有关介绍北京故宫的英语小短文（用英语讲一个故宫的故事）

随着世界各国经济、文化交流日趋频繁，越来越多的人将目光投向中国。最近，新华网一篇英文报道将关注的焦点投向中华文明标志之一——故宫，展现海外游客眼中故宫的变化。

The Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, is one of the most visited museums in the world and tops the must-see tourist destinations in China.

故宫，又叫紫禁城，是世界上最热门的博物馆之一，也是高居中国景点榜首的必打卡之地。

Since 2012, the museum has drawn over 100 million visits. In 2018, over 17.5 million people visited the museum, and about 20 percent were foreigners.

自2012年以来，它接待游客1亿多人次，在2018年1750多万人次中，海外游客占比约20%。

During this year's May Day holiday, the museum received another 320,000 visitors, with many of them coming from outside China.

在今年“五一”假期，参观人数达32万人次，其中不少游客就来自海外。

Dagmara Bahoria, a 41-year-old from Poland, works as a part-time tour guide for a Polish travel agency and has paid about 50 visits to the Forbidden City.

现年41岁的Dagmara Bahoria来自波兰，是当地一家旅行社的兼职导游，她来故宫已50余次。

Dagmara paid her first visit to the site in 2012. "It was a dream from my childhood to see the Forbidden City, and the feeling of actually seeing it is one of the best," said Dagmara, who became a fan of Chinese culture and the Forbidden City at the age of 12.

她第一次到访是在2012年。“参观故宫是我童年的一个梦想，能够参亲眼见到感觉好极了，” 她如是说道。在12岁时，她就成了铁杆中国文化迷。

"The name Forbidden City sounds really mysterious. With its history hidden for so many years from outsiders, I feel like I'm time-traveling when I go inside," she said.

“紫禁城（故宫）这名字听上去真神秘。多年来，它的历史不为外人所知。当我置身其间，感觉像是场时空穿梭，”她说道。

But the Forbidden City is no longer off-limits to outsiders. Instead it is becoming more friendly to foreign visitors, as Dagmara has noticed.

现在，紫禁城不再是“禁”地。相反，正如Dagmara所言，它向海外游客正展现出愈加友好的一面。

——新华网报道："China Focus: Plalace Museum welcomes more overseas visitors"(节选)

事实上，吸引广大世界游客的，还有故宫背后的文化。

故宫在所有世界文化遗产中具有非凡的象征意义。它不仅仅是北京的一座年代悠久的皇宫，更代表着中国千年积淀的典仪规范、国家制度、意识形态、科学技术等积累的结晶，代表着中华传统文化的精神。

经人民出版社出版，由CHN Stories推出的国内首套面向青少年用中英双语介绍中国文化系列丛书《用英语讲中国故事》已经面世。丛书基础级读本中“中国风物”篇章里，就讲述了一个有关故宫的故事——

Imperial Palace with a Central Axis

建在中轴线上的皇宫

Emperor Cheng of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) who had affection for Beijing decided to move his capital there from Nanjing.

明成祖朱棣对北京有感情，想把都城从南京迁到北京。

Since it was the new home of the emperor, Beijing had to have a suitable palace for him to receive his ministers in audience and to carry out his administrative work. So the senior ministers in charge of public works got together to build an imperial walled palace in Beijing. But the expertise of the ministers alone was not sufficient to carry out this magnificent task, and so imperial decrees were issued recruiting talented people from all over China to come to Beijing to help with the work.

既然皇帝来了，那就得有一座像样的皇宫供皇帝接见大臣、起居办公。工部大臣们接手了建造北京宫殿和城垣的任务。只是大臣们自知自己的建筑才华不足以承担此重任，于是贴出皇榜招募天下英才进京设计。

In Suzhou a young man in his early twenties responded to the call, and decided to contribute his talent. He was confident that, since his father Kuai Fu had been a master carpenter and had handed his skill down to his son, he could build a palace and a wall fit for the emperor. His design concept was a simple one: Unpretentious, and occupying the seat of the highest honor. After all, it would be the residence of emperors. All the territory of the empire belonged to the ruler, and his ministers governed it for him. So every corner and every building in the palace had to exude the supreme imperial authority.

在苏州，一位仅二十出头的年轻人揭了皇榜，以艺应募。他有底气这么做，因为他的父亲蒯富是传奇的木工行业的领头人，深得家族手艺真传的他有自信可以设计出让皇帝满意的宫殿城垣。他的设计理念很简单：大巧不工，居中为尊。毕竟是皇上住的地方。普天之下，莫非王土；率土之滨，莫非王臣。这座宫殿里的每一角、每一楼都要衬托出皇权至上。

His assistant was doubtful, “‘Occupying the seat of the highest honor’ is all very well, but how can you bring it to reality?”

