University of Cambridge Language Centre Chinese Intermediate

The Palace Museum

While Lilly and Chen were in Beijing they picked up a leaflet at the Palace Museum which included a brief introduction to the Imperial Palace and a plan. Read the brief introduction. You have access to its translation and vocabulary in the next two tabs. Then do the activities in the last tabs to check your understanding.

Brief introduction leaflet in Chinese

You can also use the vocabulary on the next tab to help you.

Brief introduction leaflet in English

Click on either pinyin or characters to listen to individual words. The words are listed in the order in which they appear.

brief introduction

ancient palace

dynasty

imperial palace

the Forbidden City

basis

to build

ancient time

architecture

group

imperial court

to collect

past dynasties

culture

large-scale

comprehensive

to list

key, important

cultural relic

to protect

human kind

heritage

to occupy

square (metre)

to keep

to inhabit

to rule

complete

to be composed of

outer

inner

imperial government

wing

to hold

significant

ritual

to deal with

administration

concubine

in addition

side

area


Names of the halls and palaces

Hall of Supreme Harmony

Hall of Central Harmony

Hall of Preserving Harmony

Hall of Martial Valour

Hall of Literary Brilliance

Hall of Heavenly Purity

Hall of Union

Palace of Earthly Tranquillity

The Imperial Garden

Palace of Peace and Longevity

Palace of Compassion and Tranquillity

Introduction of the Palace Museum

Read the brief introduction and select the correct option to answer the following questions. Check your answers.

1. The Palace Museum is situated in the Imperial Palace in Beijing, which is also called the Forbidden City.

True
False

2. The Palace Museum solely specialises in imperial collections.

True
False

The Palace Museum is a large-scale comprehensive museum.

3. The imperial palace was listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1961.

True
False

It was listed as a world heritage site in 1987. In 1961, it was designated as one of China's most important protected culture heritage sites.

4. The construction of the imperial palace in Beijing was completed in 1420.

True
False

5. Emperors of various dynasties in ancient China all lived in this imperial palace.

True
False

Only emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties lived here.

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Complete the map

Read the brief introduction on the first tab and select the correct tag of the mentioned halls and palaces, etc. Check your answers.

Palace Map

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