北京故宫中英文导游词

北京故宫中英文导游词(2)

时间：2021-08-31

　　北京故宫英文导游词【2】

　　THE FORBIDDEN CITY(紫禁城)

　　(Infront of the meridian gate)

　　This is the palace museum; also know as the Purple Forbidden City. It is the largest and most well reserved imperial residence inChinatoday. Under Ming Emperor Yongle, construction began in 1406. It took 14 years to build the Forbidden City. The first ruler who actually lived here was Ming Emperor Zhudi. For five centuries thereafter,it continued to be the residence of 23 successive emperors until 1911 when Qing Emperor Puyi was forced to abdicate the throne .In 1987, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization recognized the Forbidden City was a world cultural legacy.

　　It is believed that the Palace Museum, orZi Jin Cheng (Purple Forbidden City), got its name from astronomy folklore, The ancient astronomers divided the constellations into groups and centered them around the Ziwei Yuan(North Star). The constellation containing the North Starwas called the Constellation of Heavenly God and star itself was called the purple palace. Because the emperor was supposedly the son of the heavenly gods,his central and dominant position would be further highlighted the use of theword purple in the name of his residence. In folklore, the term ”an eastern purple cloud is drifting” became a metaphor for auspicious events after apurple cloud was seen drifting eastward immediately before the arrival of anancient philosopher, LaoZi, to the Hanghu Pass. Here, purple isassociated with auspicious developments. The word jin (forbidden) isself-explanatory as the imperial palace was heavily guarded and off-explanatoryas the imperial palace was heavily guarded and off-limits to ordinary people.

　　The red and yellow used on the palace wallsand roofs are also symbolic. Red represents happiness, good fortune and wealth.Yellow is the color of the earth on the Loess Plateau, the original home of the Chinese people. Yellow became an imperial color during the Tang dynasty, whenonly members of the royal family were allowed to wear it and use it in their architecture.

　　The Forbidden Cityis rectangular in shape. It is 960 meters long from north to south and 750meter wide from east west. It has 9,900 rooms under a total roof area 150,000square meters .A 52-meter-wide-moat encircles a 9.9-meter—high wall which enclosesthe complex. Octagon —shaped turrets rest on the four corners of the wall.There are four entrances into the city: the MeridianGate to the south, the Shenwu Gate(Gate of Military Prowess) to the north, andthe Xihua Gate(Gate of military Prowess) to the north, and the Xihua Gate(Western Flowery Gate )to the west ,the Donghua (Eastern Flowery Gate) tothe east.

　　Manpower and materials throughout thecountry were used to build the Forbidden City.A total of 230,000 artisans and one million laborers were employed. Marble wasquarried from fangshan Country Mount Pan in Jixian County in Hebei Province.Granite was quarried in Quyang County in Hebei Province. Paving blockswere fired in kilns in Suzhou in southernChina. Bricksand scarlet pigmentation used on the palatial walls came from linqing in Shandong Province .Timber was cut ,processed and hauled from the northwestern and southern regions.

　　The structure in front of us is the Meridian Gate. It is the main entrance to the forbidden City. It is also knowsas Wufenglou(Five-Phoenix Tower). Ming emperorsheld lavish banquets here on the 15th day of the first month of the Chinese lunar year in hornor of their counties .They also used this place for punishingofficals by flogging them with sticks.

　　Qing emperors used this building toannounce the beginning of the new year. Qing Emperor Qianglong changed the original name of this announcement ceremony from ban li(announcement ofcalendar)to ban shou(announcement of new moon )to avoid coincidentalassociation with another Emperor` s name, Hongli, which was considered a tabooat that time. Qing Dynasty emperors also used this place to hold audience andfor other important ceremonies. For example,when the imperial army returnedvictoriously from the battlefield ,it was here that the Emperor presided overthe ceremony to accept prisoners of war.

　　(After entering the Meridian Gate andstanding in front of the Five Marble Bridges on Golden Water River)

　　now we are inside the Forbidden City.Beforewe start our tour, I would like to briefly introduce you to the architectural patterns befour us .To complete this solemn, magnificent and palatial complex,a variety of buildings were arranged on a north-south axis, and8-kilometer-long invisible line that has become an inseparable part of the Cityof Beijing. The Forbidden City covers roughly one –third of this central axis. Most of the important building in the Forbidden City weree arranged along this line. The designand arrangement of the palaces reflect the solemn dignity of the royal courtand rigidly –stratified feudal system.

　　The Forbidden Cityis divided into an outer and an inner count.We are now standing on the southern most part of the outer count. In front of us lies the Gate of supreme Harmony .The gate is guarded by a pair of bronze lions ,symbolizing imperial power and dignity. The lions were the most exquisite and biggest of its kind.The one on the east playing with a ball is a male, and ball is said to represent state unity. The other one is a female. Underneath one of its foreclaws is a cub that is considered to be a symbol of perpetual imperial succession. The winding brook before us is the Golden Water River. It functions bothas decoration and fire control .The five bridges spanning the river representthe five virtues preached by Confucius :benevolence, righteousness, rites,intellence and fidelity. The river takes the shape of a bow and the north-southaxis is its arrow. This was meant to show that the Emperors ruled the countryon behalf of God.