他的助手有点不解：“‘居中为尊 ’这个想法非常好，但您怎么落实它呢？”

The talented youth laid down the compasses he had been holding, thought for a while, and then said, “I’m going to do it by creating a central axis running in a straight line from south to north.”

这位有才华的年轻人放下手中的规矩，想了一会说道：“我要用一条从南到北一字贯穿的中轴线来体现这个 ‘居中为尊 ’。”

His assistant was even more puzzled, “A straight line? How can that express your con­cept of exuding authority?”

他的助手更加疑惑了：“一条线？怎么就能把师傅的理念体现出来呢？”

The young man explained, “This central axis will connect the Meridian Gate in the south of the imperial palace with the Xuanwu Gate in the northernmost area, dividing the palace into two parts and connecting the most important groups of buildings – the Three Great Halls, the Three Rear Palaces and the Imperial Garden. On one side will be the Hall of Literary Glory, and on the other side the Hall of Martial Valor, as well as six palaces on either side. That is how I will bring balance to the imperial palace. The balance between the left and right sides will focus the imperial audiences granted to ministers and com­moners on the core building of the complex, the Taihe Hall. This is the center of worship of the emperor, and how I will express the concept of ‘occupying the seat of the highest honor’.”

“你看，这条中轴线连接着南面的午门和最北侧的玄武门。中轴线由南至北横穿宫城，串联起最主要的建筑群：三大殿、后三宫和御花园。在中轴线的左右两侧，对称排列文华殿和武英殿，东六宫和西六宫。我这是用中轴线表现出宫城的对称性；再利用左右两侧的对称性把臣民的朝拜焦点集中在整个宫城的核心宫殿太和殿。这就是万岁爷无上尊崇核心之地。这也是我想表达的 ‘居中为尊 ’。”

Having blurted this out, the young man couldn’t help continuing, “Unlike the compara­tively modest design of Chinese leisure grounds, the imperial palace must directly express its nature of being replete with supreme power. In the creative concepts of construction handed down to us by our forefathers aesthetic balance is one which workmen constantly use to highlight the ultimate nature of any object. This axis will just help observers to in­tuitively grasp the sublime essence of the design, and their eyes will, by seeing the whole length of the axis from the Meridian Gate, rest on the central hall.” With this, he stabbed his finger at the representation of the central hall on the blueprint, smiling proudly.

说到得意处，年轻人便收不住话头了：“不同于中国园林较为婉转的建造方法，皇帝的宫殿一定要凸显盛世极权。在我们老祖宗留下的建造创意中，对称美往往被工匠利用来彰显一个事物的至高无上性。而这个中轴线，不过是帮助观摩者按图索骥罢了。他会顺着这条中轴线，从午门一直看过来，最终把目光停留在那个中心宫殿上。”说罢，他用手指用力地点了点图纸上的中心点，自豪地笑了。

Master Kuai’s idea showed a good grasp of the concept of his illustrious ancestor. Master Kuai himself became the originator of the design for this magnificent palace com­pound. It was his unique sense of craftsmanship that enabled him, through his balanced central axis, to endow the imperial palace with its imposing aspect and exquisite regular­ity. It also makes the Forbidden City outstanding in the history of ancient Chinese archi­tecture.

蒯师傅的想法果然受到了明成祖的高度认可。蒯师傅也就成为这座宏伟宫殿设计思想的提出者。蒯师傅独具匠心地利用中轴线的对称性把这个皇家宫殿设计得气势恢宏，规整精巧，使故宫成为中国古代建筑史上最浓墨重彩的一笔。

除了讲述中国风物中的古典建筑故宫，《用英语讲中国故事》囊括了从古至今200余个原创故事，从中国风物、中国习俗、中国艺术、中国成就、中国人物、中国精神六大主题用中英双语诠释中国文化。

书中既有嫦娥奔月、程门立雪、精卫填海等传统故事，也涵盖了屈原、李清照、鲁迅、郎平等古今人物故事，更有青藏铁路、港珠澳大桥、青蒿素、北斗系统等现代中国成就的故事，在选材上力求古代中国、近代中国与当代中国兼顾，全面讲述中国最具代表性、最优秀的故事。丛书配合纯正英语音频，在中英双语中领略中国大好河山，华夏灿烂文明。

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