中国文化英语教程Unit 4.pptxVIP

;;;Introduction;Introduction;;;;The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (祈年殿) was the site of the spring rituals, where the emperor and the ministers would gather for the ceremony signified by the name of the hall.;Ceremonial Offerings of the Emperor;On the Winter Solstice (冬至), they would make offerings at the Circular Mound Altar (圜丘坛), to show their gratitude for the great compassion (同情) of Heaven toward the human world.;Note: 圜丘坛为每年冬至日祭天处，为汉白玉石砌的三层露天圆坛，围绕着石雕栏杆。;In times of drought or flood, the emperor would come the Circular Mound Altar with civil and military officials to pray for assistance from Heaven.;Only the emperor could pray at the Temple of Heaven. Ordinary people were not allowed access. Yet the idea of showing awe and respect to Heaven was not reserved for the emperor alone, but was shared by the people as well. The worship of Heaven among the Chinese dates back to over 3,000 years ago.;Traditional Chinese view on heaven;In the second year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu (r. 1875-1908), the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests was burned down in a big fire. The emperor lost his composure (镇静) at the news and all the ministers turned ashen, believing the disaster to be a bad omen (预兆) from Heaven.;To the ancient Chinese, however, Heaven was more inclined toward love and tolerance, punishing people only occasionally. Thus, our forebears were always grateful to Heaven.;;;;;If you stand on the Heavenly Heart Stone on the Circular Mound Altar, you can hear your voice rise from underneath your feet and echo back from the wall around the Altar. The resounding echo, according to the designers, represents Heavens reply to whatever the speaker asks for.;When you stand inside the outer wall of the Imperial Vault of Heaven, and speak into the wall, a friend at a point farther away along the wall can hear your voice; it resembles making a phone call to someone. ;Echo wall;;;;1. Read the passage carefully and fill in the following blanks with the missing information.;