英文导游词：东来城关山前西侧之听鹂馆及石舫

第一篇：英文导游词：东来城关山前西侧之听鹂馆及石舫

颐和园万寿山山前景区（长廊；中轴线建筑群；山前东侧之紫气东来城关；山前西侧之听鹂馆及石舫）

Upon leaving the east gate of the Garden of Virtuous Harmony, then heading northeast, you will reach the area just outside the city gate.On the city gate, you will find a plaque inscribed with the words „ Sunrise over Chicheng Mountian‟, „Purple Mist from the East‟, or „Fortune from Eastern Heaven‟.Chicheng is the name of a place located north of Tian Tai County, Tai Zhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province.„Xia Qi‟ refers to the place that the mountain range displaying crimson color, looking like colorful rainbow.The city gate is exposed to sunshine in the morning and evening, hence the name „Chicheng‟.The story of „Zi Qi Dong Lai‟ is about Lao Zi going out of Han Gu Pass.It was said the Ling Yin of Han Gu saw a wisp of auspicious breeze coming slowly, knowing that a saint was coming.So he took a bath and put on new clothes, getting ready to welcome the saint.On the following day, Lao Zi really came slowly on an ox.There was a verse about the story of auspicious breeze prevailing Han Gu Pass by Fu, a famous Tang Dynasty poet.The painting walkway The Long Corridor is 728 meters long with 273 sections, so it is popularly known as „Long Corridor‟.It‟s the longest, biggest and most famous one in China and even in the world.It starts from the Gate of Greeting the Moon in the east and ends near the Marble Boat in the west.The Long Corridor lies in front of the Longevity Hill in the shape of a bat, with the Gate of Dispelling Clouds in the center, and four double-eaved octagonal pavilions along.The four double-eaved octagonal pavilions respectively are named as Liujia, Jilan, Qiushui and Qingyao, symbolizing the four seasons of the year.These beautiful pavilions are also used as supports for the Long Corridor.Architecturally speaking, the Long Corridor does separate the Longevity Hill from the Kunming Lake.But it is also like a colorful ribbon linking the architectures and the natural landscape.The Long Corridor was first built in 1750 by Emperor Qianlong for his mother to enjoy the rainy scenes on Kunming Lake and to keep off the sunshine in summer.On the beams and crossbeams of the „Long Corridor‟, there are more than 8,000 large paintings.The paintings covers a wide range of subjects from birds, flower, trees, mountains, rivers and human figures.The gate of Dispelling Clouds This gate is located in the center of the Long Corridor and it was the main entrance to the Hall of Dispelling Clouds.In front of the gate, people can see a pair of bronze lions and twelve strange looking rocks.The lions, as usual, are auspicious animals to ward off evil spirits, while the twelve rocks when examined carefully, look like twelve animals.Entering the gate, there is a horizontal board hanging on the second palace gate, inscribed with “A long, long life” on it.The Hall of Dispelling Clouds The Hall of Dispelling Clouds was the place where Emperor Dowager Cixi used to celebrate her birthday on the 10th of tenth lunar month each year.During Emperor Dowager's birthday celebration, all the important civil and military officials would stand outside and kowtow to her, even Emperor Guangxu.Inside this hall, there is a large oil painting of Empress Dowager Cixi.This picture was painted in 1905 to celebrate her birthday.In order to please her, the artist painted the 70-year-old woman as a lady in her forties of fifties.Most of the things on display in this hall were gifts from the ministers for her 70th birthday.The annex halls on both sides were warehouse for her gifts.The Tower of Buddhist Incense The Tower of Buddhist Incense, the symbol of the Summer Palace, was first built in 1750.But it was damaged in 1860 and in 1900 respectively, the present one was rebuilt in 1903.The Tower of Buddhist Incense was built on a 20-meter-hight square platform of solid stone, with a wooden tower of 41 meters on the top.The tower is a three-storied wooden structure standing on the center of the southern slope of the longevity Hill, and also the center of the whole imperial garden.Empress Dowager Cixi used to come and worship Gods here on the 1st and 15th day of each lunar month when she was in the Summer Palace.There used to be a Buddhist statue on the first floor of the Tower of Buddhist Incense, but it was damaged.Now on the first floor the Statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva with thousand hands and eyes is enshrined.The statue, made of bronze, is 5 meters high and gilded, which was cast in 1574 in the Ming Dynasty.Zhong Xiang Jie glazed archway It is a subsidiary architecture of the Sea of Wisdom.