中国古代建筑-宫廷

中国古代建筑-宫廷-6

中文：

数字九在古代中国有特殊的含义。人们认为奇数代表阳（yang）而偶数表阴（yin）。因为九是十以下最大的奇数，它被认为是及其幸运的数字，所以，皇帝们喜欢独占这个数字，用它来象征他们的高高在上。和九有关的设计几乎出现在每座皇家（imperial）建筑上，比如说，在紫荆城（the Forbidden City）的大门上，有81个镀金铜饰钉（gold-plated bronze studs）排成九行九列。古宫殿经常被设计为九重建筑群（complex）。基于相同的原因，和皇家建筑有关的数字经常等于九或九的倍数。

语言要点：

odd number; even number; symbolize; superiority; related to; based on; multiple

译文：

The number nine carried a special meaning in ancient China. It was believed that odd numbers represent yang while even numbers yin. Since nine is the largest odd number under ten, it was regarded as an extremely lucky number. So emperors like to dominate it to symbolize their superiority. Designs related to nine appeared almost on every imperial structure. For example, on the gate of the Forbidden City, there are 81 gold-plated bronze studs which were arranged in nine columns and nine rows. Ancient palaces usually were designed to be nine-section architectural complexes. Based on the same reasoning, numbers related to imperial architecture often equaled or were multiples of nine.