我與天壇

The Temple of Heaven and Me

在塞爾維亞的時候，我看過一篇文章，叫《我與地壇gt;，是中國當代著名作家史鐵生的一篇散文，這篇文章蘊含著深刻的生命哲理，被譽為“中國文壇最美的收獲”。

而我最喜歡的，是中國的天壇。天壇是一個充滿歷史厚重感的場所，透過這里，能夠看到北京的一段歷史。我提前查了很多相關資料，然后帶著我的姐姐和塞爾維亞朋友，組成了一個小小的參觀團，一起細細品味天壇的美。

天壇是明清兩代皇帝祭天的祭祀建筑群，1420年開始建筑。雖然現在的大部分建筑都在清朝時代修建，仍然都是按照明代的規劃修建的。天壇的周圍是面積大而且美麗的公園，公園里有很多漂亮的古樹。我們幾個人從東門進入天壇公園，通過一條長廊靠近祈年殿——位于天壇中間，建筑群中最重要的建筑物。在走廊里行走的時候，你會發現這兒的溫度比外面低得多，微風陣陣，非常舒服。在長廊的左側，可以欣賞大自然的美麗，真多虧了今天的好天氣。走到走廊的終點，宏偉的皇乾殿就會出現在你的面前。這種感覺真美，那份宏大，撞擊著我的內心，令人難忘。

據說，祭天儀式就在皇乾殿進行，儀式前一天，皇帝親自來燒香。建筑物內的棟梁的位置造型是一種方形的形狀，屋頂有三層，都是圓圓的。全建筑群之中的建筑物，都有方形和圓形的形狀互相補充的部分。除了這個以外，還有深藍色和綠色屋頂的屋面，這都是陰陽并存的象征。

丹陛石雕是三層巨大圓形石基的階梯。其中，南北兩向的階梯有美麗而且讓人感動的雕刻，分別為“雙鳳山海”“雙龍山海”以及“瑞云山海”的圖案。“龍”是皇帝的標志，而“鳳”就是皇后的標志。

我以上所說的都很有趣，但是給我留下最深印象的是一扇小門——“古稀門”。這是清乾隆皇帝七十歲的時候修建的門，原因是他當時年事己高，為了幫他更方便參加在天壇里舉行的儀式，大臣們請匠人修建了這扇門。皇帝宣布：他去世以后，為了避免讓自己的后輩變得慵懶，只有七十歲以上的皇帝才能通過那一扇門到天壇。很遺憾的是，在他之后的皇帝都沒有活得比他更久，所以清乾隆皇帝是唯一通過這扇門到天壇祭天的人。

在天壇的所見、所思、所感令我難以忘懷。天壇，是我在北京最喜歡的地方，中國建筑的博大精深，中國智慧的厚重深遠，都可以在天壇中讀到。這里，是中國文化的精華。

When I was in Serbia， I read an essay titled\"The Temple of Earth and Me\"， written byShi Tiesheng， a famous contemporary Chinesewrite r. This essay is rife with profound lifephilosophies honored as \"the best harvests inChinese literary\".

What I enjoy most is the Temple of Heavenin China. It is a place brimming with historicalprofoundness， through which you can catch aglimpse of the history of Beijing. I checked a lotof relevant information before my trip to theTemple， and then， with my sister and my Serbianfriends， formed a small tour group to savor thebeauty of the Temple of Heaven together.

The Temple of Heaven is an architecturalcomplex where emperors of the Ming （1368-1644） and Qing （1644-1911） Dynasties worshipedheaven. It was originally built in 1420. Althoughmost of its current buildings were completed inthe Qing Dynasty， they were completed accordingto the plans of the Ming Dynasty. Around theTemple of Heaven is a large and beautiful parkinside which many pretty old trees are planted.We entered the Temple of Heaven Park fromthe East Gate and through a \"long corridor\"approached the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests- the most important building located at themiddle of the Temple of Heaven. When walkingthrough the corridor， you will find that thetemperature there is much lower than that of theoutside， with bursts of breeze bringing coziness.Thanks to the good weather， from the left sideof the corridor， we could appreciate the beautyof nature. The magnificent Hall of ImperialZenith is presented in front of you at the end ofthe corridor. This feeling is so wonderful. Thatgrandness exerts impacts on my heart and isunforgettable.

It is said that the worship ceremony washeld right in the Hall of Imperial Zenith. On theday before the ceremony， the emperor wouldcome to burn incense himself. The positionsof the pillars inside the building form a squareshape， and the roof has three layers， all of whichare round. All buildings in the entire complexare decorated with either square or circularparts， making them complement each other inshape. In addition， there are dark blue and greenroofs， symbolizing the coexistence of yin andyang.

Imperial Stairway Stone Carving is a hugethree-layer round stone terrace. The stairwaysfacing the south and the north boast beautifuland touching carvings， which are patternsnamed \"two phoenixes over mountains andseas\"， \"two dragons over mountains and seas\"and \"auspicious clouds over mountains andseas\" respectively. \"Dragon\" is the symbol ofemperor while \"phoenix\" the empress.

What I talked about above is veryinteresting， but what impressed me most is asmall door， the \"seventy-year-old door\" whichwas built when Emperor Qianlong of QingDynasty was seventy years old. So his ministersasked craftsmen to build the door to provideconvenience for him to participate in ritualceremonies held in the Temple of Heaven. Theemperor later announced that after his death，for fear of his offspring becoming lazy， onlythe emperor who has reached the age of 70can walk to the Temple of Heaven through thisdoor. However， it is a pity that none of the lateremperors lived longer than him， so Qianlongwas the only emperor who walked to the Templeof Heaven through this door.

What I saw， thought， and felt in the Templeof Heaven left me with unforgettable experience.The Temple of Heaven is my favorite place inBeijing. The splendid and sophisticated Chinesearchitecture and the profound Chinese wisdomcan be appreciated from the Temple of Heaven，home to the essence of Chinese culture.