故宫英文导游词（精选五篇）

第一篇：故宫英文导游词

The Meridian Gate The Forbidden City has four gates.Here is the Meridian Gate, the main entrance to the Forbidden City.In Chinese, we call it Wumen.Men in Chinese means gate.And Wu is the short of Ziwu in Chinese which could be translated as meridian line in English.According to the ancient Chinese compass, the word “meridian” indicates the direction of the south.So the Meridian Gate also served as the south gate of the Forbidden City.Besides, Chinese emperor believed that the meridian line went right through the Forbidden City and his imperial residence was the center of the whole universe.This is why Chinese emperors considered themselves as the “Son of the Heaven.” So the Forbidden City best demonstrates the elements of Chinese palace architecture, such as “supremacy”, “hierarchy” and “everlasting.”

Now please look at the central gateway.It was exclusively for the emperor.The empress could use it once when she got married on the day of the imperial wedding ceremony.On that day, the empress could be permitted to enter the Forbidden City through the middle doorway on a sedan chair.That is the only chance in her life.Another exception was for the top three outstanding scholars who passed the Imperial Palace Examination.Just on the day when the results were announced, they were allowed to go through the central gateway.This was the greatest honor for the Chinese scholars in the old time.And this is why Chinese people have been valuing education so much.The gate as high as Tower.The Meridian Gate is 35 meters high.The gate is topped by five towers commonly known as the Five Phoenix Towers.It is recorded that the towers were installed with the bells and drums.When the emperor went to the Temple of Heaven, bells were struck.When he went to the Ancestral Temple, drums were beaten in order to publicize the event.As a matter of fact, there were mainly two functions for the Meridian Gate.One is for Chinese emperor to enjoy the festival activities and the other is for reviewing the official ceremonies.“Court Beating” also took place in front of the Meridian Gate;it is a kind of punishment for those offending officials by beating them on their buttocks with sticks.And any officials who went against the emperor’s wishes would be taken out of the Meridian Gate and be beaten in this way;some of them even were beaten to death on the spot.But fortunately, this terrible punishment was abolished in the Qing Dynasty.Outside the gate there are 3 gateways and they are rectangle, but inside the gate, there are 5 gateways and there are round.And this is the typical building method for imperial constructions.Three obvious doorways can be seen from the outside, but five seen from inside.In Chinese traditions, people believe that the heaven is round and earth is rectangle.The Symbolism of the Architecture in the Palace Museum Ladies and gentlemen, you may have seen a winding brook before us.It is the Inner Golden Water River.There are 3 reasons to dig a river channel here.First of all, the river is shaped like a bow, and the five marble bridges look like five arrows.This layout shows that the emperors ruled the country on behalf of Heaven.Secondly, the river was for draining the rain water away from the Forbidden City.Thirdly, it is used for the fire prevention.Just like the emperors want to report to the heaven, that’s why the gateways of meridian gate is round inside.The round represent heaven.Now we are walking across the bridge and entering the courts of the palace.Here is the Gate of Supreme Harmony.There are a pair of bronze lions who are guarding the gate.In China, no matter yesterday or today, people regard stone, iron and bronze lions, placed at the gate, could ward off the evil spirits.Ladies and Gentlemen, could you tell me which lion is male and which is female?(yeah, you are so smart/ sorry, you said the opposite)The lion on the right is female, and she is playing with a baby lion.The Female lion and the lion cub are considered to be symbol of prosperity of the royal family’s offspring.The male lion, playing with a ball, is said to represent the emperor’s supreme power and state unity.Chinese people are good at imagination and symbolization.Now you can see the figures on the roof, they are the glazed tiles with the mythical animal statues to prevent the tiles from sliding down.The roofs are decorated with a line of statuettes led by a man riding a phoenix and followed by dragon, Phoenix, Lion, Heavenly Horse, Sea Horse, and so on.The number of statuettes represents the status of the building—a minor building might have 3 or 5.Look at the Hall of Supreme Harmony: it has 10, the only building in China to be permitted this numbers that time.You can see the yellow roof under the sun is gorgeous, the color of Yellow is the exclusive color of the Chinese emperors.The red and yellow colors used on the palace walls and roofs are also symbolic.Red represents happiness, good fortune and wealth.Yellow is the color of the earth.Yellow became an imperial color during the Tang Dynasty, when only members of the royal family were allowed to wear in it and use the color of yellow in their architecture.As you can see, all the roofs in the Forbidden City are yellow.There are only two exceptions.The library at the Pavilion of the Source of Literature had black tiles because black was associated with water, for the purpose of fire-prevention.Similarly, the Crown Prince’s residences have green tiles because green was associated with woo, and wood indicates growth and future.The Chinese color culture is very interesting.Believe it or not.Number is another culture point related to the Chinese architecture.According to the Chinese theory of Qian and Kun, the main halls of the Outer and Inner courts in the Forbidden City are all arranged in groups of six—the shape of the Kun Trigram, representing the Earth.According to the Chinese theory of Five Elements, the elements are fire, water, earth, wood and metal.Wood is said to overcome the earth.That’s why the three big halls in the Forbidden City were built on a three-tiered marble