北京故宫英文导游辞.docx

北京故宫英文导游辞.docx

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北京故宫英文导游辞

北京故宫英文导游辞

FORBIDDENCITY（紫禁城）

（Infrontofthemeridiangate）

LadiesandGentlemen:

  Iampleasedtoserveasyourguidetoday.

  Thisisthepalacemuseum;alsoknowasthePurpleForbiddenCity.ItisthelargestandmostwellreservedimperialresidenceinChinatoday.UnderMingEmperorYongle,constructionbeganin1406.Ittook14yearstobuildtheForbiddenCity.ThefirstrulerwhoactuallylivedherewasMingEmperorZhudi.Forfivecenturiesthereafter,itcontinuedtobetheresidenceof23successiveemperorsuntil1911whenQingEmperorPuyiwasforcedtoabdicatethethrone.In1987,theUnitedNationsEducational,ScientificandCulturalOrganizationrecognizedtheForbiddenCitywasaworldculturallegacy.

  ItisbelievedthatthePalaceMuseum,orZiJinCheng（PurpleForbiddenCity）,gotitsnamefromastronomyfolklore,TheancientastronomersdividedtheconstellationsintogroupsandcenteredthemaroundtheZiweiYuan（NorthStar）.TheconstellationcontainingtheNorthStarwascalledtheConstellationofHeavenlyGodandstaritselfwascalledthepurplepalace.Becausetheemperorwassupposedlythesonoftheheavenlygods,hiscentralanddominantpositionwouldbefurtherhighlightedtheuseofthewordpurpleinthenameofhisresidence.Infolklore,theterm”aneasternpurplecloudisdrifting”becameametaphorforauspiciouseventsafterapurplecloudwasseendriftingeastwardimmediatelybeforethearrivalofanancientphilosopher,LaoZi,totheHanghuPass.Here,purpleisassociatedwithauspiciousdevelopments.Thewordjin（forbidden）isself-explanatoryastheimperialpalacewasheavilyguardedandoff-explanatoryastheimperialpalacewasheavilyguardedandoff-limitstoordinarypeople.

  Theredandyellowusedonthepalacewallsandroofsarealsosymbolic.Redrepresentshappiness,goodfortuneandwealth.YellowisthecoloroftheearthontheLoessPlateau,theoriginalhomeoftheChinesepeople.YellowbecameanimperialcolorduringtheTangdynasty,whenonlymembersoftheroyalfamilywereallowedtowearitanduseitintheirarchitecture.

  TheForbiddenCityisrectangularinshape.Itis960meterslongfromnorthtosouthand750meterwidefromeastwest.Ithas9,900roomsunderatotalroofarea150,000squaremeters.A52-meter-wide-moatencirclesa9.9-meter—highwallwhichenclosesthecomplex.Octagon—shapedturretsrestonthefourcornersofthewall.Therearefourentrancesintothecity:

theMeridianGatetothesouth,theShenwuGate（GateofMilitaryProwess）tothenorth,andtheXihuaGate（GateofmilitaryProwess）tothenorth,andtheXihuaGate（WesternFloweryGate）tothewest,theDonghua（EasternFloweryGate）totheeast.

  ManpowerandmaterialsthroughoutthecountrywereusedtobuildtheForbiddenCity.Atotalof230,000artisansandonemillionlaborerswereemployed.MarblewasquarriedfromfangshanCountryMountPaninJixianCountyinHebeiProvince.GranitewasquarriedinQuyangCountyinHebeiProvince.PavingblockswerefiredinkilnsinSuzhouinsouthernChina.BricksandscarletpigmentationusedonthepalatialwallscamefromlinqinginShandongProvince.Timberwascut,processedandhauledfromthenorthwesternandsouthernregions.

  ThestructureinfrontofusistheMeridianGate.ItisthemainentrancetotheforbiddenCity.ItisalsoknowsasWufenglou（Five-PhoenixTower）.Mingemperorsheldlavishbanquetshereonthe15thdayofthefirstmonthoftheChineselunaryearinhornoroftheircounties.Theyalsousedthisplaceforpunishingofficalsbyfloggingthemwithsticks.

  Qingemperorsusedthisbuildingtoannouncethebeginningofthenewyear.QingEmperorQianglongchangedtheoriginalnameofthisannouncementceremonyfrombanli（announcementofcalendar）tobanshou（announcementofnewmoon）toavoidcoincidentalassociationwithanotherEmperor`sname,Hongli,whichwasconsideredatabooatthattime.QingDynastyemperorsalsousedthisplacetoholdaudienceandforotherimportantceremonies.Forexample,whentheimperialarmyreturnedvictoriouslyfromthebattlefield,itwasherethattheEmperorpresidedovertheceremonytoacceptprisonersofwar.

（AfterenteringtheMeridianGateandstandinginfrontoftheFiveMarbleBridgesonGoldenWaterRiver）

  nowweareinsidetheForbiddenCity.Beforewestartourtour,Iwouldliketobrieflyintroduceyoutothearchitecturalpatternsbefourus.Tocompletethissolemn,magnificentandpalatialcomplex,avarietyofbuildingswerearrangedonanorth-southaxis,and8-kilometer-longinvisiblelinethathasbecomeaninseparablepartoftheCityofBeijing.TheForbiddenCitycoversroughlyone–thirdofthiscentralaxis.MostoftheimportantbuildingintheForbiddenCitywereearrangedalongthisline.Thedesignandarrangementofthepalacesreflectthesolemndignityoftheroyalcourtandrigidly–stratifiedfeudalsystem.