„Zhong Xiang' is the name of a place of Buddhist State.The Sea of Wisdom It was built on top of Longevity Hill in the years of Qianlong.This is a two-story hall built without beams.The outside of the wall is decorated with yellow and green glazed tiles.The gorgeous style is overall very harmonious.Originally, a Buddha of Infinite Life was placed inside for worship.One thousand and eight small statues of glazed Buddhas were inlaid on the wall outside the hall.Because the whole structure was made of glazed bricks and stone, the Sea of Wisdom could not be burned down by the invading Anglo-French armies and thus, it was preserved.The glazed Buddhas were incomplete, and there is evidence of destruction from the invading imperialist army.The name of this temple “The Sea of Wisdom” came from Buddhist scriptures which means the wisdom of Buddha is as vast as the sea.Revolving Archive Down to the east below the Tower of Buddhist Incense, there is a group of buildings named “Revolving Archive”.It mainly consists of the main building in the middle with two side pavilions on both sides, and a large stone tablet in front of the main building.The big stone tablet was erected in 1751, about 10 meters high, with inscription carved on both sides.Six Chinese characters „Longevity Hill, Kunmin Lake” were carved on the front side.And on its backside there is an essay entitled “Notes in Longevity Hill and Kuning Lake” which tells us the story of the Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake.The calligraphy on both sides was in Emperor Qianlong‟s handwriting.The two side-pavilions on each side of the main building are octagonal wooden towers known as Archive Towers in which the Buddhist scriptures and Buddha portraits were placed inside.The tower is revolved by a central axis and controlled by a mechanism down below.When the Empress came to chant scriptures and pray, they just turned the tower and made a full revolving once, symbolizing they chanted scriptures and prayed once, hence the name “Revolving Archive”.Pavilion of Precious Clouds or The Bronze Pavilion To the west below the Tower of Buddhist Incense, there is a group of buildings knowm as Five-Square Pavilions.There are four small pavilions in four corners connected with galleries on four sides.The famous Pavilion of Precious Clouds, also known as Bronze Pavilion is placed in the center on the base of carved white marble.The name of Five-Square Pavilions is adopted from Buddhist scripture, which means it embodies the colors from all sides symbolizing peace and prosperity in the world.The Bronze Pavilion was cast in 1755.There used to be a Buddhist Statue on a bronze altar inside the pavilion.But unfortunately, the Buddhist Statue, doors and windows and some parts of the Bronze Pavilion were taken abroad by foreign invaders in 1860 and 1900 respectively.In 1945, the bronze altar was taken away together with some bronze water vats by the Japanese aggressors to Tanggu-Harbor, somewhere near Tianjin, intended to ship them to Japan.Fortunately, the Anti-Japanese War was over, and then we got them all back from the harbor.The Bronze Pavilion is 7.55 meters high and 207 tons in weight.According to the historical record, the bronze fillings polished from the surface amounted to couple of tons in weight.It resembles its wooden counterparts in every detail.The double-eaved roof ,the partitions with water chestnut designs, the beams, columns, lintel, rafters, brackets, tiles, bars, pinnacle, even the couplets and nine-dragon plaque, are all exactly the same in form, pattern and design as those of the wooden pavilion, but all made of bronze.These designs were cast from traditional Chinese method of wax mould, a process requiring a very high degree of skill, which shows the fine and excellent casting art craftsmanship in China.This Bronze Pavilion is an excellent piece of architecture rarely found anywhere in the world.Here used to be the place where Lamas chanted scriptures as the religious activities went on.During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, on the 1st and 15th day of each lunar month, the Lamas prayed here in honor of the emperor and the royal family.The Marble Boat The Marble Boat was first built in 1750.In 1860, the Angle-French Allied Forces burnt down the Chinese style wooden superstructure on the top part of the boat together with many other buildings in the Summer Palace.Empress Dowager Ci'xi had the boat restored, adding a French-style superstructure and two wheels, one on each side.The two-storey superstructure was made of wood, but painted to look like marble, while the two wheels were made of marble.It is believed that the body of the boat was carved out of one whole block.Each floor has a large mirror.The Marble Boat is 36 meters long with 4 marble columns designed with dragonheads in four sides on the base of the boat for the drainage system.whenever it rains you can see water pouring out from the four dragon‟s mouths.The view is surely impressive!Also noteworthy is that this boat was actually a place for Empress Dowager to sit at a table in front of the mirror, dining delicacies and enjoying the beautiful scenery, hence the name the Boat for Pure Banquets.However, the purpose of building this big marble boat, which can never be moved, was supposed to be a symbol of the stability of the Qing Dynasty.An old saying goes like this;” Water can carry a boat, and it also can capsize a boat".By following this allusion, the Marble Boat was built to symbolize that the Qing Dynasty would be as solid as rock and never be overturned.The Hall of Listening to Orioles

The Hall of Listening to Orioles used to be a two-storied stage for empress Dowager Cixi to enjoy the opera and performances.Before the Garden of Virtuous Harmony was built, Empress Dowager Cixi enjoyed opera and music here.After the Garden of Virtuous and Harmony was constructed, the hall became a residence for the imperial concubines.Zhenfei, a favorite concubine of Emperor Guangxu and also a strong supporter of the Reform Movement, was put under house arrest here after the failure of the Reform Movement in 1898.It was first built in 1750, but was burnt down in 1860 and 1900.the present one was rebuilt in the late Qing Dynasty.Now it is a very nice restaurant for tourists.