terrace, shaped like the Chinese character “earth”.The Out Court and Inner Palace The Forbidden City is divided into two parts: the Outer Court and the Inner palace.The former consists of the first three main halls, where the emperor received his courtiers and conducted grand ceremonies, while the latter was the living quarters for the imperial residence.At the rear of the Inner Palace is Imperial Garden where the emperor and his family sought recreation.The most important buildings are situated on the central north-south axis.Beyond the Gate of Supreme Harmony, there stands the Hall of Supreme Harmony.It stands along the north-south axis on the triple marble terrace.Each terrace is higher than the other, encircled by marble balustrades carved with dragon and phoenix designs.The dragon and phoenix were symbols of the emperors and the empresses, respectively.You’ll find 18 bronze incense burners, representing the 18 provinces of China during the Qing Dynasty.Behind the Hall of Supreme Harmony, there are the hall of Middle Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony.The Hall of Supreme Harmony, also known as the Throne Hall, was first built in 1420.It is the largest existing hall of wooden structure in China.During the Ming and Qing Dynasties here used to be the place where the emperor had grand ceremonies.For example, the new emperor’s enthronement ceremony, emperor’s birthdays and wedding ceremonies and other important occasions such as the Winter Solstice, the Chinese New Year and the dispatch of generals to battles, and so on.On such occasions there would be an imperial guard of honor standing in front of the Hall that extended all the way to the Meridian gate.The Hall of Supreme Harmony is 35 meters high with a double-layered roof that represents the highest construction rank of all.Right in the center of the hall stands a red sandalwood platform about 2 meters high.The emperor’s gilded throne, carved with nine dragons, is placed on the platform.Around the throne stand a pair of bronze cranes, two elephant-shaped incense burner and two tripods in the shape of mythical beasts.The pillars, encircling the platform, are decorated with coiled dragons.Above the throne is the gold painted caisson ceiling.In the middle of the ceiling is the design of two dragons playing with pearls.The pearls, so called “Xuanyuan Mirror”, were made of glass and painted with mercury.It represents orthodox succession.It was believed that “Xuanyuan Mirror” was a symbol of the emperor who was the legitimate successor.It was also a symbol to subdue fire.The floor is paved with “golden bricks”.The hall is heavily painted with dragons and has an aura of solemnity and mystery.The Hall of Middle Harmony is smaller and square with windows on all sides.Here the emperor rehearsed for ceremonies.It is followed by the Hall of Preserving Harmony in which banquets and imperial examinations were held.Behind the Hall of Preserving Harmony lies a huge marble ramp with clouds and dragons carved in relief.The marble, 250 tons in weight, is placed between two flights of marble steps along which the emperor’s sedan was carried up or down the terrace.It is the largest piece of stone carving in the Imperial Palace.The Gate of Heavenly Purity leads to the Inner Palace.The three halls of the Inner Palace are replicas of the three halls in the front, but smaller in size.They are the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Union and Peace, and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility.The Palace of Heavenly Purity was once the residence of the Ming emperors and the first two of the Qing emperors.Then the Qing Emperor Yong Zheng moved his residence to the Hall of Mental Cultivation and turned it into an audience hall to receive foreign envoys and handled the state affairs.After the emperor’s death, his coffin was placed here for a period of mourning.The Palace of Union and Peace was the empress’s throne room, where the empress held the important ceremonies and her birthday celebration.The Hall of Earthly Tranquility, once a private living room for the empress, was partitioned.The west chamber served religious purposes and the east one was the bridal chamber where the newly married emperor and empress spent their first two nights after their wedding.Behind these three halls lies the Imperial Garden.Relatively small, and compact in design, the garden nevertheless contains several elaborate landscaping features.To the north of the garden is the Gate of Divine Prowess, the north gate of the palace.Distributed to the east and west of the three rear palaces are a series of self-contained courtyards and minor palaces, where the Emperor’s concubines lived.The Hall of Mental Cultivation is located on the south side of the Six Western Palaces.Originally a minor palace, after Qing Emperor Yongzheng moved his living quarters here, this palace had become the most important building besides the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City.Hall of Mental Cultivation Eastern Chamber is of historical interest because it was here that Empress Dowager Cixi gave audiences behind a screen or controlled power behind the throne for many years, a political phenomenon which was previously unheard of in the records of the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911).When Emperor Tongzhi ascended the throne in 1862 at the age of six, Empress Dowager Cixi and Ci’an(the first empress of Xianfeng)both sat on a throne in the room, which was separated from the Emperor’s throne by a screen, to assist him in the conduct of state affairs.This practice continued when Emperor Guangxu succeeded to the throne in 1875 at the age of four.But with the sudden death of Ci’an one morning in 1881, state power passed entirely into the hands of the Empress Dowager Cixi.Empress Ci’an was believed to be poisoned to death by Cixi.Cixi effectively held the power and ruled China for as long as 48 years.However, she had to stay behind the screen all the time because at that time in China women were not supposed to be in the Outer Court or to hold any public positions.

