1、The Forbidden City The Forbidden City had witnessed the reigns of 24 emperors for as long as five centuries in the history of China.13Started in 1406 and completed 14 years later, the Forbidden City covers an area of more than 720,000 square meters and is called “the sea of halls ” as a complex of m

2、ore than 8,000 halls and rooms . The large and grand Forbidden City, a feudal（封建的/fjudl/） imperial(帝國的，皇帝的) palace with rigorous（嚴密的） layout , longest history, largest construction area, and best preservation among its kind so for existent in the world, is regarded as one of the top five palaces.故宮，

3、一座昔日的皇城，先后有24位皇帝在此統治中國長達5個世紀之久。故宮始建于1406年，歷時14年才完工，面積達72萬多平方米，有殿宇宮室8000多間，被譽為“殿宇之海”。故宮規模宏大，氣勢磅礴，布局嚴謹，是世界是上現存的皇宮中歷史最悠久，建筑面積最大，保存最完整的一座封建皇宮，它是“世界五大宮”之一。the history of the forbidden city Early construction in the Ming DynastyIn 1406,Zhu Di ,Emperor Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, decided to move the capita

4、l to Beijing. In the next year, he began to make preparations for building palaces ,altars and temples ,and walls .Many ministers were dispatched to the South to procure timber （樹，木材）and make bricks and tiles(瓦).1406年，明朝永樂皇帝朱棣決定遷都北京，第二年便開始做營建宮殿，壇廟及城墻的各種準備工作，并派遣大臣到南方各省采辦木材，燒造磚瓦。In 1417, the Forbidden

5、 City started construction; at that time , it was called Purple Forbidden City. Why it was called by this name during the Ming and Qing Dynasty? According to the ancient Chinese history, Ziwei Enclosure in the center of the heaven was the abode of Celestial emperor, thus the abode was named Zigong,

6、or purple palace. Jin, or Forbidden, referred to the fact that no-one could enter or leave the palace without the emperors permission. Hence the name Zijincheng, or the Forbidden City.1417年，故宮開始營建，當時稱紫禁城。為什么故宮在明清時期稱為紫禁城呢？依照中國古代的星相學說，紫薇垣位于天空的正中央，是天帝的居所，因此把天帝所居的天宮稱之為紫宮。同時，皇宮乃皇家重地，閑雜人等不得進入，是禁地，因此名字當中有一

7、個禁字。At the end of 1420, the major structure of the Forbidden City was completed.On the first day in the first lunar month in the 1421,Zhu Di was worshiped in the Hall of Fengtian Dian by his ministers and envoys from forweign countries. Up to then, Beijing had replaced Nanjing as the capital of Chin

8、a.In 1441,Emperor Zhengtong Zhu Qizhen rebuilt the Three Halls of the Outor Court and the Palace of Qianqinggong and Kunninggong .He made an imperial edict to reconfirm that Beijing was the capital city of Ming Dynasty.1421年正月初一，朱棣在故宮的奉天殿接受朝賀，大宴文武群臣和各國貢使。至此，中國的首都由南京遷到了北京。1441年，正統皇帝朱祁鎮重建外朝三大殿和乾清宮，坤寧宮

9、，并昭告天下，重申遷都北京。從此，北京才正式成為大名都城，而故宮也由此成為一代皇宮。Expanded In The Qing DynastyIn 1644, the Qing forces entered Beijing and Emperor Shunzhi made his edict to establish the capital in Beijing ,which marked the birth of the Qing Dynasty.On the basis of the Ming imperial palace, the Qing Dynasty spent14 years in restoring the destroyed architectural complex, rebuilding and expanding it into the magnificent imperial palace with large scale.1644年，清軍進入北京，順治皇帝召告天下，定都北京，清朝隨之建立。清朝定都北京后，在繼承明代故宮規模和布局的基礎上，歷時14年將焚毀的建筑基本修復，又進行了重建額擴建，營建了規模空前，富麗堂皇的宮