各位朋友，穿过午门，现在我们已经进入故宫。故宫中这第一进院落就是太和门广场。首先我们看到是内金水河，它子西向东婉言流过太和门广场，上边有五座汉白玉石桥，就是内金水桥，它们象征五德，即仁、义、礼、智、信，是皇帝集美好的品质为一身的意思。金水桥下市内金水河，内金水河从紫禁城西北角筒子河涵道引入紫禁城，沿紫禁城内西侧南流，至武英殿东向，经武英殿门前，再东经涵道至太和门前。又经涵道东出至文渊阁前水池，从文渊阁东出经三座门前石桥，最后流入无门东侧筒子河，全长2100米。内金水河的作用不仅是故宫中排水的主要通道，也是宫中营造用水和灭火的主要水源，同时还起到了分隔空间、点缀景观的作用，使太和门广场在雄浑中不失秀美。
跨过金水桥，这片广场曾经是明代皇帝玉门听政时百官待驾的地方。何谓“御门听政”呢?这“御门”即指太和门，即前朝的正门，初建于明永乐年间，当时叫奉天门，明嘉靖年间改称皇极门，清顺治年后改称太和门。“听政”是指听取政事。明永乐皇帝朱棣迁都北京不到百日，三大殿被大火烧毁，朱棣曾在此御门听政，处理国家朝政。清朝入关后，清世祖福临的登基典礼、加封多尔衮为叔父摄政王、封吴三桂为平西王等活动都是在太和门举行的。
太和门东庑中间的门叫协和门，西庑中间的门叫熙和门。太和门、协和门、熙和门加上前朝三大殿的太和殿、中和殿、保和殿称为“六合”。在太和门两旁还有两道门，分别为昭德门和贞度门。
过了太和门我们就来到了故宫中最重要的院落--太和殿及其广场。太和殿广场几本呈正方形，整个院落平坦宽阔，气势非凡。中间御路以青石，两侧青砖墁地。北有太和殿，南为太和殿，东为体仁阁，西为弘义阁，面积约3万平方米，是整座紫禁城面积的1/24。整个广场可容纳近7万人。在每年的元旦、冬至以及皇帝登基、大婚、万寿这些重大活动的时候，都要在太和殿以及太和殿广场举行隆重的大朝礼。
大家请看，远处正前方是一片汉白玉雕砌的三层高台基，呈“土”字形，俗称“三台”。台基高8.13米，台边缘高7.12米，三层台基间，分列着18尊鼎式香炉。在每一层基座的边缘都伸出很多小龙头，那些小龙的名字叫“螭”，是传说中一种没有角的龙，这些小龙头实际上是大殿的排水系统。如果仔细看会发现每个龙头的嘴里都有一个小孔，即喷水孔，三层基座之上共设小龙头1142个，每当下大雨的时候，雨水便从1142个龙头嘴里的小孔内排出，非常壮观。为管中一景，被称为“千龙吐水”。三重台基承托着雄伟的三大殿，这就是故宫的中心建筑--太和殿、中和殿、保和殿。其中太和殿位于“土”字形须弥座的南部，各位可以先在这里留个影，然后我们就去参观太和殿。
好!现在我们面前这座高台上的宏伟建筑就是太和殿，也就是民间所说的“金銮宝殿”。太和殿是紫禁城的正殿，被视为黄泉的象征。太和殿始建于明永乐年间，原名奉天殿，嘉靖年间重建后改称皇极殿。清初顺治年间改称太和殿，康熙年间又两次大规模改造，才有今天我们看到的太和殿的规模。“太和”二字出自《周易*乾* 彖辞传》中的“乾道变化，各证性命，保合大和乃利贞。”“太”即大，“和”即和谐。意思是在天道的主宰夏，阴阳和合，太和元气常运不息，万物和谐共存。太和殿面阔11间，进深5间，殿高35.05米，面积约2377平方米。它是紫禁城乃至全国现存的最高、最大、最尊贵的宫殿，也是现存的中国宫殿建筑中规模最大的一座。太和殿在清明两代是举行大朝礼的地方。每逢元旦、冬至、万寿，即皇帝生日这三大节及皇帝登基、大婚、命将出征、金殿传胪等重大活动都要在他喝点举行隆重的庆典。此外，冬至圜丘坛大忌、孟春圜丘坛常雩礼、孟春祁谷坛前一日，皇帝也都要在太和殿阅视祭祀祝版。