第二篇：沈阳故宫英文导游词

Shenyang Imperial Palace Hello,everyone!Please allow me to express a warm welcome on behalf of Shenyang citizens.I'm with great pleasure to be your tourist guide and from now on I will show you around Shenyang Imperial Palace,shere the founder of Qing Dynasty Nuerhachi and his son Huangtaiji lived.Shenyang Imperial Palace ,Fuling tomb and Zhaoling Tomb made in the early period of Qing Dynasty are the three famous historical sites in Shenyang.Shenyang Imperial Palace with a history of over 360 years started in 1625 and was roughly accomplished in 1636 during the reign of Nuerhachi and HuangTaiji.After them four emperors of Qing Dynasty had come back from Beijing to this palace for 10 times and enlarged its area and added its buildings.They were Emperor Kangxi,Qianlong,Jiaqing and Daoguang.Therefore,until 1783 the palace was finally finished.Shenyang Imperial Palace is one of the two royal palaces well kept in China.The other one is Forbidden City in Beijing.Shenyang Imperial Palace was entitled “Historic Culture Relics Preserved Buildings” in 1961 by the State Council.This palace is an emperor museum combining the architectual styles of the minorities of Man,Han and Mongolia.This palace covers an area of 60,000 square meters,comprising over 20 courtyards,300 houses and 70 buildings.The whole construction is divided into three sections: the east, middle and west.First let's pay a visit to the buildings in the buildings in the middle section.The layout of middle section is similar to a Chinese compound with three courtyards.The first courtyard is the office area.It starts from the Grand Qing Gate on the south and ends at Holy Administration Hall.From Phoenix Tower to Purity and Tranquility Hall is the residential area.They all lay out on the same line.The main entrance to the palace is the Grand Qing Gate,also called Meridian Gate because the emperor considered himself as the son of Heaven and the palace should be the center of universe.The Grand Qing Gate was bulilt in 1632 and is was the place where the civilian offcials and military ministers to present themselves before the emperor daily.The special feature of the gate is the tile color.They are all yellow tiles but engraved with green borders.Yellow synbolizes the ground and the royal right while green represents sea and mountains.The combination of them means controlling the vast areas on the earth.The building to the east of Grand Qing Gate is called Ancestor Temple(Taimiao)with yellow tile roof,where Nuerhachi's descendants offeredsacrifices to their ancestors for blessings.So Ancestor Temple is the most important.Please follow me into the gate.This path in the middle links the gate to Holy Administration Hall with Flying Dragon Pavilion(Feilongge)and Flying Phoenix Pavilion(Xiangfengge)on each side.The Hall of Holy Administration is the main building in the middle part of the palace and it was the center of the military,administrative affairs in eatly Qing Dynasty and had witnessed many national ceremories.Flying Dragon and Flying Phoenix Pavilions were for storing music instruments.Holy Administration Hall was Emperor Huangtaiji's office.In front of the hall are Rigui and Jiangliang,which were used as measure instruments and supposed to be the symbol of unity.In accient construction,office area is usually in the front part and residential area is in the rear.Since we have visted the place where the Emperors worked and now we'll pay a visite tothe place where empress and concubines lived.Here is the Phoenis Tower.It served as an entrances to the rear chambers and also the entertainment area of Huangtaiji and his concubines,and some gatherings or banquets were held occasionally.The tower was built on a terrace 3.8 meters tall.It was the tallest building in Shenyang at that time.It is amazing watching sunrise in the morning on the tower and Phoenix Sunrise is one of the famous Eight fascinating Scenes in Shenyang.Look upward ,we will see a board hanging up on Phoenix Tower ,on which Emperor Qianlong inscribed “Ziqidonglai”,which meant the Qing Dynasty in Beijing immigrated fron Shengjing,the old name for Shenyang to the east.There are 24staircases leading to Phoenix Tower representing 24 seasonal divisions points in chinese lunar calendar.In Shenyang Imperial palace chambers are higher than halls, which is contrary to the architectural style in Forbidden city in Beijing.Walking through the tower are the rear chambers.The one on the north in the middle was called Purity and Tranquility Hall,which was prepared for