According to relevant historical records, the splayed bridge was built in the second year of Chenghua in Ming Dynasty (1466), with a history of nearly 540 years.
In the thirty-ninth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (16 1 1), Xinghua county magistrate overhauled the Bazi Bridge, and built an octagonal pavilion on the bridge, with a gold plaque of "Prime Minister Li" hanging on it, so as to be opposite to the former residence of "No.1 Prime Minister" about 100 meters west of the bridge. At the same time, there are "inscriptions" written by Li Chunfang's grandson, Li Sicheng, the minister of the Ming Dynasty, Huang Jianzhong, the director of the Ming Dynasty, and Wei Yingjia, the left assistant minister of the Ming Dynasty. In addition, the magistrate of a county also built a "filial piety workshop" on the bridge, which was praised by his daughter and imperial academy's wife Li.
Since then, the splayed bridge was built in the 23rd year of Qianlong (1758) and the 23rd year of Jiaqing (1796 to 1820). Especially in Jiaqing period, Xinghua rich businessman Jin invested heavily in replacing the original blue stripe stone with granite stripe stone, making it more spectacular and three-dimensional, becoming 88 bricks in Xinghua Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The original slope of the eight-character bridge was about 45 degrees, which was reduced to about 30 degrees when granite slats were replaced during Jiaqing period of Qing Dynasty. There are 22 floors on the east and west decks, which are 3.4 meters wide and 20 meters long, respectively, and 132 slabs of different sizes with a width of 40 cm and a thickness of 16 cm are laid. Along the two sides of the bridge, there are large and strong river-crossing buildings, and the shops downstairs are all connected together, making this splayed bridge a veritable "covered bridge". The eight-character bridge and its old shops on the east and west sides live next door. Qiaoxi "Liu Zhengxing Nose Shop" produces and sells Xinghua famous nose, and a plaque inscribed by Zheng Banqiao hangs in the shop, which has become a gold-lettered signboard in the shop and a treasure of the town shop. During the floods in Xinghua in the Republic of China 10 (192 1) and the 20th year of the Republic of China (193 1), Han, then governor of Jiangsu, and Zhang Jian, an industrialist from Nantong, saw this monument and were full of praise. They thought it was Xinghua.
In the thirty-third year of the Republic of China (1944), during the Japanese puppet regime, the puppet Xinghua county magistrate Li made a concave groove with a width of about 15 cm and a depth of about 10 cm as the driveway to facilitate his rickshaw to cross the bridge.
Xinghua city has had seven temples and seven bridges since ancient times [namely, Shangzhen Temple to Shangzhen Temple Bridge, Dongyue Temple to Dongyue Temple Bridge, Chenghuang Temple to Chenghuang Temple Bridge, West Temple (Baoyan Temple) to Luohan Bridge, Guanyin Pavilion (Baoyu Temple) to Beimenmen Bridge, Xiaoguandi Temple to Maqiao, and Confucian Temple (Confucius Temple) to Wentong Bridge. In the late 1950s (1958), when the city wall was demolished to fill the city river, it was found that a shrine about 50 cm high and 30 cm wide was carved on the stone wall on the west side of the bridge arch, in which a statue of the bridge god was enshrined. There is also a shrine on the east side of the stone wall opposite the bridge arch, which is dedicated to a river statue. Since then, people have confirmed the authenticity of "there is a temple in the bridge" (in the past, people passed under the splayed bridge by boat, and it was dark during the day, so there was no shrine).
In the 1990s, the splayed bridge was demolished due to the expansion of Chang 'an Road. Unfortunately, some bridge stones were laid on the east side of the original splayed bridge, which is beside the sidewalk of Chang 'an Road.