Mentioning the Thuong market covered bridge (in Binh Minh commune, Nam Truc district, Nam Dinh province) which is more than 300 years old, we must start from ancient history: during the reign of King Le Hien Tong, Canh Hung era (1740 - 1786), in Thuong Nong commune, Nam Chan district, Son Nam town (now Thuong Nong village, Binh Minh commune, Nam Truc district, Nam Dinh province), there was a very talented Mr. Nguyen Tho Hoang, who was invited to be an official in the court. He was appointed by the king to hold the position of general.
Later, when Lady Nguyen Thi Ngoc Xuan passed away, in gratitude for her great merit, generations of descendants in the Nguyen family and the people of Thuong Nong village built a temple to worship her.
General Nguyen Tho Hoang had a very beautiful eldest daughter named Nguyen Thi Ngoc Xuan. From a young age, Ngoc Xuan showed herself to be intelligent, quick-witted, and proficient in music, chess, poetry, and painting.
One day, Ngoc Xuan followed her father to the lord's palace. Lord Trinh Sam fell in love with Ngoc Xuan and sought to recruit her into the palace as his concubine. Ngoc Xuan entered the palace, was loved and pampered by Trinh Sam, and lived a leisurely life.
However, after a while, the country was in turmoil, Ngoc Xuan left the lord's palace and returned to his hometown of Thuong Nong to live. Seeing that his hometown was still facing many difficulties, Ngoc Xuan bought 36 acres of rice fields to give to the elderly aged 60 and over.
Pitying the villagers for having difficulty traveling, Princess Nguyen Thi Ngoc Xuan decided to spend money to buy materials, then mobilized the people to contribute to build a new tiled bridge to replace the old one.
Thuong Nong village used to be located along both banks of the Ngoc River. People often had to cross the river to trade on a precarious wooden bridge. Pitying the villagers for having difficulty traveling, Princess Nguyen Thi Ngoc Xuan decided to spend money to buy materials, then mobilized people to contribute to build a new tiled bridge to replace the old one. People called it Thuong Nong tiled bridge.
The bridge is over 17 m long, divided into 11 sections, each section is over 1.5 m long, structured in the style of "upper house, lower bridge" (ie the upper is the house, the lower is the bridge).
After more than 300 years, the bridge still has an ancient, solid and sturdy appearance. The bridge abutments are made of monolithic stones built together. The two abutments are about 5 meters apart, creating a space in the middle for water flow and boats to pass. The abutments are built in the shape of an isosceles trapezoid.
The bridge column system consists of 40 columns, placed along both sides of the bridge, 20 columns on each side. Of which, the main column is 2 m high, with a square edge of nearly 20 cm; the secondary column is higher than 1.6 m, with a diameter of over 20 cm; the secondary column is placed on the horizontal beams on both sides of the bridge.
The bridge girders spanning the two ends of the bridge abutments are two beams made of two large wooden logs with a diameter of 50 cm. Although the two beams have been eroded over time, and the outside of the beams show signs of slight cracks like bird feet due to sun and rain, the two beams are still sturdy, with no signs of termites...
Above these two longitudinal beams are four horizontal beams about 20 cm in diameter, with protruding ends. The protruding parts of these horizontal beams are used as the support heads for the pillars on both sides of the bridge. The remaining pillars are built into large, thick monolithic green stone blocks, creating stability for the bridge.
The bridge surface is about 2 m wide, paved with alternating green stone blocks; the stone surface is smooth, shiny but not slippery.
At both ends of the bridge, the walls are built of bricks, with a main rolling door in the middle that is 2 m high and more than 1.5 m wide; on both sides of the main door are fake rolling doors, shaped like a mai wreath. On the main rolling door are 3 Chinese characters. Locals said that these are the 3 characters "Thuong Gia Kieu".
In particular, at both ends of the bridge there are steps up and down, built with green stone slabs. The width of the steps up and down is about 50 cm, the height of the steps is about 10 cm. In addition, on the roof of the bridge, there are pillars built, with soft moldings.
The entire bridge frame, bridge girders… are made of ironwood. In 2019, the authorities restored the bridge, replaced some damaged pillars and repaired the tiled roof…
The bridge is also designed with a corridor area about 50 cm wide, on both sides of the 3 main compartments in the middle of the bridge. This is a place for people to sit and enjoy the cool air on hot summer days.
At first glance, the bridge roof looks like a dragon winding up into the sky; the roof tiles look like dragon scales, changing color over time.
The upper and lower beams and truss systems are tightly connected to the bridge columns. Above the trusses, there is a system of roof beams that are mortised and joined together to create maximum space for the bridge. The trusses form lever arms that extend through the main columns and secondary columns to the edge of the roof.
People on both sides of the river can now conveniently travel back and forth to do business and trade, and the economy has since grown increasingly.
Later, when Princess Nguyen Thi Ngoc Xuan passed away, in gratitude for her contributions to the construction of the tile-roofed bridge, generations of descendants in the Nguyen family and the people of Thuong Nong village built a temple to worship her.
The palace of Princess Nguyen Thi Ngoc Xuan was built about 300 meters from Thuong Nong tile bridge. Inside the palace, Princess Xuan is worshiped along with her father and mother and the Mother Goddess...
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