emperor and empress.The other four lying on both sides were fo concubines.Purity and Tranquility Hall has five rooms and the First from the east was where Huangraiji passed away here at the age of 52 without any disease.His throne passed to his ninth son,Fulin.In early Qing Dynasty,the construction style was summed up like this: bag-like house,zigzag bed and chimney sitting on the ground.The main buildings here were different from other buildings with a door was opende in the wall of the east room and the other rooms were connected together like a bag.The zigzag beds,made of mud and brick and with fire and smoke tunnels were called“kang”in Chinese.In order to get heat and keep room warm in winter,tunnels was made under the ground of Purity and Tranquility Hall to put fire and smoke through.Now notice the pole standing on the ground for smoke through.Now notice the pole standing right in the middle of the courtyard.This red pole is called Suolun pole,or Holy Pole.Its round tin container near the top was filled with food for feeding crows.It was said that Nuerhachi was savedby crows.Crows are considered sacred in Manchurian culture though in Chinese culture crows are regarded as birds bringing bad luck.Emperor Huangtaiji had four concubines.Among the four concubines Chen was loved best by Huangtaiji and Concubine Zhuang was the wisest and the mother of the next emperor,Fulin.Therefore ,she had a special status among the concubines.The only chimney was built on the rear of Purity and Tranquility hall from the ground with 11 layers ,representing the 11 emperors from Emperor Huangtaiji to the last emperor Puyi.This chimney was the highest one at that time.In Chinese ,the sound of chimeny“tong” is the same as that of unity.To the north further is rear courtyard called Yuhua Garden.After visiting the middle section of the palace ,we come to the eastern section.Its representative building is the Great Administration Hall,flanked by Ten Princes Pavilions.This part was built in 1625,and they were the earliest building in Shenyang Imperial Palace.Great Administration Hall is the place ceremonies and handled state affairs.Great Administration Hall was built with eight sides representing the style of military tent and also Eight Banner military system.Now please look at the ten pavilions,five on each side,which were the offices of the commanders at that time.Here I will give you an introduction to the military system of early Manchurian Period.Nuerhachi divided his troops in four parts and each part was identified by the color of its banner.There sere then four kinds of banner:red,blue,white and yellow banner.As the troops expanded quickly ,another four parts were added and therefore another four kinds of banner were needed.By then there were altogether eight kinds of banner.This army was therefore well known for Eight Banner Army.The last part of Shenyang Imperial Palace is the western section,built from 1782 to 1783 and during Emperor Qianlong's reign.Its main construction is Book Source Pavilion(Wensuge)with Theater Platform and Good Descendant-benefiting Hall(Jiayintang)in front,Prosperity Administration Stydy(Yangxizhai)and Nine Halls behind.Book Souurce Pavilion(wensuge)was specially designed for storing the encyclopedia compiled at that time,Si Ku Quan Shu.This encyclopedia collected most of the books in Chinese history.Its complication started in 1773.This set of history books is composed of seven sections,more than 36,000 volumes.It took educated persons over 10 years to finish is.When finished,the sholecneyclopedia was duplicated in seven pavilions across China.The other six copies were either damaged during wars or lost.This set is the only one well kept.But the real copy is no longer here and now is restored in the Palace Museum in Beijing and Gansu province library.We can see that Book Source Pavilion covered with black tiles.In Chinese philosophy,black refers water.The pavilion was built for storing books and its biggest threat was fire.So black tiles hinting water covering it on the top as a way of protection.Good Proserty Admiration Study was for Emperor reading while Descendant-benefiting Hall and the Theater Platform consisting of a couryard for Emperor ,his empress and concubines watching plays.Shenyang Imperial Palace is one of the cultural relics in China and it is the symbol of this city.It is a good combination of diferent nationalities as well as a tourist attraction.And now we have to end our visiting ,I hope you all enjoy it and thank you for your cooperation,goodbye.