　　(In front of the Gate of Supreme Harmony)

　　The Forbidden Cityconsists of an outer countyard and an inner enclosure. The out count yardcovers a vast space lying between the Meridian Gate and the Gate of HeavenlyPurity. The “three big halls” of Supreme Harmony, Complete Harmony and Preserving Harmony constitute the center of this building group. Flanking themin bilateral symmetry are two groups of palaces: Wenhua (Prominent Scholars)and Wuying (Brave Warriors) . The three great halls are built on a spacious“H”-shaped, 8-meter-high, triple marble terrace, Each level of the tripleterrace is taller than the on below and all are encircled by marble balustradescarved with dragon and phoenix designs. There are three carved stone staircases linking the three architectures .The hall of supreme Harmony is also thetallest and most exquisite ancient wooden-structured mansion in all ofChina. From thepalace of Heavenly Purith northward is what isknown as the inner court, which is also built in bilaterally symmetrical patterns. In the center are the Palaceof Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Unionand Peace and Palace of Earthly Tranquility, aplace where the Emperors lived with their families and attended to stateaffairs. Flanking these structures are palaces and halls in which concubinesand princes lived. There are also three botanical gardens within the innercount, namely, the imperial Garden, Caning garden and Quailing garden. An inner Golden Water Riverflows eastwardly within the inner court. The brook winds through three minorhalls or palaces and leads out of the Forbidden City.It is spanned by the White Jade Bridge.The river is lined with winding, marble –carved balustrades.

　　 Most of thestructures within the Forbidden City haveyellow glazed tile roofs.

　　Aside from giving prominence to thenorth-south axis, other architectural methods were applied to make every groupof palatial structures unique in terms of terraces, roofs, mythical monstersperching on the roofs and colored, drawing patterns. With these, the grandcontour and different hierarchic spectrum of the complex were strengthened.Folklore has it that there are altogether 9,999 room-units in the Forbidden City. Since Paradiseonly has 10,000 rooms, the Son of Heaven on earth cut the number by half aroom. It is also rumoured that this half –room is located to the west of the Wenyuange Pavilion (imperial library). As a matter of fact, although the Forbidden City has more than 9,000 room-units, this half-room is nonexistent.The Wenyuange Pavilion is a library where “Si Ku Quan Shu”- China `s first comprehensive anthology-was stored.

　　(After walking past the Gate of SupremeHarmony)

　　Ladies and Gentlemen, the great hall we are approaching is the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the biggest and tallest of its kingin the Forbidden City. This structure covers a total building space of 2,377 square meters, and is know for its upturned,multiple counterpart eaves . The Hall of Supreme Harmony sits on a triple“H”-shaped marble terrace the is 8 meters high and linked by staircases. The staircase on the ground floor has 21 steps while the middle and upper stairways each have 9.

　　The construction of the Hall of Supreme Harmony began in 1406. It burned down three times and was severely damaged onceduring a mutiny. The existing architecture was built during the Qing Dynasty.On the corners of the eaves a line of animal-nails were usually fastened to thetiles. These animal-nails were later replace with mythical animals to ward offevil spirits. There are altogether 9 such fasteners on top of this hall. The number nine was regarded by the ancients to be the largest numeral accessibleto man and to which only the emperors were entitled.

　　There was a total of 24 successive emperorsduring the Ming and Qing dynasties who were enthroned here. The ball was alsoused for ceremonies which marked other great occasions: the Winter Solstice,The Chinese Lunar New Year, the Emperor` s birthday, conferral of the title ofempress, the announcement of new laws and policies, and dispatches of generalsto war .On such occasions, the Emperor would hold audience for his courtofficials and receive their tributes.

　　This area is called the Hall of Supreme Harmony Square, which covers a total of 30,000 square meters, Without a single tree or plant growing here, this place inspires visitors to feel its solemnity and grandeur. In themiddle of the square there is a carriageway that was reserved for the Emperor.On both sides of the road the groud bricks were laid in a special way sevenlayers lengthwise and eight layers crosswise, making up fifteen layers in all.The purpose of this was to prevent anyone from tunneling his way into thepalace. In the count yard there are iron vats for storing water to fight fires.In the whole complex there are altogher 308 water vats. In winter time, charcoal was burned underneath the vats to keep the water from freezing .

　　Why so vast asquare? It was designed to impress people with the hall` s grandeur andvastness. Imagine the following scene. Under the clear blue sky, the yellowglazed tiles shimmered as the cloud-like layers of terrace, coupled with thecurling veil of burning incense, transformed the hall of supreme Harmony into afairyland. Whenever major ceremonies were held, the glazed, crane-shapedcandleholders inside the hall would be it, and incense and pine branches burntin front of the hall. When the Emperor appeared, drums were beaten and musicalinstrument played. Civilian officials and generals would kneel know insubmission.

　　The last Qing emperor Puyi assumed the throne in 1908, at the age of three, His father carried him to the throne. At the start of the coronation, the suddendrum-beating and loud music caught the young emperor unprepared .He was soscared that he kept crying and shouting,"I don’t want to stay here."

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