建筑哲学第 1 课

A very long time ago, far away in China, 很久以前在遥远的中国
a villager living along the banks of the Yellow River built a simple mud hut to shelter his family. 一个住在黄河岸的村人为家人建了遮风避雨的 简易泥土茅屋

Thousands of years later in the year 1 420, 数千年后，在1420年
the empire's best craftsmen put the final touches on the ultimate masterpiece of Chinese architecture - the Temple of Heaven. 中国最优秀的工匠为中国建筑的最伟大杰作 做最后的润色天坛

Chinese buildings evolved from simple shelters into complex magnificent structures 中国建筑从简单茅屋 演化到复杂宏伟的结构
with great swooping roofs, stately columns, and rich detail. 有巨大陡斜的屋顶 壮观的柱子和繁复的细部装饰

Between this simple mud hut and this amazingly complex structure - 从简单泥土茅屋 到这繁复建筑之间
its every detail full with cosmological symbolism - 后者的每一细节 都象征宇宙万物
is a tale of emperors, monks, scholars and genius craftsmen - 这故事里有皇帝，僧侣 学者与天才工匠

a story which explains an architectural tradition of great beauty and flexibility. 并诉说一个 华丽而坚韧的建筑传统

And to start this story at the beginning, we have to leap back two millennia, 这故事要从头说起 得回到2千年前
to when the brilliant tyrant Qin Shihuang becomes the first emperor of a unified China. 回到首位统一中国的暴君 秦始皇的时代

In 1938, an American fighter pilot flying over a remote part of China 1938年，1位美国战斗机飞行员 在中国偏远地带飞行
spotted giant pyramid-like structures below. 看到下方状似 金字塔的巨大建筑
In his excitement he took a photo and declared to the world that he had discovered a lost civilization. 他兴奋地拍照 并宣称发现了失落的文明
What he discovered, however, weren't pyramids, 但他发现的不是金字塔
but massive tomb mounds. 而是巨大的坟冢
And the grandest of them all was the tomb of the man who unified China . 其中最大的坟 尸于统一中国的那个人

Our story begins with the tomb of Qin Shihuang 故事要从秦始皇陵说起
the first emperor of China, who lived 200 years before Christ. 秦始皇是中国第1位皇帝 时代比耶稣早2百年
A brilliant warrior and tactician, 秦始皇是杰出的战士与战术家
he annihilated all his rival states and created the imperial system 他打败所有战国邦国 创立帝制
which survived until the year 1904. 这制度一直沿用至1904年
And the grandeur of his tomb matched that of his ambitions: 他的陵墓正如其野心一样宏伟