故宮東南方幾公里處，有一座巨大的祭天神廟，這就是天壇(the Temple of Heaven)。祭天儀式起源于周朝，自漢代以來(lái)，歷朝歷代的帝王都對(duì)此極為重視。明永樂(lè)(the reignof Emperor Yongle in the Ming Dynasty)以后，每年帝王們都要來(lái)天壇舉行祭天和祈谷的儀式。天壇建筑的主要設(shè)計(jì)思想就是要突出天空的遼闊高遠(yuǎn)，以表現(xiàn)“天”的至髙無(wú)上。天壇的建筑在一條中軸線(central axis)上，最南的圍墻呈方形，象征地，最北的圍墻呈半圓形，象征天，這種設(shè)計(jì)來(lái)自遠(yuǎn)古“天圓地方”的思想。

　　參考翻譯:

　　A few kilometers southeast to the Forbidden City,there is a huge temple for worshipping heaven—theTemple of Heaven.The heaven-worshippingceremony originated from the Zhou Dynasty.Sincethe Han Dynasty, emperors of all dynasties paidmuch attention to this ceremony.After the reign of Emperor Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, everyyear emperors came to the Temple of Heaven to hold ceremony of worshiping heaven andpraying for good harvests.The main design concept of the Temple of Heaven is to highlightthe vastness and loftiness of sky to show the supremacy of heaven.The Temple of Heaven isbuilt on a central axis.The wall at the southern end is square, symbolizing earth;the wall at thenorthern end is semi-circular, symbolizing heaven.This design originated from the ancientthought that"the earth is square and heaven is round".

　　翻譯詳解

　　1.位于故宮東南方幾公里處:可譯為A few kilometers southeast to the Forbidden City。

　　2.祭天神廟:可譯為temple for worshipping heaven。

　　3.極為重視:可譯為pay much attention to。

　　4.明永樂(lè)以后:是指“明朝的永樂(lè)皇帝統(tǒng)治以后”，故譯為After the reign of Emperor Yongle in Ming Dynasty。

　　5.象征地:根據(jù)前后句，可譯為symbolizing earth,現(xiàn)在分詞作狀語(yǔ)。

　　6.天圓地方:可譯為the earth is square and heaven is round。