第三篇：北京故宫英文导游词

北京故宫

女士们、先生们，欢迎大家来到北京，北京是中国的首都，也是我国的四大古都之一。2008年奥运会的成功举办更使这座古老的城市为许多外国朋友所熟知。大家稍作休息，请允许我自我介绍一下。我是大家北京之行的地接导游员我的名字叫温辉辉，那在我身边的这位是我们的司机张师傅。我们将会竭尽全力为大家提供最优质的服务。像我一样热情好客的北京人将以他们最热情的方式欢迎世界各地发朋友来到北京。在北京期间我们将游览故宫、长城、颐和园等景点。希望古老而又时尚的北京会给大家留下一段美好的回忆。

在北京我们游览的第一个景点就是故宫。提起故宫大家首先会想到它是中国皇帝居住过的地方。但故宫的价值可不仅仅在于此。它更是我们中国历史、中国文化以及中国建筑的一个缩影。

故宫位于北京城的中心，是明清两朝的皇宫。它是世界上显存最大、最完整的宫殿建筑群。至今约有六百年的历史，先后有24位皇帝在这里统治全国近500年。故宫又名紫禁城，那是因为在封建社会皇帝拥有最高的权利因此这个地方是禁止一般人进出。紫色是象征这北极星的颜色，这被认为是宇宙的中心 所以又名紫禁城。

紫禁城的建筑布局是对称的分为前朝和内廷。前朝以太和、中和、保和三大殿为主体是举行大殿、朝贺、筵宴行使权力的地方。其中太和殿是故宫中规模最大等级最高的建筑。皇帝登基及册立皇后等重大仪式都在此举行。内廷以乾清宫、交太殿和坤宁宫为主体，是皇帝的寝宫和处理日常政务的地方。坤宁宫以北是御花园，是皇帝及其家人游玩的地方。

新中国成立以来，故宫得到良好的维护。1961年，故宫被入世界文化遗产名录。如今的故宫已是中国最大文化珍藏品博物馆，收藏着几百万件珍贵文物。

现在我要问大家一个问题，故宫的房间是九千九百九十九间半吗? 传说天宫的房间是一万间，人间的皇帝作为天帝的儿子，皇宫自然不能超过天宫，于是故宫便造了九千九百九十九间半。其实古代建筑是以“四柱一间”为标准的。经过古建筑专家实地调查统计，故宫所有的房间数量是8707，并非传说所言。

俗话说百闻不如一见，带着您满心的好奇让我们走进故宫，让我们感悟中国文化感受中国帝王的兴衰历史。

Ladies and Gentlemen，Welcome to Beijing.Beijing is the capital of China as well as one of the four ancient capitals in china.Many foreign friends known Beijing because of the the success of the Olympic Games.Please sit back and relax.Iam your local guide for your Beijing tour ,you can call me Amry.This is our driver Mr.Zhang.We will make every effort to provide the best quality service.Like me, Beijingers are always ready to welcome friends from all over the world with their most hospitality.During you Beijing tour we will visit the Forbidden City、Great Wall、Summer Palace and other attractions.I hope that the old as well as fashion Beijing will leave you a good memory.The first attraction of our tour in Beijing is the Forbidden City.The first thing people would think of when talking about the Forbidden City is it the place where Chinese emperors used to live and hold their courts..But the value of the Forbidden City is not limited to this.It is a microcosm of Chinese history, Chinese culture and Chinese architecture.The Forbidden City is located in center oBeijing.It was imperial palace of both Ming and Qing dynasties.With a history of over 600 years, it is the largest and most complete palace complex that still exists in the world.24 emperors had rule the empir from here for more than 500 years.Forbidden City is also called Purple Forbidden City.In the feudal['fju:dl]封建时代的 society ,emperors had supreme至高的 power , so this residence was certainly a forbidden place.Purple was the symbolic[sim'b?lik] 象征color of the North Star which was believed to be the center of the cosmos宇宙.So it got the name of Purple Forbidden City.The building arrangement within the Forbidden City is symmetrical对称的.And it is divided into two parts :the outer court and the inner court.The former is the place where emperors handled courts事物 and held different ceremonies仪式.It consists of Taihe ,Zhonghe and Baohe Halls.Taihe hall is the largest hall within the Forbidden City.It was the location where Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty Emperors hosted their enthronement and wedding ceremonies.The inner court consists of Qianqing, Jiaotai and Kunming Halls where the emperor lived and handled day-to-day work.The lmperial Garden lies on north of the Kunming Hall.It looks like a natural picture.This is the place where the emperor and his family play.Since the founding of new China, the Forbidden City has been well maintained.It was made part of the world cultural heritage list in 1987.Tody as the largest museum of cultural relics in China, it collected and displayed one million precious relics.Now I want to ask you a question.How many houses are there in the Forbidden City? It was said that there were 10000 rooms in the complex of the Heaven Palace.As the son of the heaven , emperor had to build only 9999.5 rooms.Actually ,there are only 8707 rooms in the Forbidden City.As The saying goes, seeing is believing.With curiosity, let's walk into the Forbidden City.Let's appreciate Chinese culture and feel the history of the rise and fall of the Chinese emperors.