  TheForbiddenCityisdividedintoanouterandaninnercount.Wearenowstandingonthesouthernmostpartoftheoutercount.InfrontofusliestheGateofsupremeHarmony.Thegateisguardedbyapairofbronzelions,symbolizingimperialpoweranddignity.Thelionswerethemostexquisiteandbiggestofitskind.Theoneontheeastplayingwithaballisamale,andballissaidtorepresentstateunity.Theotheroneisafemale.Underneathoneofitsforeclawsisacubthatisconsideredtobeasymbolofperpetualimperialsuccession.ThewindingbrookbeforeusistheGoldenWaterRiver.Itfunctionsbothasdecorationandfirecontrol.ThefivebridgesspanningtheriverrepresentthefivevirtuespreachedbyConfucius:

benevolence,righteousness,rites,intellenceandfidelity.Therivertakestheshapeofabowandthenorth-southaxisisitsarrow.ThiswasmeanttoshowthattheEmperorsruledthecountryonbehalfofGod.

（InfrontoftheGateofSupremeHarmony）

  TheForbiddenCityconsistsofanoutercountyardandaninnerenclosure.TheoutcountyardcoversavastspacelyingbetweentheMeridianGateandtheGateofHeavenlyPurity.The“threebighalls”ofSupremeHarmony,CompleteHarmonyandPreservingHarmonyconstitutethecenterofthisbuildinggroup.Flankingtheminbilateralsymmetryaretwogroupsofpalaces:

Wenhua（ProminentScholars）andWuying（BraveWarriors）.Thethreegreathallsarebuiltonaspacious“H”-shaped,8-meter-high,triplemarbleterrace,Eachlevelofthetripleterraceistallerthantheonbelowandallareencircledbymarblebalustradescarvedwithdragonandphoenixdesigns.Therearethreecarvedstonestaircaseslinkingthethreearchitectures.ThehallofsupremeHarmonyisalsothetallestandmostexquisiteancientwooden-structuredmansioninallofChina.FromthepalaceofHeavenlyPurithnorthwardiswhatisknownastheinnercourt,whichisalsobuiltinbilaterallysymmetricalpatterns.InthecenterarethePalaceofHeavenlyPurity,theHallofUnionandPeaceandPalaceofEarthlyTranquility,aplacewheretheEmperorslivedwiththeirfamiliesandattendedtostateaffairs.Flankingthesestructuresarepalacesandhallsinwhichconcubinesandprinceslived.Therearealsothreebotanicalgardenswithintheinnercount,namely,theimperialGarden,CaninggardenandQuailinggarden.AninnerGoldenWaterRiverflowseastwardlywithintheinnercourt.ThebrookwindsthroughthreeminorhallsorpalacesandleadsoutoftheForbiddenCity.ItisspannedbytheWhiteJadeBridge.Theriverislinedwithwinding,marble–carvedbalustrades.MostofthestructureswithintheForbiddenCityhaveyellowglazedtileroofs.

  Asidefromgivingprominencetothenorth-southaxis,otherarchitecturalmethodswereappliedtomakeeverygroupofpalatialstructuresuniqueintermsofterraces,roofs,mythicalmonstersperchingontheroofsandcolored,drawingpatterns.Withthese,thegrandcontouranddifferenthierarchicspectrumofthecomplexwerestrengthened.Folklorehasitthattherearealtogether9,999room-unitsintheForbiddenCity.SinceParadiseonlyhas10,000rooms,theSonofHeavenonearthcutthenumberbyhalfaroom.Itisalsorumouredthatthishalf–roomislocatedtothewestoftheWenyuangePavilion（imperiallibrary）.Asamatteroffact,althoughtheForbiddenCityhasmorethan9,000room-units,thishalf-roomisnonexistent.TheWenyuangePavilionisalibrarywhere“SiKuQuanShu”-China`sfirstcomprehensiveanthology-wasstored.

（AfterwalkingpasttheGateofSupremeHarmony）

  LadiesandGentlemen,thegreathallweareapproachingistheHallofSupremeHarmony,thebiggestandtallestofitskingintheForbiddenCity.Thisstructurecoversatotalbuildingspaceof2,377squaremeters,andisknowforitsupturned,multiplecounterparteaves.TheHallofSupremeHarmonysitsonatriple“H”-shapedmarbleterracetheis8metershighandlinkedbystaircases.Thestaircaseonthegroundfloorhas21stepswhilethemiddleandupperstairwayseachhave9.

  TheconstructionoftheHallofSupremeHarmonybeganin1406.Itburneddownthreetimesandwasseverelydamagedonceduringamutiny.TheexistingarchitecturewasbuiltduringtheQingDynasty.Onthecornersoftheeavesalineofanimal-nailswereusuallyfastenedtothetiles.Theseanimal-nailswerelaterreplacewithmythicalanimalstowardoffevilspirits.Therearealtogether9suchfastenersontopofthishall.Thenumberninewasregardedbytheancientstobethelargestnumeralaccessibletomanandtowhichonlytheemperorswereentitled.

  Therewasatotalof24successiveemperorsduringtheMingandQingdynastieswhowereenthronedhere.Theballwasalsousedforceremonieswhichmarkedothergreat