大家请抬头看太和殿的屋顶，太和殿屋顶是采用古建筑中等级最高的重檐庑殿顶。屋顶正脊上两头的这两大琉璃构件叫大吻，吻上的龙形有镇火的意思。除了装饰性，它的使用功能是密合殿顶正脊和垂脊的交会处，以防风雨侵蚀。这两个大吻高3.4米，宽2.68米，重4.3吨，由13块琉璃构件组成，是现存古建中最大的吻。太和殿殿顶四面坡的筒子瓦上镶有琉璃帽钉两排，垂脊上还有10个垂脊兽，分别是龙、凤、狮、海马、天马、押鱼、狻猊、獬豸、斗牛、行什，脊兽钱是骑凤仙人。脊兽和帽钉既有装饰作用又有实用性，他们起着固定屋顶琉璃瓦的作用。在我国古代，脊兽的数量依照建筑物的等级高低而不同，数量越多，代表了殿宇等级越高。太和殿的脊兽共有10只，全国只有故宫的太和殿是这样。此外，太和殿装饰用的彩绘也是最高等级的金龙和玺。
现在请大家跟随我一起登上高台来看看太和殿的内部陈设。太和殿由72根巨柱支撑，其中66根大红漆柱分布两侧，6根沥粉贴金蟠龙金柱分列宝座两旁。大殿内的地上是“金砖漫地”，这种金砖主要产于江苏省苏州，是专门为皇宫烧造的细料方砖。之所以叫金砖，是因为这种砖烧制时间130天，质地细密，敲之有金石之声。太和殿内的主要陈列室皇帝的宝座。宝座位于二米高的须弥式地平床上，通体雕以金龙，椅子后面是雕龙金漆的七扇屏风。金銮宝座是明代的遗物，清朝的皇帝继续使用。在袁世凯复辟的时候，曾经将它换成了一个西式靠背坐椅。解放以后，专家们在库房内发现了宝座的残件，经过一年多的研究整修，终于恢复了宝座原貌。
现在请大家抬头看，宝座的上方时蟠龙藻井，上圆下方，深1.8米，由上、中、下三部分组成，最下层是方井，中层为八角形，上部为圆形。井内蟠龙俯首向下，龙口衔一个铜胎中空的水银球。这个球被称为轩辕镜，寓意下面宝座上的皇帝是轩辕黄帝的正统继承人。藻井的设置一方面是烘托帝王的尊严，另一方面还有镇火的含义。
号，再来看宝座前方，大家可以看到宝座前设有脚踏、香筒、甪端、仙鹤、宝象等。香筒是皇帝上朝的时候用于放置檀香的，通过燃烧着的袅袅的香烟，烘托出一种神秘的气氛。再来看象，身上驼着宝瓶，里面放有五谷，寓意天下太平，吉庆有余。而象身四脚立地，稳如泰山，则象征社会和政权的稳固，称为太平有象。甪端，是传说中的一种神兽，象征着当今皇帝是圣明之君。仙鹤被古人看作是一种长寿鸟，象征着江山长存。
看完了太和殿内景，现在，让我们转过头来再来看看殿外的陈设。在太和殿外的露台上左右各有一只龙头乌龟和一只铜鹤。龟鹤都是祥瑞长寿的动物，摆在这里有千秋万代的含义。再仔细观察一下，大家可能会发现，龟鹤实际上是香炉，龟鹤背上有一块可以开启的盖子，里面可以放香料，上大朝时燃香用，届时香烟从龟鹤口中逸出，烘托了一种神秘庄严地气氛。此外，在太和殿丹陛的东南角还设有日晷。日晷是我国古代的一种计时器，由晷盘和晷针组成，晷针从晷盘中心垂直穿过。自古以来，皇帝就有向天下颁布历书的责任，所以日晷的设置是国家的重器之一。太和殿西南角设有嘉量，是古代的标准量器，放置在这里象征国家的统一和强盛。这两件陈设象征皇帝在时间上和空间上都是公正无私的，对天下百姓都是坦诚、平等的。
