彩插

紫微垣位于北天中央，永恒不移，乃天帝所居，谓之紫宫。

The purple Forbidden Enclosure, known as the Imperium in the Western astrology,is positioned forever in the heart of the northern sky and issaid to be where the Heavenly Emperor lives in Chinese mythology, It is also called Zigong,or the Purple Palace,with zi meaning purple,the colorused exclusively for the imperial family.

前言

故宫是一个摄人心魂的秘境。不仅仅因为这里有红墙丹墀、重重宫门、森森殿宇，也不仅仅因为这里有历代典藏、钟鼎彝器、法书名画。故宫最能激发人们想象和吸引人们去探寻的是它那威严深邃的皇家气派和沉淀在其背后的神秘感。

故宫有殿堂楼阁980座、房屋8700余间。明清两朝的皇帝在这个至高无上的秘境里，君临天下近500年，历经皇位易主24次，见证了王朝更替和国运盛衰。故宫又是一个变换莫测的剧场，几个世纪的宫闱秘事，在这里荡漾着历史的回声：黄门一骑出九重，决定黎民百姓生死祸福的诏命从这里传出。柳腰盈盈待白头，望穿秋水的宫女在这里凋谢于无涯的守候中。宵衣旰食的贤明君主、荒淫暴戾的无道昏君，窥睨大统的阋墙兄弟、恃宠擅权的奸臣阉党，筹划于密室的阴谋政变、喧嚣于殿宇的盛典大礼。一场场，一幕幕，都在这沉默的深宫幽院中幻化而出，又终归消散无形。

本画册通过百余幅摄影图片，以独特的视角，在不同季节的不同光线下，撷取了故宫许多不同寻常且耐人寻味的景象。人们司空见惯的历史遗迹被渲染得静谧幽深，亦真亦幻。沧桑的景物仿佛拨开了岁月的迷雾，再现了与时光一同逝去的历史瞬间和氛围，不由使人看得触景生情，产生无限遐想。

图片的排列，依故宫建筑布局，由外及内顺序展开。从城池外围的角楼、城门等开始，然后瞩目于以太和、中和、保和三大殿为中心的外朝，再窥及乾清宫、交泰殿、坤宁宫、养心殿和东西六宫等组成的内廷。凡主要殿宇，都以翔实的皇宫秘档，以解疑释惑的文字，记述了隐匿在此场景内曾经发生过的历史及趣闻秘事，再辅以相关的背景资料及殿宇规制功能的概述，以增加读者全方位的如临宫禁的现场感，体验既神秘又真实的往事带来的震撼。

Preface

Gugong,the former imperial palace complex known as the Purple Forbidden City,is a mystic place that touches a deep chord in your heart.

With red walls, yellow tiles, marble terraces and wooden door planks locked in the thick layers of palace gates and rows of hall buildings, thiscity is China's single palace complex that remains intact today, epitomizing generations of architectural achievements of palace building in theChinese history. This is also a gigantic national treasure house preserving chambers of eye-dazzling collections - bronzeware antiquities, gold andjade, masterpieces of calligraphy and painting, and rare books, among many others. These, however, still fall short of depicting the whole picture ofthe Forbidden City.