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北京导游学校--导游考试--导游培训--导游词--导游词
长城英文导游词
The Great Wall
The Great Wall, like the Pyramids of Egypt, the Taj Mahal(1) in India
and the Hanging Garden of Babylon(2), is one of the great wonders of the
world. Starting out in the east on the banks of the Yalu River in
Liaoning Province, the Wall stretches westwards for 12,700 kilometers to
Jiayuguan in the Gobi desert, thus known as the Ten Thousand Li Wall in
China. The Wall climbs up and down, twists and turns along the ridges of
the Yanshan and Yinshan Mountain Chains through five provinces--Liaoning,
Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu--and two autonomous regions--Ningxia
and Inner Mongolia, binding the northern China together.
Historical records trace the construction of the origin of the Wall to
defensive fortification back to the year 656 B.C. during the reign of
King Cheng of the States of Chu. Its construction continued throughout
the Warring States period in the fifth Century B.C. when ducal states
Yan, Zhao, Wei, and Qin were frequently plundered by the nomadic peoples
living north of the Yinshan and Yanshan mountain ranges. Walls, then,
were built separately by these ducal states to ward off such
harassments. Later in 221 B.C., when Qin conquered the other states and
unified China, Emperor Qinshihuang ordered the connection of these
individual walls and further extensions to form the basis of the present
great wall. As a matter of fact, a separate outer wall was constructed
north of the Yinshan range in the Han Dynasty(206 BC--1644 BC.), which
went to ruin through years of neglect. In the many intervening
centuries, succeeding dynasties rebuilt parts of the Wall. The most
extensive reinforcements and renovations were carried out in the Ming
Dynasty (1368--1644) when altogether 18 lengthy stretches were
reinforced with bricks and rocks. it is mostly the Ming Dynasty Wall
that visitors see today. The Great Wall is divided into two sections,
the east and west, with Shanxi Province as the dividing line. The west
part is a rammed earth construction, about 5.3 meters high on average.
In the eastern part, the core of the Wall is rammed earth as well, but
the outer shell is reinforced with bricks and rocks. The most imposing
and best preserved sections of the Great Wall are at Badaling and
Mutianyu, not far from Beijing and both are open to visitors. The Wall
of those sections is 7.8 meters high and 6.5 meters wide at its base,
narrowing to 5.8 meters on the ramparts, wide enough for five horses to
gallop abreast. There are ramparts, embrasures, peep-holes and apertures
for archers on the top, besides gutters with gargoyles to drain
rain-water off the parapet walk. Two-storied watch-towers are built at
approximately 400-meters internals. The top stories of the watch-tower
were designed for observing enemy movements, while the first was used
for storing grain, fodder, military equipment and gunpowder as well as
for quartering garrison soldiers. The highest watch-tower at Badaling
standing on a hill-top, is reached only after a steep climb, like
"climbing a ladder to heaven". The view from the top is rewarding,
hoverer. The Wall follows the contour of mountains that rise one behind
the other until they finally fade and merge with distant haze. A signal
system formerly existed that served to communicate military information
to the dynastic capital. This consisted of beacon towers on the Wall
itself and on mountain tops within sight of the Wall. At the approach of
enemy troops, smoke signals gave the alarm from the beacon towers in the
daytime and bonfire did this at night. Emergency signals could be
relayed to the capital from distant places within a few hour long before
the invention of anything like modern communications. There stand 14
major passes (Guan, in Chinese) at places of strategic importance along
the Great Wall, the most important being Shanghaiguan and Jiayuguan. Yet
the most impressive one is Juyongguan, about 50 kilometers northwest of
Beijing. Known as "Tian Xia Di YI Guan" (The First Pass Under Heaven),
Shanghaiguan Pass is situated between two sheer cliffs forming a neck
connecting north China with the northeast. It had been, therefore, a key
junction contested by all strategists and many famous battles were
fought here. It was the gate of Shanghaiguan that the Ming general Wu
Sangui opened to the Manchu army to suppress the peasant rebellion led
by Li Zicheng and so surrendered the whole Ming empire to the Manchus,
leading to the foundation of the Qing Dynasty. (1644-1911) Jiayuguan
Pass was not so much as the "Strategic pass Under the Heaven" as an
important communication center in Chinese history. Cleft between the
snow-capped Qilian Mountains and the rolling Mazong Mountains, it was on
the ancient Silk Road. Zhang Qian, the first envoy of Emperor Wu Di of
the Western Han dynasty (206 B.C-24 A.D), crossed it on his journey to
the western regions. Later, silk flowed to the west through this pass
too. The gate-tower of Jiayuguan is an attractive building of excellent
workmanship. It has an inner city and an outer city, the former square
in shape and surrounded by a wall 11.7 meters high and 730 meters in
circumference. It has two gates, an eastern one and a western one. On
each gate sits a tower facing each other. the four corners of the wall
are occupied by four watch towers, one for each. Juyongguan, a gateway
to ancient Beijing from Inner Mongolia, was built in a 15-kilometer long
ravine flanked by mountains. The cavalrymen of Genghis Khan swept
through it in the 13th century. At the center of the pass is a white
marble platform named the Cloud terrace, which was called the
Crossing-Street Dagoba, since its narrow arch spanned the main street of
the pass and on the top of the terrace there used to be three stone
dagobas, built in the Yuan Daynasty(1206-1368). At the bottom of the
terrace is a half-octagonal arch gateway, interesting for its wealth of
detail: it is decorated with splendid images of Buddha and four
celestial guardians carved on the walls. The vividness of their
expressions is matched by the exquisite workmanship. such grandiose
relics works, with several stones pieced together, are rarely seen in
ancient Chinese carving. The gate jambs bear a multi-lingual Buddhist
sutra, carved some 600 years ago in Sanskrit(3), Tibetan, Mongolian,
Uigur(4), Han Chinese and the language of Western Xia. Undoubtedly, they
are valuable to the study of Buddhism and ancient languages. As a
cultural heritage, the Wall belongs not only to China but to the world.
