There are just two National 5A Level Tourist Attractions in Nanjing, the somewhat obvious Dr. Sun Yat-Sen’s Mausoleum, and the Confucius Temple (Fuzimiao) area, in which lurks the less-than-usual suspect that is Wende Bridge. That may not in itself set bells ringing for many people, locals included, but when the Lantern Festival that marks the end of Chinese New Year is suggested, then most shall recall being one of the sardines making a pilgrimage to the bridge at this time of year on at least one occasion.
南京只有两个国家5A级旅游景点，一个有点明显的孙中山博士的陵墓和孔子庙（Fuzimiao）地区，里面潜伏着一个不太寻常的可疑的文德桥。 这本身可能不会为许多人（包括当地人）敲响钟声，但当有人建议庆祝中国新年结束的元宵节时，大多数人会记得自己是沙丁鱼之一，在每年的这个时候至少有一次去桥上朝圣。
Yes this throng is indeed attracted by a celebration of the end of the festival, the visual spectacle of thousands of red lanterns with the temple’s backdrop of golden dragons and traditional pleasure boats, plus the camaraderie of the entire ensemble. Yet, while Wende Bridge is also the location from which many of those picture-perfect-postcard photos of Fuzimiao are taken, few are aware of the bridge’s place in the larger scheme of things, for therein a natural, astronomical phenomenon awaits, not withstanding the explaining thereof via a plaque by the bridge’s northern abutment.
是的，这群人确实被节日结束的庆祝活动所吸引，数千个红灯笼的视觉奇观，以寺庙的金龙和传统游船为背景，以及整个合奏的友情。 然而，虽然文德桥也是许多富子庙完美明信片照片的拍摄地点，但很少有人知道这座桥在更大计划中的位置，因为在那里等待着一种自然的、天文现象，尽管通过桥北部桥墩旁的牌匾进行解释。
Lying on a meridian, Wende Bridge draws a somewhat smaller crowd than that of the Lantern Festival, on the 15th day of the 11th lunar month each year. At midnight on this day, falling in 2018 on, coincidently, the Winter Solstice that is 21st December, the moon shall be directly over the bridge, leading to the celestial spectacle.
文德桥位于子午线上，每年农历11月15日，吸引的人群比元宵节的人少一些。 这一天的午夜，恰好是2018年12月21日的冬至，月亮将直接在桥上，通往天体奇观。
For at this time, those willing to stay up a little late and brave a cold winter’s night to trek over to Fuzimiao, shall be rewarded with a view of half the full moon while peering over at its reflection in the Qinhuai from one side of the Wende Bridge, and a similar view of the other half of the moon from the other side of the bridge. The astronomical occurrence may only happen on this particular day of the lunar year.
因为此时，那些愿意熬夜，冒着寒冷的冬夜跋涉到福子庙的人，将得到赏到半满月的回报，同时从文德桥的一侧窥视秦淮的倒影，以及从桥的另一边看到另一半月。 天文事件可能只发生在农历年的这一天。
A floating bridge until 1585 CE, the bridge’s first permanent structure was a wooden-with-stone-piers design. It was to be repaired on many occasions, and survived until after the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), whereupon a concrete design was implemented. Its present incarnation, an all-granite affair, was unveiled in 1998. Yet, the bridge suffered a painful adolescence, sinking into the Qinhuai River on many an occasion. In 1904, during the Dragon Boat Race that then took place through Fuzimiao, at the height of the race fureur, Wende Bridge totally collapsed, causing hundreds of race spectators to fall into the river.
这座桥在公元1585年之前是一座浮桥，这座桥的第一个永久性结构是木制的石墩设计。 它多次被修复，直到文化大革命（1966-1976）之后，才实施了具体的设计。 它目前的化身，一个全是的，于1998年揭幕。 然而，这座桥经历了痛苦的青春期，多次沉入秦淮河。 1904年，在当时通过富子庙举行的龙舟赛期间，在比赛的高峰期，文德桥完全坍塌，导致数百名比赛观众掉进河里。
Being the Confucius Temple, long before becoming a tourist attraction famous for rip offs, knock offs and stinky toufu, as the name implies, this northern side of the Qinhuai was a celebrated centre of learning, with the temple itself an Imperial College examination hall. On the southern side, however, lay many a house of ill repute, each serving up inebriating brews to fuel a patron’s passion. A nod to this time continues today, the hints being in the melodious music emanating from the river’s evening pleasure boats, while seductive ladies expressively dance in the southern bank’s colourful lights.
作为孔子庙，早在成为以骗局、山寨货和臭豆腐闻名的旅游景点之前，顾名思义，秦淮的北侧是一个著名的学习中心，寺庙本身是帝国学院的考场。 然而，在南侧，有许多名不好的房子，每栋房子都提供令人醉醮的啤酒，以助长顾客的热情。 今天，对這段時間的点頭仍在继续，暗示在河上傍晚的游船散發出的旋律性音樂中，而誘人的女士们在南岸五顏六色的灯光下富有表現力地跳舞。
Back in the Ming Dynasty, therefore, as a short physical connection between two antipodean worlds, Wende Bridge had become a metaphor for the link between righteous virtue and delirious abandon.
因此，早在明朝，作为两个对立世界之间的短暂物理连接，文德桥就成为义德和神志不清的遗弃之间联系的隐喻。