此外，在太和殿外东西两侧还各有鎏金青铜太平缸两口，每口重约2吨。鎏金是一种金属加工工艺，据说这么大的太平缸需要用黄金100两。不幸的是，上面的黄金却被八国联军用军刀刮走了。现在我们还可以清晰地看到缸身上留下的刀刮痕迹。太平缸的主要用途是储水，以备日常洒扫庭院、防火之用。据记载明朝时有热水处太监在每年的小雪节令，便给缸加盖，缸座底下加帖抽，用来生活，以防止缸内的水结冰，清朝时也是如此。紫禁城内现在共有明清两朝遗留下来的铜质及铁质太平缸308口，其中鎏金金铜缸18口。
以上就是太和殿的情况。我刚才说了，太和殿是举行大典的地方，在古代，举行各种大典都要选良辰吉日，那么皇帝在何处等待这里是性时刻的来临呢?就是太和殿后面的中和殿，那我们现在就去看看!
中和殿位于太和殿和保和殿之间，正处于“土”字形须弥座的中部。殿为方形，四角攒尖，鎏金宝顶。中和殿在明朝初年称为华盖殿，嘉靖年间改称中极殿，顺治年间改为中和殿。“中和”二字取自《礼记*中庸》“中也者，天下之大本也;和也者，天下之达道也。”体现了儒家中庸之道的思想。
在明清两代，凡遇到三大节举行庆典前，皇帝在赶赴太和殿之前，都要在中和殿稍作休息，接受内阁、内大臣、都察院、翰林院官员及侍卫人员的朝贺。如果遇到皇帝亲自参加方泽、太庙、社稷及历代帝王庙、先师孔子、朝日、夕月等重大几点的时候，皇帝还要提前一天在中和殿阅览祝文，检查种子和农具。
过了中和殿，我们就来到了保和殿，它位于“土”字形须弥座的后部，为重檐歇山顶。明初永乐年间这里叫做谨身殿，嘉靖时改为建极殿，顺治年间改为中和殿。保和殿名称来源与太和殿相同，意思是统治者应该报纸天人合一，维护万物的平衡。
保和殿在明清两代用途不同。明朝的时候，在举行册立大典的是偶，皇帝都要在保和殿内更衣。在年底，还要在此宴请文武百官。在清朝时，每逢除夕，皇帝在这里举行宴会，宴请外藩王公。公主下嫁的宴请活动也在这里举行。到了乾隆皇帝以后，保和殿又多了一个用途，成为科举考试中殿试的地方。
大家随我往后走，大家看，在保和殿后的台阶上的这块石雕丹陛，是艾叶青石雕刻而成的，石雕四周都是卷草纹，下端是海水江牙纹，中央是飞云簇拥的九条蛟龙。制作非常精美，是难得的石雕珍品。这块丹陛石长16.57米，宽3.07米，厚1.7米，重达200多吨，这是紫禁城内最大的一块石雕丹陛，采自北京房山境内的大石窝。
好啦!故宫的前三点讲解到此结束，现在请大家参观保和殿并稍作休息，我们10分钟后集合，谢谢大家!
Entering the Meridian Gate, there are five marble bridges on the Inner Golden Water River, shaped like a bow. The five marble bridges just look like five arrows reporting symbolically to heaven. The five bridges were supposed to represent the five virtues preached by Confucius-benevolence, righteousness, rite, intelligence and fidelity.
