壮丽中华

出版时间：1999-1  出版社：中国旅游出版社  作者：常振国 编  页数：130  

内容概要

13世纪中叶，一位英俊的西方少年历尽艰辛从威尼斯来到太平洋西岸、亚洲东方的中国，他的目光里充满了对这片迷人土地的好奇和挚爱。他以客座官员身份在这里逗留了17年之后，回到了他的故乡，撰写了4卷229章的《马可·波罗行纪》， 轰动了整个欧洲，脍炙人口，经久流传，编织着几百年来西方友人的东方之梦。
    现代人几乎难以想象，马可·波罗在那个没有汽车、火车和飞机的年代里游历中国的艰难，因为这个国家的幅员是如此的辽阔，土地是如此的广袤。但是，现代人却可以想象得到，当年马可·波罗面对中国时的那份惊奇和感叹。中国，是个神奇的国家，在这一点上，现代人肯定能和他达成共识。
    18世纪的大哲学家黑格尔曾经写到：“太阳－光明－从东方升起来”，而“中国是特别东方的”，所以，他认为，世界的历史始于中国。这当然只是他的理念。但中国的确是人类的发祥地之一，是世界上最早的文明古国之一。伴随着悠久长远的历史，是对人类文明进程发挥重要推动作用的辉煌灿烂的中华文化，为世界奉献了一串串令人骄傲的历史瑰宝。
    中国的大地上，分布着无数处大自然所慷慨赐予的神奇、壮丽的风光美景。中国古代的艺术家们，创造了一种独特的绘画形式，即“中国画”，它的主要特征是通过对风景与人物关系的描绘，表现中国古代“天人合一”的观念，追求人与自然的和谐，注重自然景观与人文景观的结合。实际上，中国的景观就正是一幅幅这样的中国画。历史、文化和自然风光的完美结合，构成了中国景观的独特魅力，使其具有了极高的欣赏价值，也引起了世界的广泛注意和承认。1987年以来，中国已有16处自然景区和文化古迹被联合国教科文组织列入《世界遗产名录》。其中包括：本世纪乘宇宙飞船抵达月球的宇航员用肉眼所能看到的地球上两处人造工程之一的万里长城；被誉为“世界第八大奇迹”的西安秦始皇陵兵马俑坑；集奇松、怪石、云海和温泉“四绝”于一身的黄山；使国际自然与自然资源保护联盟主席感到“无比神奇、美妙、令人惊叹的”九寨沟风景名胜区等，它们都充满了难以用语言表达的神韵。其实，在中国的锦绣大地上，这样美丽的景观，可以开列一份很长很长的名单。
    中国，曾经越过漫长的历史，今天，又在走上现代化之路。特别是近20年来的改革开放，使中国的经济、文化和社会都发生了深刻的变化，增添了新的气象。这些，我们可以从正在崛起的现代化城市景象，从这里的城市和乡村人民幸福而自豪的笑容中得到体会。
    相信我们的画册会以它精美的图片，充分展示壮丽的中华景观，为今天的西方人留下比马可·波罗的文字更为形象和直观的美好印象。

书籍目录

悠久的历史文化壮丽的自然风光辉煌的皇宫廷苑精美的中国园林神秘的佛道建筑多彩的民族风情传统的民居景观繁荣的现代城市

章节摘录

插图：   Chinese people was formed duringthose long, hard centuries by the chal-lenge of their environment and by the driving need to conqucr whatever in itcould be ordcred and conquered. To come to some understanding ofChinese civilization we have to consider the physical context in which the people lived fiom earliest times. Spectacular is aword that is inescapable when we look at the astonishing variety of landscapeand at the environs of China's two great rivers, the Yellow and the Yangtze, as they churn through segments of thecountry-rather like two great Nile rivers, cache as powerful and pregnant withhuman destiny as Egypt's Nile proveditself to be in the course of that country's history. Just as the need tocontrol the rivers and thus the watersupply for agriculture induced early Chi-nose inventions in hydraulics, so did thegreat swathe of yellow loess soil that deeply blankets mulch of the course andsurrounding regions of the Yellow River.It facilitated the start of human civilization in the country; its fertile nature andfriability effected other inventions. To prevent wind and rain from blowing thissoil away, and in order to plant and wa-ter the crops on it, hills of yellow earthwere laboriously terraced, and water di-rected into each slip of land fbllowingthe contours of the slopes.

编辑推荐

《壮丽中华(英文版)》：THERE IS GREAT REASON WHY CHINA IScalled the Middle Kingdom and its Chinesecharacter is a globe. For if the earth truly hasan origin——from the sweeping sands of the GobiDesert, to the 29,000 foot peak of Mt. Everest, to thelush, palm tree-lined shores of the Wanquan Riverand the sun-drenched tropical beaches of the HainanProvince——China would be it. Yet this book, andChina itself, is about much more than a beautifullandscape. China's nearly 1.2 billion people is thelargest population in the world, and with a writtenlanguage almost 4,000 years old and 56 recognizedethnic groups, its richness lies in the history anddiversity of the people and their interdependence withtheir surroundings: the people's development of fileland, and the land's inspiration of the people. Thisunique, oversize volume celebrates the many splen-dors of China, and features 180 magnificent-colorphotographs, including 36 pages of foldouts in whicheach image expands to nearly four feet wide.Since Marco Polo first returned from the Far East in1295 with exotic treasures and wondrous stories,China has been a land of great fascination to the West.Spectacular China captures all of the fantastic andintriguing natural wonders——the breath-takingHuangshan Mountains and mist-wrapped peaks ofGuilin; the Golden Summit ofMt. Emei; the 3,400mile Yangtze River that is known as China's "sourceof wealth" and is the longest river in Asia; snowcovered Tibetan peaks; the towering precipicesof Qutang Gorge along the Yangtze River; andHangzhou's quiet, lotus filled West Lake. The rangeof visual treasures is as expansive as the 3.7 millionsquare miles of China itself.  The people's impression on the land is just as signifi-cant-from the imperial and ancient, to the modernmetropolises, Spectacular China explores the majestyand mystery of China. Imperial treasures includethe formidable, palatial halls of the Forbidden City;the seven ancient capitals ofAnyang, Xi'an, Luoyang,Kaifeng, Nanjing, Beijing, and Hangzhou; andthe 6,000 life-size terra cotta warriors of the secondcentury B.c. Emperor Qin Shi Huang's army.Lke a timeline through the country, the works ofthe Chinese have truly become part of the landscape——from the 1,056 mile Grand Canal built in the fifthcentury B.c. to connect Beijing and Hangzhou; theGreat Wall of China, the world's largest engineeringand building project stretching nearly 1,500 mileswith sections dating back to the fourth century B.c.;the gilded Buddha in the Hall of Matreya standingnearly nine stories tall and the six foot Buddha inYufo Temple carved from one solid piece of jade; theTemple of Heaven in Beijing; the world famousSummer Palace built in 1750 and its imperial gardens;and the timeless terraced fields of Guangxi; to thecosmopolitan streets of Hong Kong; steel mills andinternational port of Shanghai; and the dazzlingfireworks over the Chinese capital of Beijing onChinese New Year.