第四篇：北京故宫和天坛英文导游词

FORBIDDEN CITY(紫禁城)

(In front of the meridian gate)

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am pleased to serve as your guide today.This is the palace museum;also know as the Purple Forbidden City.It is the largest and most well reserved imperial residence in China today.Under Ming Emperor Yongle, construction began in 1406.It took 14years 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 of23 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, or Zi 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 Star was 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 the word purple in the name of his residence.In folklore, the term “an eastern purple cloud is drifting” became a metaphor for auspicious events after a purple cloud was seen drifting eastward immediately before the arrival of an ancient philosopher, LaoZi, to the Hanghu Pass.Here, purple is associated with auspicious developments.The word jin(forbidden)is self-explanatory as the imperial palace was heavily guarded and off-explanatory as the imperial palace was heavily guarded and off-limits to ordinary people.The red and yellow used on the palace walls and 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, when only members of the royal family were allowed to wear it and use it in their architecture.The Forbidden City is rectangular in shape.It is 960 meters long from north to south and 750 meter wide from east west.It has 9,900 rooms under a total roof area 150,000 square meters.A 52-meter-wide-moat encircles a 9.9-meter—high wall which encloses the complex.Octagon —shaped turrets rest on the four corners of the wall.There are four entrances into the city: the Meridian Gate to the south, the Shenwu Gate(Gate of Military Prowess)to the north, and the Xihua Gate(Gate of military Prowess)to the north, and the Xihua Gate(Western Flowery Gate)to the west, the Donghua(Eastern Flowery Gate)to the east.Manpower and materials throughout the country were used to build the Forbidden City.A total of 230,000 artisans and one million laborers were employed.Marble was quarried from fangshan Country Mount Pan in Jixian County in Hebei Province.Granite was quarried in Quyang County in Hebei Province.Paving blocks were fired in kilns in Suzhou in southern China.Bricks and 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.(Inside the South Gate of the Temple of Heaven)Ladies and Gentlemen: Welcome to the temple of Heaven.(After self-introduction)preserved cultural heritages of China.There are basically two kinds of visitors who come here: local pensioners who do exercises here in the morning and evening and sightseers both from home and abroad.All in all, there are 12 million visitors very year.Now we are going to go along the route that leads to the alter.It will take roughly one hour.Mind you, the emperor also walked along this route to pay tribute to the God of Heaven.(Along the Southern Sacred Road leading to the Circular Mound Altar)The largest group of architectures ever to be dedicated to Heaven, the Temple of Heaven served as an exclusive altar for Chinese monarchs during the Ming and Qing dynasties.It was decreed that rulers of successive dynasties would place altars in their own capitals to worship Heaven and pray for good harvest.But why? The ancient Chinese believed that Heaven was the supreme ruler of the universe and the fate of mankind, and thus worshiping rites dedicated to Heaven came into being.The Heaven the ancient Chinese referred to was actually the Universe, or nature.In those days, there were specific rites of worship.This was especially true during the Ming and Qing dynasties when elaborate ceremonies were held.The Temple of Heaven was built in 1420 during the reign of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty.Situated in the southern part of the city, this grand set of structures covers an area of 273 hectares.To better symbolize heaven and earth, the northern part of the Temple is circular while the southern part is square.The whole compound is enclosed by two walls, a square wall outside a round one.The outer area is characterized by suburban scenery, while the inner part is used for sacrifices.The inner enclosure consists of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest and the Circular Mound Altar.(Along the Imperial Passage leading from the Southern Lattice Star Gate in front of the Circular Mound Altar)The Circular Mound Altar is enclosed by two walls, each containing four groups of Southern Lattice Star Gate, each in turn consisting of three doors, with 24 marble doors altogether.Standing on the passage facing north, you will notice that with each pair of doors on is narrower than the other.This reflects the feudal hierarchy: the wider door was reserved for monarchs, while the narrower one was used by courtiers.On the day of the ceremony, the emperor would don his ritual costume and be ushered in by the official in charge of religious affairs.He ascended the three terraces in the forefront to pay tribute at the alter.(Atop the Circular Mound Alter)we are now on the top terrace of the Altar, or the third terrace.Each terrace has a flight of 9 steps.At the center of this terrace lies a round stone surrounded by 9 steps.At the center of this terrace lies a round stone surrounded by 9 concentric rings of stone.The number of stones in the first ring is 9, in the second, 18, up to 81 in the 9th ring.Even the number of carved balustrades on these terraces is a multiple of 9.But why?

