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Chushul Chakzam
Historic bridge and river crossing near Lhasa, Tibet From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Chushul Chakzam (Tibetan: ཆུ་ཤུལ་ལྕགས་ཟམ), or simply Chakzam which literally means "iron bridge" in Standard Tibetan, was a suspension bridge that spanned the Yarlung Tsangpo river in modern-day Qüxü County near Lhasa, Tibet. It was built in 1430 by Thang Tong Gyalpo.[3] The southern bridgehead was built on the mountain Chowuri, which is sacred in Tibetan Buddhism. This mountain was a site where Guru Rinpoche and Trisong Detsen had meditated during the 8th Century.[2] When it was built, its main section was the longest unsupported span in the world, with a central span estimated at around 150 yards (140 metres).[1]
In 1444, a monastery Chaksam Chuwori (Tibetan: ལྕགས་ཟམ་ཆུ་བོ་རི) was founded on the southern bridgehead.[1][2] During its existence, the monastery served as the seat of Chakzampa school of Tibetan Buddhism.[2] Supported by the bridge toll, the monastery at one point hosted about 100 monks.[4] The monastery was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.[5]
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By the 1860s, the bridge was in a state of disrepair that a ferry was in operation slightly upstream offering safer passage.[1] By 1904, the river had overflown the north bank leaving the northern bridgehead on an island, thus rendering the bridge functionally ineffective.[6] The ferryman mostly came from a nearby village of Chun or Junba, which is the only fishing village in Tibet.[7][8][9] The ferry service continued as late as 1959.[7]
During the Qing expedition to Tibet of 1910, the 13th Dalai Lama decided to seek refuge in India. His general Tsarong fought a skirmish against the Chinese here, holding their advances allowing the Dalai Lama to safely arrive in India.[10]
The bridge was torn down by the Chinese government in the 1950s when they were building the concrete bridge in its place.[2] The new concrete bridge Qushui Yaluzangbujiang Bridge opened on August 1, 1966.[11]
- Chaksam ferry as depicted in this map from mid-1800s showing an iron chain bridge, a horse head ferry, and a yak-hide boat.
- Diagram by an Indian spy working for the Survey of India in 1878
- Chakzam Ferry as photoed by Ernst Schäfer in 1938
- Qushui Yaluzangbujiang Bridge, the concrete bridge built by PRC replacing the Chushul Chakzam.
- Ferry crossing in the 1930s
- Modern recreational ferry
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