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Story 78: Luban Builds Stone Bridge

Luban Builds Stone Bridge

Author: Anonymous

It is said that during the Yuan Dynasty, there was a stone bridge in the south of Zhaozhou (now Zhao County, Hebei Province), which was built by Lu Ban and was very strong. After Lu Ban built the bridge, he boasted: “There is no other bridge that can compare in ancient and modern times.”

His words were heard by the local god named Zhang. So, Zhang Shenxian rode a donkey to the foot of the bridge, smiled, and said to Lu Ban: “This bridge has strong stone pillars, but if I cross the bridge, can you guarantee that the bridge will not shake?” After saying that, he rode the donkey onto the stone bridge, only to see the stone bridge shaking, as if it was about to collapse. Seeing this, Lu Ban hurriedly ran to the bridge and held up the stone bridge with both hands to make it as strong as ever.

There are still traces of the head, tail and four legs of the donkey Zhang Shenxian rode on the bridge. This story was first seen in “Huhai News Yi Jian Xu Zhi” written by the Yuan Dynasty. It was widely circulated after the Yuan Dynasty, and Zhang Shenxian also became Zhang Guolao.

The story of Zhaozhou Bridge in the popular musical “Little Cowherd” comes from this. In fact, Zhaozhou Bridge was originally called Anji Bridge and was built by Li Chun, a craftsman of the Sui Dynasty. The bridge still spans the river today.