第五篇：沈阳故宫的英文导游词

Shenyang Imperial Palace

Hello, everyone!Please allow me to express a warm welcome on behalf of Shenyang citizens.I'm with great pleasure to be your tourist guide and from now on I will show you around Shenyang Imperial Palace, where the founder of Qing Dynasty Nuerhachi and his son Huangtaiji lived.Shenyang Imperial Palace, Fuling tomb and Zhaoling Tomb made in the early period of Qing Dynasty are the three famous historical sites in Shenyang.Shenyang Imperial Palace with a history of over 360 years started in 1625 and was roughly accomplished in 1636 during the reign of Nuerhachi and Huangtaiji.After them four emperors of Qing Dynasty had come back from Beijing to this palace for 10 times and enlarged its area and added its buildings.They were Emperor Kangxi, Qianlong, Jiaqing and Daoguang.Therefore, until 1783 the palace was finally finished.Shenyang Imperial Palace is one of the two royal palaces well kept in China.The other one is Forbidden City in Beijing.Shenyang Imperial Palace was entitled “Historic Culture Relics Preserved Buildings” in 1961 by the State Council.This palace is an emperor museum combining the architectural styles of the minorities of Man, Han and Mongolia.This palace covers an area of 60,000 square meters, comprising over 20 courtyards, 300 houses and 70 buildings.The whole construction is divided into three sections: the east, middle and west.First let's pay a visit to the buildings in the buildings in the middle section.The layout of middle section is similar to a Chinese compound with three courtyards.The first courtyard is the office area.It starts from the Grand Qing Gate on the south and ends at Holy Administration Hall.From Phoenix Tower to Purity and Tranquility Hall is the residential area.They all lay out on the same line.The main entrance to the palace is the Grand Qing Gate, also called Meridian Gate because the emperor considered himself as the son of Heaven and the palace should be t the center of universe.The Grand Qing Gate was built in 1632 and is was the place where the civilian officials and military ministers to present themselves before the emperor daily.The special feature of the gate is the tile color.They are all yellow tiles but engraved with green borders.Yellow symbolizes the ground and the royal right while green represents sea and mountains.The combination of them means controlling the vast areas on the earth.The building to the east of Grand Qing Gate is called Ancestor Temple（Taimiao）with yellow tile roof, where Nuerhachi's descendants offered sacrifices to their ancestors for blessings.So Ancestor Temple is the most important.Please follow me into the gate.This path in the middle links the gate to Holy Administration Hall with Flying Dragon Pavilion（Feilongge）and Flying Phoenix Pavilion（Xiangfengge）on each side.The Hall of Holy Administration is the main building in the middle part of the palace and it was the center of the military, administrative affairs in early Qing Dynasty and had witnessed many national ceremonies.Flying Dragon and Flying Phoenix Pavilions were for storing music instruments.Holy Administration Hall was Emperor Huangtaiji's office.In front of the hall are Rigui and Jiangliang, which were used as measure instruments and supposed to be the symbol of unity.In accident construction, office area is usually in the front part and residential area is in the rear.Since we have visited the place where the Emperors worked and now we'll pay a visit to the place where empress and concubines lived.Here is the Phoenix Tower.It served as an entrance to the rear chambers and also the entertainment area of Huangtaiji and his concubines, and some gatherings or banquets were held occasionally.The tower was built on a terrace 3.8 meters tall.It was the tallest building in Shenyang at that time.It is amazing watching sunrise in the morning on the tower and Phoenix Sunrise is one of the famous E ight fascinating Scenes in Shenyang.Look upward, we will see a board hanging up on Phoenix Tower ,on which Emperor Qianlong inscribed “Ziqidonglai”, which meant the Qing Dynasty in Beijing immigrated from Shengjing, the old name for Shenyang to the east.There are 24staircases leading to Phoenix Tower representing 24 seasonal divisions points in Chinese lunar calendar.In Shenyang Imperial palace chambers are higher than halls, which is contrary to the architectural style in Forbidden city in Beijing.Walking through the tower are the rear chambers.The one on the north in the middle was called Purity and Tranquility Hall, which was prepared for