Традиции, обычаи и праздники Китая (Traditions, Customs and Festivals of China). Сухомлинова С.И - 85 стр.

       The b uild ings o f t he Fo rb idde n C it y o f Be ij ing are trad it io na l l y
meas ured as ha ving a tota l floo r sp ace of 9,90 0 ba ys — so me e ve n sa y
9,999 bays, whic h ma y be a n exa gge rat io n. The p ict uresq ue towe rs
gua rd ing t he fo ur corne rs o f t he pa lace co mp o und ha ve eac h 9 bea ms
and 18 co lu mns, and t he t hree fa mous scree n wa lls ha ve nine dra go ns
on eac h.
       The numbe r "nine " was so met i mes co mb ined w it h "five " t o
represe nt i mperia l majest y. The g reat ha ll o n Tia n'a n me n is 9 ba ys
wide b y 5 ba ys deep.
       There is a se ve ntee n arc hed b rid ge in t he Su mmer Pa lace o f
Be ij ing. This, too, has muc h to do wit h "nine". Co unt t he arc hes fro m
eit he r e nd, and yo u w ill find t hat t he largest spa n in t he midd le is t he
nint h.
       An e xtre me e xa mp le o f t he "ga me o f nine " is perhaps t he
Circ ular Mo und Altar (Huan qiutan ) in t he Te mp le o f Hea ve n. Site fo r
the M ing a nd Q ing e mperors to wo rship Hea ve n, t he a ltar is in t hree
tie rs. The uppe r terrace is made up of nine co nce ntric rings o f s labs.
The first ring or inner most c irc le co ns ists o f nine fa n-s haped s labs, the
second ring 18 (2 x9) s labs, t he t hird 27 (3 x9), unt il t he last or nint h
ring, ma de up o f 81 o r 9x9 slabs.
       The numb er "nine " is no t o nly used on b uild ings. The New Yea r
dinner for t he i mperia l ho use w as co mposed o f 99 d is hes.                   To
celebra te t he b irt hda y o f a n e mpe ror, t he sta ge perfo rma nces mus t
co mprise o f 99 numbe rs as a sign o f good luck a nd lo ng life.
              Text 2. Dragon a nd Phoe ni x (Long yu Feng)
       The dra go n a nd t he p hoe nix are the p rinc ipa l mot ifs fo r
decorat ive designs o n t he build ings , clot hing a nd art ic les o f da ily use
in t he i mperia l pa lace. The t hro ne ha ll is s uppo rted b y co lu mns
entw ined b y gilded d ra go ns, t he cent ra l ra mps o n ma rb le steps were
paved w it h huge s labs carved in relie f w it h t he dra go n a nd p hoe nix,
and t he screen wa lls d isp la y dra go ns in brillia nt co lo urs. The na mes
in t he C hinese la ngua ge for nea rly a11 the t hings co nnected w it h t he
e mpe ror o r t he e mpress were pre ceded by t he ep it het "d ra go n" or
"p hoe nix"; t hus, "dra go n seat” for the t hro ne, "dra go n robe " for t he
e mpe ror's cere mo nia l d ress, "dragon bed " fo r him to s leep o n, and
"p hoe nix carria ge”, "p hoe nix ca no pies " and so on for t he impe ria l
processio ns. The nat io na l fla g o f China under t he Q ing D ynast y was
e mb lazo ned w it h a b ig dra go n. The earliest posta ge sta mps p ut o ut b y
China were ca lle d "dra go n-heads " because t he y s howed a d ra go n in


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