The Venice charter says: "Historical and cultural architecture not only
includes the individual architectural works, but also the urban or rural
environment that witnessed certain civilizations, significant social
developments or historical events." The Great Wall is the largest of
such historical and cultural architecture, and that is why it continues
to be so attractive to people all over the world. In 1987, the Wall was
listed by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site. Notes:1. the Taj
Mahal in India 印度的泰姬陵2. the Hanging Garden of Babylon 巴比伦的空中花园3.
Sanskrit 梵语4. Uigur 维吾尔语
There stand 14 major passes (Guan, in Chinese) at places of strategic
importance along the Great Wall, the most important being Shanghaiguan
and Jiayuguan. Yet the most impressive one is Juyongguan, about 50
kilometers northwest of Beijing.
Known as "Tian Xia Di YI Guan" (The First Pass Under Heaven),
Shanghaiguan Pass is situated between two sheer cliffs forming a neck
connecting north China with the northeast. It had been, therefore, a key
junction contested by all strategists and many famous battles were
fought here. It was the gate of Shanghaiguan that the Ming general Wu
Sangui opened to the Manchu army to suppress the peasant rebellion led
by Li Zicheng and so surrendered the whole Ming empire to the Manchus,
leading to the foundation of the Qing Dynasty. (1644-1911)
Jiayuguan Pass was not so much as the "Strategic pass Under the Heaven"
as an important communication center in Chinese history. Cleft between
the snow-capped Qilian Mountains and the rolling Mazong Mountains, it
was on the ancient Silk Road. Zhang Qian, the first envoy of Emperor Wu
Di of the Western Han dynasty (206 B.C-24 A.D), crossed it on his
journey to the western regions. Later, silk flowed to the west through
this pass too. The gate-tower of Jiayuguan is an attractive building of
excellent workmanship. It has an inner city and an outer city, the
former square in shape and surrounded by a wall 11.7 meters high and 730
meters in circumference. It has two gates, an eastern one and a western
one. On each gate sits a tower facing each other. the four corners of
the wall are occupied by four watch towers, one for each.
Juyongguan, a gateway to ancient Beijing from Inner Mongolia, was built
in a 15-kilometer long ravine flanked by mountains. The cavalrymen of
Genghis Khan swept through it in the 13th century. At the center of the
pass is a white marble platform named the Cloud terrace, which was
called the Crossing-Street Dagoba, since its narrow arch spanned the
main street of the pass and on the top of the terrace there used to be
three stone dagobas, built in the Yuan Daynasty(1206-1368). At the
bottom of the terrace is a half-octagonal arch gateway, interesting for
its wealth of detail: it is decorated with splendid images of Buddha and
four celestial guardians carved on the walls. The vividness of their
expressions is matched by the exquisite workmanship. such grandiose
relics works, with several stones pieced together, are rarely seen in
ancient Chinese carving. The gate jambs bear a multi-lingual Buddhist
sutra, carved some 600 years ago in Sanskrit(3), Tibetan, Mongolian,
Uigur(4), Han Chinese and the language of Western Xia. Undoubtedly, they
are valuable to the study of Buddhism and ancient languages.
As a cultural heritage, the Wall belongs not only to China but to the
world. The Venice charter says: "Historical and cultural architecture
not only includes the individual architectural works, but also the urban
or rural environment that witnessed certain civilizations, significant
social developments or historical events." The Great Wall is the largest
of such historical and cultural architecture, and that is why it
continues to be so attractive to people all over the world. In 1987, the
Wall was listed by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site.
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北京导游学校--导游考试--导游培训--导游词--导游词
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