Before the bridge

“The bridge is so long!” “You’ll pass over 31 spans before arriving in Xiluo!” The Xiluo Bridge was the first road bridge across the Zhuoshui, Taiwan’s longest river. Today it is best known for the images of tens of thousands of pilgrims following the deity Mazu across it in a magnificent display of faith.

Before the bridge was built, “Mazu used to take the ferry across the river,” says Chen Chun-fa, director-­general of the Gongtian Temple.

Even after the bridge opened, there have been times when the deity didn’t cross the bridge. Chen explains that in 1978 and 2001, the pilgrimage actually waded across the river. Pilgrims are eagerly anticipating the next such rare experience.

Lee Youe-ping, director of the Fourth River Management Branch of the Water Resources Agency, has led efforts to increase public access to the Zhuoshui River floodplain under the Xiluo Bridge. (photo by Mei Kuo)

The Fourth River Management Branch has administered beautification projects in the higher areas of the floodplain near the bridge. (courtesy of the Fourth River Management Branch, WRA)

A bridge of dreams

The Zhuoshui River drains a major watershed of western central Taiwan, and the lower reaches of the river form the border between Changhua and Yunlin counties. The river long divided the transportation networks of Western Taiwan, with “upper ports” north of the river and “lower ports” south of it.

Louise Ho, a managing director of the Louyoung Cultural and Educational Foundation (LCEF), says that before the bridge was built, people from Xiluo would mostly go south to further their education, since going north required taking a ferry or wading across the river. With the extra difficulties posed by going in that direction, few sought their fortunes there. “Heading north across the Zhuoshui came to represent an adventurous spirit of risk-taking and striving.” Consequently, once the bridge was built, the view northward from vehicle windows of the bridge’s long series of trusses would engender a great sense of hope and possibility.

The Fusing Temple sponsors the Taiping Mazu Blessing Marathon, which crosses the Xiluo Bridge. (courtesy of Fusing Temple)

A plaque on a steel truss commemorates the US aid that funded construction of the bridge.

Bridge building: A long, hard saga

Nevertheless, the path to the bridge’s opening was a difficult one. Hsu Feng-yuan, a researcher at the National Archives Administration (NAA) of the National Development Council, notes that Taiwan’s main north–south railroad, which was completed in 1908, served as the principal transportation artery between Northern and Southern Taiwan during the Japanese era. But the road network was divided by the Zhuoshui River. Merchants and other travelers would either have to board a train or cross the river on a bamboo raft. It was quite inconvenient.

But constructing a two-kilometer-long bridge proved very difficult. Challenges included mastering construction techniques and acquiring the needed funding and building materials. Hsu Feng-yuan explains that the Japanese colonial administration decided in 1937 to build the bridge, and the concrete bridge piers were completed in 1941. Then work stalled as a result of World War II, the Chinese Civil War, and the February 28 Incident.

When the Korean War broke out in 1950, the United States became conscious of Taiwan’s strategic location within Asia. Helped by the efforts of Xiluo’s mayor Li Ying-tang, who leveraged his many government connections to garner a portion of American aid, the bridge finally opened in 1953. 1,939 meters long and 7.32 meters wide, the structure employs a Warren truss design, with concrete piers and steel trusses forming 31 spans. Back then it was the longest bridge in East Asia.

Changhua County’s Xizhou and Yunlin County’s Xiluo are at the northern and southern ends of the bridge, with the county line marked at the bridge’s 16th truss. There is a plaque devoted to “Chinese–American Cooperation,” featuring elements of the ROC, US and Japanese flags. It bears witness to the bridge’s history and the contributions of the three nations to its construction.

“The opening of the bridge was a big deal in Taiwan,” says Louise Ho. The celebrations went on for three days and nights, with more than 30,000 coming to take part. Trucks and narrow-­gauge Taiwan Sugar ­Corporation trains created a ­spectacle as they crossed the bridge. Walking across the Xiluo Bridge would become a popular school field trip.

With the construction of newer bridges across the Zhuoshui River, the Xiluo Bridge no longer plays such an essential role in the nation’s transportation infrastructure. (courtesy of the Fourth River Management Branch, WRA)

Louise Ho, a managing director of the Louyoung Cultural and Educational Foundation, shows us a group photo of more than 400 guests who were invited to the opening of the bridge. (photo by Mei Kuo)

The Xiluo Bridge has featured on ROC currency. (courtesy of Hsu Feng-yuan)

Transportation, economic and military functions

Hsu says that besides connecting the transportation networks of Western Taiwan, the Xiluo Bridge also held strategic military importance. Back then the main TRA railway line was the chief transportation artery of Western Taiwan. The bridge, meanwhile, served a national defense function by providing an alternative north–south route. The bridge was painted a dusty gray to blend in with the local environment, before transitioning to watermelon green and eventually a bright and lively red when it was no longer of strategic military importance. Having played so many different important roles, it has been memorialized on postage stamps, revenue stamps, provincial government lottery tickets, and currency.

