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Difficult Bridge to Cross The incline of the arched bridge is 48 degrees at its steepest point, making it very difficult to cross. Particularly on making your descent, you must take each step with great caution. Why was such a difficult-to-cross bridge built in the first place? One Theory: "The Metaphysical Explanation"   The form of the bridge is thought to have its origin in the stone arched bridge introduced by Michinoko no Takumi, a naturalized citizen from the ancient Korean kingdom of Paekche, in 612. This type of bridge, called _kurehashi_, was a sacred structure designed not to help people but the gods to cross. Accordingly, the bridge was created expressly to discourage human passage. Also, the act of crossing the bridge was apparently supposed to put visitors in a new frame of mind before entering the shrine. In that sense, the bridge is quite effective as a staging device. Like the bridge-passage used in Noh drama, the bridge has the inherent meaning of connecting this world with the next one. Another Theory: "The Physical Explanation" The arched bridge transmitted to Japan by Michinoko no Takumi differs from a European bridge in that the floor is not level and a high peak is in the center. Originally, this type of bride may have been created to accommodate ships traveling on the rivers of southern China with their high water levels. As time went on, during the 1600s (including the later Keicho era), some twenty stone arched bridges were built in Japan, primarily in the city of Nagasaki on Kyushu, by Chinese laborers. However, the construction method, intended to ward off an enemy attack and monopolize trade, was kept secret and only a few examples of such bridges exist outside of Kyushu. This then led to the creation of arched bridges with bridge piers that imitated only the arched shape in areas east of Kyushu, and thus, the appearance of impractically arched bridges that neither allowed people to pass over them or boats to pass beneath. So in the end, was it that Yodogumi unwittingly donated an impractically designed bridge to the shrine or was the design meant to create a purely metaphysical bridge? No one can be entirely sure. What can be said is that the "Tenjin Bridge" at "Tenjin-san," which along with "Sumiyoshi-san" is one of Osaka's most famous shrines, was also apparently drum-shaped many years ago - though Hokusai was probably exaggerating the arch a bit in his famous picture. Doesn't that hint at something metaphysical? |
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