Across the Inner Golden Water Bridge, we get to the Gate of Supreme Harmony. During the Ming and early Qing dynasties, here was the place where the emperor gave his audience, accepted documents from his ministers and made decisions here. There are two bronze lions guarding in front of the Gate of Supreme Harmony. The male lion was usually put on the left, playing with an embroidered design ball, which is said to show the emperor's supreme power. The other one on the right is the female lion, playing with a lion cub with its left paw symbolizing prosperity of the royal family's offsprings.
Across the Gate of Supreme Harmony , we come to the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Here the emperor held grand ceremonies such as the emperor's enthronement ceremony, the wedding ceremony, dispatched generals to the battles, and the emperor received the successful candidates of the imperial examination etc. Also, the emperor held grand feasts each year on New Year's Day, Winter solstice and his own birthday.
The Hall of Supreme Harmony is 35.5 meters high with double layered roof that represents the highest construction rank of all. Now, let's ascend the stairs and move on to look at articles in display on two sides of the hall. On the top layer of the terrace stands a sundial on the east an imperial grain measure on the west. The sundial is an ancient time measure or a time-measuring apparatus used in the old days. The sundial tells the time by seeing the shadow of the metal pin on the sundial, which has an inclination angle of 50 degrees with the graduation on it. The grain measure was used as the national standard measure in agriculture in the old days. Both the grain measure and the sundial were symbols of the emperor's justice and rectitude.
There are two pairs of incense burners in the shape of bronze dragon-headed tortoises and bronze cranes placed on each side. They are both symbols of longevity.
When you look up the building in the Forbidden City, you can see mythical animal statues on the eaves of each building. Originally, there used to be big wooden nails on the roof to prevent the tiles from sliding down. Later they were replaced by glazed tiles, which were shaped into mythical animal statues for better beautification. They are symbols of auspiciousness and peace, and people believed that they are capable of subduing fire and warding off evil spirits.
Inside of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, you can see the gilded caisson ceiling high above the throne with a magnificent sculpture of a curling dragon playing with a huge pear was called “Xuanyuan Jing”， representing orthodox succession.
This hall is supported by 72 giant columns inside. In the old days, the traditional way of the Chinese to calculate a “room” is that: a square enclosed by four pillars was treated as one “room”， so the hall can be said to have 55 “rooms” in total. The six columns inside are gilded and painted with coiled dragon amidst clouds, and the rest are painted red.
The emperor's throne is placed on the dais in the center, and carved in cloud and dragon patterns and gilded. On both sides of the throne are a pair of elephant-shaped incense burners symbolize universal peace and two incense burners shaped as a mythical animal 9,000 kilometers per day and speaking all the languages of nearby kingdoms. Around the throne stand a pair of bronze cranes and in front of the dais is four cloisonné incense burners. The floor on the ground is paved with “Gold Bricks”， specially made in Suzhou.
The Hall of Middle Harmony is a square-shaped hall with a single pyramidic roof standing behind the Hall of Supreme Harmony. This was the place where the emperor would take a short rest before he went to the Hall of Supreme Harmony for grand ceremonies. Every year before the emperor went to the Altars and Temples, the emperor would receive and read the sacrificial address here.
Before the emperor went to the Altar of Agriculture for offering the sacrifice, the seeds intended for spring sowing and the ploughs were examined here, just to show the concern of the emperor for agriculture.
According to the rule, the imperial genealogy should be revised every ten years. The ceremony of presenting the genealogy to the emperor for revision and approval would also be held here.
Now, we come to the Hall of Preserving Harmony, the last of the three front halls.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, on each New Year's Eve and the 15th day of the lunar moth, banquets would be held to entertain the civil and military officials and the princes and envoys of the Mongolian nobles and other nationalities. To celebrate the princess's marriage, the emperor would incite the bridegroom and his father as well as their relatives who served for the imperial government to a banquet.
The Imperial Palace Exam was held here once every three years in the Qing dynasty.
Just behind the Hall of Preserving Harmony, there is a big Marble Rampcarved with mountain cliffs, sea waves, clouds and nine dragons. It is 16.57 meters long, 3.07 meters wide and 1.7 meters thick, and weighs about 250 tons.
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