When the Sun Yat-sen Freeway was completed in 1978, with its various new bridges, including the Xizhou Bridge, the Xiluo Bridge lost its strategic importance, and the central government had plans to tear it down. But thanks to efforts of local individuals and a bridge preservation campaign from LCEF, the bridge was spared.

The Louyoung Cultural and Educational Foundation has staged art exhibitions on the bridge. (courtesy of LCEF)

Xiluo is known far and wide for its soy sauce. (photo by Kent Chuang)

A hometown icon

“As far as people from Xiluo are concerned, the bridge is an important landmark, a symbol of their hometown. It holds great historical and cultural importance, and we hope it can live on,” says Ho.

In 2001 and 2005 respectively, the counties of Yunlin and Changhua listed the bridge as a heritage site. To preserve the bridge’s structural integrity, large trucks and buses are prohibited from using it.

As a result of cooperation between the Yunlin County Government and the LCEF, the bridge has at times been converted into a performance stage and art gallery. The county has put on several Xiluo Bridge Culture Festivals, turning it into a stage for traditional performing arts troupes, and the LCEF has sponsored sculpture exhibitions there. With Taiwan’s longest river flowing underneath, the bridge’s steel trusses complement the works of sculpture, creating picturesque scenes amid the glow of the sunset.

Tourist attractions

Chen Shu-yen, chief of Xiluo Township’s agricultural economics department, says that in Yunlin County, only Beigang Township has more temples dedicated to Mazu than Xiluo. For pilgrims, crossing the Xiluo Bridge symbolizes that their final destination is nearing. “The bridge is an important milestone on the pilgrimage route.” In recent years, the Fusing Temple has organized the Taiping Mazu Blessing Marathon, which crosses the Xiluo Bridge. The bridge is on Taiwan Cycling Route No. 1, and crossing it symbolizes having gone half the length of the island. “Arriving at the Xiluo Bridge holds multiple layers of significance that symbolize major achievements and hold deep meaning in one’s life journey.”

Chen Shu-yen says that the opening of the bridge made the area around it a focal point for economic development in Yunlin. Some 200 meters from the bridgehead, the streets around Yanping Road feature some charming old buildings, along with local attractions such as the Xiluo Community Museum, the East Market, and the Wuan Chuang Soy Sauce factory, as well as local shops selling mochi and maltose.

At the Xizhou end of the bridge there is a signboard featuring the poem “Meeting on the Bridge,” which Wu Sheng wrote to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its opening: “Holding hands, listening together to the Zhuoshui River... We find unity in guardianship.”

Malt crisps are one of the foods that Xiluo is famous for.

Bearing witness to the town’s rich architectural history, the old streets around Yanping Road feature many Qing-Dynasty and Japanese-era buildings.

A new era for river and bridge

Where the Xiluo Bridge crosses the Zhuoshui River, exposed sandbars in the riverbed when the river was low used to create clouds of dust when strong seasonal northeasterly or southwesterly winds blew. In recent years, the Fourth River Management Branch of the Water Resources Agency (WRA) has put in place measures to spare residents from “eating windblown sand.”

The Xiluo and Xizhou township governments have each stepped in to improve higher areas of the sandy floodplain near the bridge. Xizhou has focused on agricultural development, turning the land over to farmers to grow rice and flowers. Xiluo has installed vintage-­style water wheels on its side of the river, shaping a bucolic scene. Higher areas have been used to create a park with art installations amid a butterfly-­shaped path layout. Another large green space in the floodplain serves as a popular place to fly kites.

A repository of deeply shared memories and beautiful vistas, the Xiluo Bridge is noteworthy for its historical significance and rich cultural heritage. Although no longer so bustling with traffic, the bridge invites one to experience its charms up close, to delve into the intertwined history of the river and the bridge, and to explore the old streets of nearby towns.

All manner of treasures are for sale at Xiluo’s East Market—whether traditional goods in general stores or innovative handmade products in artsy boutiques.

The Zhuoshui River and Xiluo Bridge make for a breathtaking scene at sunset. (photo by Wei Jinfu, courtesy of LCEF)