故宫 gùgōng
calkins
October 10, 2008, 11:19 PM posted in General Discussion
Photograph by Guang Niu
gùgōng
T : 故宮
S : 故宫
Example Sentences
T 故宮佔地72公頃(平方米或者7,750,015平方英尺）。
S 故宫占地72公顷(平方米或者7,750,015平方英尺）。
gùgōng zhàndì 72 gōngqǐng (720,000 píngfāngmǐ huòzhě 7,750,015 píngfāngyīngchǐ.
The Imperial Palace covers an area of 72 hectares (720,000 square meters or 7,750,015 square feet).
T 他對故宮設計講解甚詳，如數家珍。
S 他对故宫设计讲解甚详，如数家珍。
tā duì gùgōng shèjì jiǎngjiě shènxiáng ，rúshùjīazhēn.
His description of the layout of The Imperial Palace was so detailed that it was as if he were enumerating the heirlooms of his own family.
Lessons Related to 故宫 gùgōng:
Elementary - Traveling around China
changye
October 11, 2008, 03:15 AMHi calkins,
Thanks again for the nice photo. "故宫" was called "紫禁城" (zi3 jin4 cheng2, Purple-Forbidden City) before the fall of Qing Dynasity (清朝) in 1911. This palace had been used by Chinese imperial families for nearly 500 years.
In ancient Chinese astronomy, an area around the plar star was called "紫微垣" (zi3 wei1 yuan2), one of 三垣, and the 紫 symbolizes the Emperor. Both in China and Japan, the purple color is traditionally considered to be noble.
And therefore, "紫禁城" means the city (城) where the emperor (紫) lives and ordinary people are forbidden (禁) to enter. You can see an amzing bird's eye-view with Google Earth, by entering the key words "beijing, gugong".
http://imgsrc.baidu.com/baike/pic/item/b3f6cea26c2ecdb8caefd055.jpg