The Qing Imperial Tombs
清朝皇陵
The Qing Dynasty (AD 1616-1911) had twelve emperors, nine of whom are buried in the two groups of tombs in Hebei Province, not far from Beijing.
清朝(公元1616年-1911年)共有十二位皇帝,其中有九位皇帝被葬在离北京不远的、位于河北省的两座墓群中。
It is apparent that the Qing Tombs are influenced by the Ming Tombs, especially in terms of architecture and the way they are placed among the surrounding mountains and valleys.
清朝皇陵明显地受到了明朝皇陵的影响,尤其是在建筑风格和他们在群山和山谷中选择墓址方面。
One group of the Qing Tombs is called Dongling, in Zunhua, 125 kilometres east of Beijing.
其中一座墓群叫东陵,坐落在北京东面125公里处的遵化市。
The tombs, which were built over a period of 247 years, take up 78 square kilometres.
这些陵墓占地78平方公里,历时247多年的时间修建而成。
Buried there are the remains of five emperors, their wives and other royal family members.
有五位皇帝和他们的皇后以及其它皇室成员的遗体埋葬在那里。
The other group of Qing Tombs is called Xiling.
另一座清朝皇家墓群叫西陵。
It sits about 100 kilometres to the west of Beijing in Yixian.
它位于北京西100公里的易县。
Xiling contains the tombs of four of the Qing emperors.
西陵包括了四位清朝皇帝的陵寝。
Preservation the tombs
皇陵的保护
Preserving the Ming and Qing Tombs has been given serious attention in recent decades.
最近几十年,对明清皇陵的保护已经受到了密切的关注。
Although a number of tombs have survived with little damage, all have suffered at least some harm from centuries of rain, war, fire and theft.
尽管一些陵墓较为完整地保存了下来,但是,由于数世纪的雨淋、战争、大火和偷盗破坏,所有陵墓都至少遭受了些损坏。
As a result, the government has strengthened regulation to protect these historic sites.
因此,政府已经加强了对保护这些历史遗址的工作的监管。
In addition, getting these historic sites recognized by the rest of the world is helpful for preserving and repairing them, as it stresses to everyone their extreme importance and value.
另外,使这些历史遗址得到国际认可有助于保护和修复它们,因为这向世人强调了它们极大的重要性和宝贵价值。
For example, since 2002, money has been raised from around the world to protect Xiling.
例如,2002年以来,人们已经在世界范围内为保护西陵而筹集资金。
Most important of all, these sites have been registed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.
最重要的是,这些历史遗址已经被列入联合国教科文组织的世界遗产名录。
This is helping bring needed attention, assistance and money to protecting the Ming and Qing Tombs.
这有助于带来保护明清皇陵所必需的关注、支持和资金。
It has led to increased tourism as well, which is another important source of money, but which also results in more potential demage to these fragile sites.
这也带来了更多的游客,这是另一条重要的资金来源,但也会带来更多的对建筑物脆弱部分的潜在破坏。
It is now our responsibility to be a good steward of these monuments of the Chinese people.
现在,管理这些中国人民的不朽建筑就是我们的责任。