Traditional design and practices for building Chinese wooden arch bridges

Overview

Wooden arch bridges are found in Fujian Province and Zhejiang Province, along China’s southeast coast. The traditional design and practices for building these bridges combine the use of wood, traditional architectural tools, craftsmanship, the core technologies of ‘beam-weaving’ and mortise and tenon joints, and an experienced woodworker’s understanding of different environments and the necessary structural mechanics. The wooden arch bridges respond to the needs of local communities while taking into consideration the environment and the management of natural resources. They are a reflection of the value of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. The element was first inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding as the tradition had declined over the years due to rapid urbanization, scarcity of timber and lack of available construction...

This record is imported from the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage public dataset as discovery metadata. ARED has not independently verified community authority, access protocols or local naming beyond the source record.

Community and Authority

Communities: China
Languages: Not specified in UNESCO dataset
Cultural territories: China
Countries: China

How the System Works

Language, Story and Memory Material Culture, Design and Technology Ways of Knowing and Knowledge Transmission

Sources and Evidence

Imported from UNESCO DataHub dataset ich001. Field-level provenance is retained in the record metadata.

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage ListsDataset

Open original source record

Field-Level Provenance

title: UNESCO DataHub field title_en
preferredTitle: UNESCO DataHub field title_fr
summary: UNESCO DataHub field description_en
type: UNESCO DataHub fields type_of_element_en and type_acronym
countries: UNESCO DataHub field countries, ISO codes resolved with ISO-3166 regional metadata
categories: ARED category inference from UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names and title
relationships: UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names, type fields and World Heritage links
sourceUrl: UNESCO DataHub field http_url_en
rights: UNESCO DataHub dataset metadata license and license_url

Original Source Metadata

uuidb97fdde7-8199-425a-8449-d5a77003cacb

ich_public_ref2156

inscription_year2024

title_enTraditional design and practices for building Chinese wooden arch bridges

title_frLa conception et les pratiques traditionnelles de construction des ponts chinois de bois en arc

type_of_element_enRepresentative List

type_acronymRL

countriesCN

http_url_enhttps://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/02156

concepts_primary_namesBridges, Building design, Woodworking

concepts_secondary_namesApprenticeship, Clans, Craft workers, Mortise and tenon, Oral tradition, Technical skills, Temples, Traditional tools

main_image_urlhttps://ich.unesco.org/img/photo/thumb/18911-LRG.jpg

main_image_caption_enWan'an bridge in Pingnan county - one of the 6t batch of key protected national cultural relics

main_image_copyrightRuisheng Rao, 2009

main_image_authorNot supplied

videoshttps://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/um6DQxKb9Q8

images[object Object], [object Object], [object Object]

Why This Record Is Credible

This public record is connected to 1 source and has been labelled Source Supported. ARED separates evidence sources from cultural authority so users can see both provenance and review limits.

Cultural Access

Use this as public discovery metadata only. It does not replace community authority or local access protocols.

Relationships

Bridges Building design Woodworking Apprenticeship Clans Craft workers Mortise and tenon Oral tradition Technical skills Temples Traditional tools UNESCO representative list

Review and Corrections

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