emperor and empress.The other four lying on both sides were for concubines.Purity and Tranquility Hall has five rooms and the First from the east was where Huangraiji passed away here at the age of 52 without any disease.His throne passed to his ninth son, Fulin.In early Qing Dynasty, the construction style was summed up like this: bag-like house, zigzag bed and chimney sitting on the ground.The main buildings here were different from other buildings with a door was opened in the wall of the east room and the other rooms were connected together like a bag.The zigzag beds, made of mud and brick and with fire and smoke tunnels were called “kang” in Chinese.In order to get heat and keep room warm in winter, tunnels was made under the ground of Purity and Tranquility Hall to put fire and smoke through.Now notice the pole standing on the ground for smoke through.Now notice the pole standing right in the middle of the courtyard.This red pole is called Suolun pole, or Holy Pole.Its round tin container near the top was filled with food for feeding crows.It was said that Nuerhachi was saved by crows.Crows are considered sacred in Manchurian culture though in Chinese culture crows are regarded as birds bringing bad luck.Emperor Huangtaiji had four concubines.Among the four concubines Chen was loved best by Huangtaiji and Concubine Zhuang was the wisest and the mother of the next emperor, Fulin.Therefore, she had a special status among the concubines.The only chimney was built on the rear of Purity and Tranquility hall from the ground with 11 layers, representing the 11 emperors from Emperor Huangtaiji to the last emperor Puyi.This chimney was the highest one at that time.In Chinese, the sound of chimney “tong” is the same as that of unity.To the north further is rear courtyard called Yuhua Garden.After visiting the middle section of the palace, we come to the eastern section.Its representative building is the Great Administration Hall, flanked by Ten Princes Pavilions.This part was built in 1625, and they were the earliest building in Shenyang Imperial Palace.Great Administration Hall is the place ceremonies and handled state affairs.Great Administration Hall was built with eight sides representing the style of military tent and also Eight Banner military system.Now please look at the ten pavilions, five on each side, which were the offices of the commanders at that time.Here I will give you an introduction to the military system of early Manchurian Period.Nuerhachi divided his troops in four parts and each part was identified by the color of its banner.There sere then four kinds of banner: red, blue, white and yellow banner.As the troops expanded quickly, another four parts were added and therefore another four kinds of banner were needed.By then there were altogether eight kinds of banner.This army was therefore well known for Eight Banner Army.The last part of Shenyang Imperial Palace is the western section, built from 1782 to 1783 and during Emperor Qianlong's reign.Its main construction is Book Source Pavilion（Wensuge）with Theater Platform and Good Descendant-benefiting Hall（Jiayintang）in front, Prosperity Administration Study（Yangxizhai）and Nine Halls behind.Book Source Pavilion（wensuge）was specially designed for s toring the encyclopedia compiled at that time, Si Ku Quan Shu.This encyclopedia collected most of the books in Chinese history.Its complication started in 1773.This set of history books is composed of seven sections, more than 36,000 volumes.It took educated persons over 10 years to finish is.When finished, the whole encyclopedia was duplicated in seven pavilions across China.The other six copies were either damaged during wars or lost.This set is the only one well kept.But the real copy is no longer here and now is restored in the Palace Museum in Beijing and Gansu province library.We can see that Book Source Pavilion covered with black tiles.In Chinese philosophy, black refers water.The pavilion was built for storing books and its biggest threat was fire.So black tiles hinting water covering it on the top as a way of protection.Good Property Admiration Study was for Emperor reading while Descendant-benefiting Hall and the Theater Platform consisting of a courtyard for Emperor ,his empress and concubines watching plays.Shenyang Imperial Palace is one of the cultural relics in China and it is the symbol of this city.It is a good combination of different nationalities as well as a tourist attraction.And now we have to end our visiting, I hope you all enjoy it and thank you for your cooperation, goodbye.