新航道用英语为你讲解关于北京故宫的中国故事！

来源：深圳新航道学校日期：2020-01-03 10:40 浏览：182

导读：今年，故宫600岁了。前天，2020年的第一天，故宫博物院官方微博发布了一组图片——“站在紫禁城中凝望，新老照片仿佛将时间之河折叠，历史与当下重合，不禁感叹：600岁风华正茂。”

据官方发布的数据，在刚刚过去的2019年，故宫博物院的年接待量首次突破1900万人次大关。截至12月31日闭馆，故宫博物院全年接待观众累计达1933万6275人次，同比增长10%。其中，北京观众翻倍，外国观众占总比5%。故宫，旧称紫禁城，是中国明清两代的皇家宫殿，位于北京中轴线的中心，被誉为世界五大宫之首，1961年被列为第一批全国重点文物保护单位，1987年被列为世界文化遗产，是中国古代宫廷建筑之精华。

关于这座宏伟宫殿的设计，背后有着怎样的故事呢？

建在中轴线上的皇宫

明成祖朱棣对北京有感情，想把都城从南京迁到北京。工部大臣们接手了建造北京宫殿和城垣的任务，但自知才华不足，于是贴出皇榜招募天下英才进京设计。在苏州，一位仅二十出头的年轻人揭了皇榜，以艺应募。他的父亲蒯富是传奇的木工行业领头人，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。而关于如何落实“居中为尊”这一想法，他这样说：“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 ’。”

“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 ’。”

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 com-moners 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’.”

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。

Having blurted this out, the young man couldn’t help continuing, “Unlike the compara-tively 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 in-tuitively 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.

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。

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 com-pound. 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 regular-ity. It also makes the Forbidden City outstanding in the history of ancient Chinese archi-tecture.

——《用英语讲中国故事》基础级

建在中轴线上的皇宫