleep and meals， as days succeeded nights. By then， the country was already at war with Japan. The bridge site was also bombed by enemy aircraft. Mao Yisheng and his engineering and technical staff constructing the bridge endured many life-and-death crises.

In building the bridge， Mao Yisheng boldly adopted new technology， “constructing both tiers simultaneously”. He overcame countless difficulties and finally， during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression， managed to complete the majestic， two-tier， 1，453-meter long Qiantang River Bridge.

On September 26， 1937， the lower tier of the Qiantang River Bridge was opened to traffic.

The opening of the lower tier of the Qiantang River Bridge not only facilitated transport and economic development significantly but also had important implications for the war. This bridge helped transport rear supplies continuously to the frontline and enabled fighter planes to be transported by train to Hangzhou in the fight against the Japanese. The extended steel dragon bridging the banks of the Qiantang River showed the world the ingenuity of Chinese engineers and technicians.

By this time， the Japanese invaders had reached Hangzhou Bay on November 5th， landing at Jinshanwei. They attacked from the rear of the Chinese resistance army in Shanghai， and the resistance army was assaulted on both sides. The situation had become critical. On the afternoon of the day before the opening of the road bridge， an instructor from the Nanjing School of Engineering approached Mao Yisheng and showed him a top-secret file from the Nanjing Nationalist Government. It demanded the Qiantang River Bridge be blown up at the critical moment when the war turned against the Chinese. The man from Nanjing told Mao Yisheng， “If we can’t defend Hangzhou， the Qiantang River Bridge will be like a bridge built for the Japanese.” He also told Mao Yisheng that explosives and explosive devices that could destroy the bridge had already been shipped from Nanjing and were in his car outside.

The bridge had just opened to traffic after all the painstaking work. Blowing it up would be like twisting a knife into Mao Yisheng’s heart. Later， he described his feelings as “strangling my son with my own hands.” But Mao Yisheng understood the war situation and the strategic importance of the bridge. So， together with his engineering and technical staff， he immediately drew up a meticulous plan to blow up the bridge. That night， all the explosives were put in place on the bridge.

On November 17， the upper tier of the Qiantang River Bridge was officially opened， but the “opening ceremony” involved only slightly more than 100，000 refugees entering Hangzhou through the bridge to escape the burning and looting of the Japanese army. As they walked quickly across the bridge， the refugees did not know that tons of explosives and detonators had already been planted under their feet.

On December 23， Japanese troops began attacking Hangzhou. At 3：00 p.m. that day， all preparations had been made to blow up the bridge. The smoke and dust raised by the Japanese were already faintly visible. At 5：00 p.m.， the bridge was closed to traffic， and detonation began. With a loud boom， the modern bridge， built just 89 days ago， was destroyed.

After the bridge was blown up that night， Mao Yisheng wrote down the words： “The war will be won， and the bridge will be restored.” When they first built the bridge， someone once joked that “of the five elements—metal， wood， water， fire， and earth—the Chinese characters that make up ‘Qiantang River Bridge’ only lack the fire element （錢(qián) has the element metal， 塘 has earth， 江 has water， and 橋 has wood）”. Mao Yisheng became emotional. So it turned out that the Qiantang River Bridge was destroyed in a war， adding in the “fire” element！ He wrote a poem with the following lines： “All of a sudden， heaven and earth changed complexion. The bridge was blown up， the structure destroyed in tears. Lacking fire in the five elements， true fire now emerged. A true man will surely rebuild the bridge！”

In 1945， China finally won the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression， and Mao Yisheng was ordered to preside over the rebuilding of the bridge. In March 1948， the restoration project was completed. Once again， the Qiantang River Bridge bestrode the tides of the Qiantang River like a giant dragon.

The Qiantang River Bridge， which took 14 years to complete， was blown up and rebuilt， a tragic yet inspiring anecdote in the history of the Chinese people’s struggle against foreign invaders.

The rebuilt Qiantang River Bridge played an even greater role in the development of the People’s Republic of China. It made enormous and enduring contributions in helping to develop China’s transportation and economy.