The Renovation Of The Ancient Bridges In Gansu, Longnan

The renovation of the ancient bridges in Longnan, as an essential part of history of transportation in Gansu, plays an important role in the history of bridge developme nt in Northwestern China, especially in Gansu. It deserves serious attention from brid ge experts and local historical researchers. Due to the difficulties of storage, the ancie nt bridges are damaged seriously, and most have passed out of existence, which disen ables the researchers to explore their structure and construction technology. Therefore, bridge researchers pay little attention to the research on this field. In addition, rare information, little mention in most local annuals and the obscure records in tablets and documents increase the difficulties for the researchers to make further analysis, which puts limits on the depth and width of this field. Because of the important role that the ancient bridges play to improve the transportation in Longnan, and because of the new element for local culture, this paper, from the following three respects:the renovation motives, the participants, and the fund-rising, focuses on the possibility of the ancient bridge renovation and study the improvisation of power in traditional grassroots socie ty, based on the related information and research methods in philology and starting off from the ancient bridge renovation in Longnan. This paper also concentrates on the social effects in their transportation function and cultural function, aiming at opening the association between bridges and human life. This paper consists of five chapters.