隨著世界各國經(jīng)濟文化交流的頻繁，越來越多的人把目光轉(zhuǎn)向了中國。最近新華網(wǎng)的一篇英語報道將注意力集中在中華文明標志之一的——故宮上，展示了海外游客眼中故宮的變化。

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 destinant

故宮又稱紫禁城，是世界上最受歡迎的博物館之一，是中國旅游勝地第一的必打卡之地。

Since 2012，the museum has drawn over 100 million visits . in 2018，over 17 . 5 million people visited the museum，and about 20 percent

2012年以來接待了1億多名游客，2018年1750多萬名海外游客中約占20%。

During this year's may day holiday，the museum received another 320，000 visitors，with many of them coming from outside China。

今年“5月1日”長假，參觀人數(shù)達32萬人，其中很多游客來自海外。

Dagmara bahoria、a41-year-old from Poland、works as a part-time tour guide for a polish travel agency and has paid about 50 vision

現(xiàn)年41歲的Dagmara Bahoria來自波蘭，作為當?shù)芈眯猩绲募媛殞?dǎo)游來故宮50多次。

Dag Mara 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 beera

她的第一次訪問是在2012年。參觀故宮是我小時候的夢想。能親眼看到真好。“她說。12歲的時候，她成為了鐵桿中國文化迷。

the name forbidden city sounds really mysterious . with its history hidden for so many years from outsiders，I feel like I'm time-

“紫禁城這個名字聽起來真神秘。多年來，它的歷史不為外人所知。我在其間的時候，就像在時空中穿梭一樣?！彼f。

but the forbidden city is no longer off-limits to outsiders . instead it is becoming more friendly to foreign visitors、as dagmara has nos

現(xiàn)在紫禁城不再是“禁地”。相反，正如Dagmara所說，它對海外游客表現(xiàn)出更加友好的一面。

——新華網(wǎng)報道：《China Focus : plala ce Museum Welcomes More Overseas Visitors》(節(jié)選)

事實上，吸引世界游客的還有故宮后面的文化。

故宮在所有世界文化遺產(chǎn)中都具有非凡的象征意義。它不僅是北京古老的皇宮，還代表著中國千年積淀的全意規(guī)范、國家制度、意識形態(tài)、科學技術(shù)等積累的結(jié)晶，代表著中華傳統(tǒng)文化的精神。

通過人民出版社出版的CHN Stories推出的國內(nèi)第一部青少年用中英雙語版中國文化系列叢書《用英語講中國故事》。在叢書基礎(chǔ)級讀本的《中國風物》一章中，講述了有關(guān)故宮的故事3354

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Imperial Palace with a Central Axis

建在中軸線上的皇宮

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

明成祖朱棣對北京有感情，想把都城從南京遷到北京。

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.

既然皇帝來了，那就得有一座像樣的皇宮供皇帝接見大臣、起居辦公。工部大臣們接手了建造北京宮殿和城垣的任務(wù)。只是大臣們自知自己的建筑才華不足以承擔此重任，于是貼出皇榜招募天下英才進京設(shè)計。

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.

在蘇州，一位僅二十出頭的年輕人揭了皇榜，以藝應(yīng)募。他有底氣這么做，因為他的父親蒯富是傳奇的木工行業(yè)的領(lǐng)頭人，深得家族手藝真?zhèn)鞯乃凶孕趴梢栽O(shè)計出讓皇帝滿意的宮殿城垣。他的設(shè)計理念很簡單：大巧不工，居中為尊。畢竟是皇上住的地方。普天之下，莫非王土；率土之濱，莫非王臣。這座宮殿里的每一角、每一樓都要襯托出皇權(quán)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?”

他的助手有點不解：“‘居中為尊 ’這個想法非常好，但您怎么落實它呢？”

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.”

這位有才華的年輕人放下手中的規(guī)矩，想了一會說道：“我要用一條從南到北一字貫穿的中軸線來體現(xiàn)這個 ‘居中為尊 ’?！?/p>

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

他的助手更加疑惑了：“一條線？怎么就能把師傅的理念體現(xiàn)出來呢？”

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 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’.”

“你看，這條中軸線連接著南面的午門和最北側(cè)的玄武門。中軸線由南至北橫穿宮城，串聯(lián)起最主要的建筑群：三大殿、后三宮和御花園。在中軸線的左右兩側(cè)，對稱排列文華殿和武英殿，東六宮和西六宮。我這是用中軸線表現(xiàn)出宮城的對稱性；再利用左右兩側(cè)的對稱性把臣民的朝拜焦點集中在整個宮城的核心宮殿太和殿。這就是萬歲爺無上尊崇核心之地。這也是我想表達的 ‘居中為尊 ’。”

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.

說到得意處，年輕人便收不住話頭了：“不同于中國園林較為婉轉(zhuǎn)的建造方法，皇帝的宮殿一定要凸顯盛世極權(quán)。在我們老祖宗留下的建造創(chuàng)意中，對稱美往往被工匠利用來彰顯一個事物的至高無上性。而這個中軸線，不過是幫助觀摩者按圖索驥罷了。他會順著這條中軸線，從午門一直看過來，最終把目光停留在那個中心宮殿上?！闭f罷，他用手指用力地點了點圖紙上的中心點，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 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.

蒯師傅的想法果然受到了明成祖的高度認可。蒯師傅也就成為這座宏偉宮殿設(shè)計思想的提出者。蒯師傅獨具匠心地利用中軸線的對稱性把這個皇家宮殿設(shè)計得氣勢恢宏，規(guī)整精巧，使故宮成為中國古代建筑史上最濃墨重彩的一筆。

除了講述中國風物中的古典建筑故宮，《用英語講中國故事》囊括了從古至今200余個原創(chuàng)故事，從中國風物、中國習俗、中國藝術(shù)、中國成就、中國人物、中國精神六大主題用中英雙語詮釋中國文化。

書中既有嫦娥奔月、程門立雪、精衛(wèi)填海等傳統(tǒng)故事，也涵蓋了屈原、李清照、魯迅、郎平等古今人物故事，更有青藏鐵路、港珠澳大橋、青蒿素、北斗系統(tǒng)等現(xiàn)代中國成就的故事，在選材上力求古代中國、近代中國與當代中國兼顧，全面講述中國最具代表性、最優(yōu)秀的故事。叢書配合純正英語音頻，在中英雙語中領(lǐng)略中國大好河山，華夏燦爛文明。