l 武汉长江大桥The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge
武汉长江大桥是中国湖北省武汉市境内连接汉阳区与武昌区的过江通道，位于长江水道之上，是中华人民共和国成立后修建的第一座公铁两用的长江大桥，也是武汉市重要的历史标志性建筑之一，素有“万里长江第一桥”美誉。
The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge is a river crossing passage connecting Hanyang District and Wuchang District in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. Located on the waterway of the Yangtze River, it is the first double-tier rail and road Yangtze River bridge built after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It is also one of the important historical landmarks of Wuhan city, known as“The First Bridge over the Yangtze River”.
武汉长江大桥于1955年9月1日动工兴建，于1957年7月1日完成主桥合龙工程，于1957年10月15日通车运营。武汉长江大桥西起楚琴立交，上跨长江水道，东至中山路，线路全长1670.4米，主桥全长1155.5米。上层桥面为双向四车道城市主干道，设计速度100千米/小时，下层为双线铁轨，设计速度160千米/小时，总投资额为1.38亿人民币。武汉长江大桥主桥为钢桁架形式，引桥桥身则是采用拱的形式。其两侧的护栏装饰图案全部采用具象的动物和植物作为造型素材，形象逼真、栩栩如生，用最具民族特色的镂空剪纸手法进行塑造，构成了一幅幅美丽和谐的铸铁艺术品。其桥面采用了中国传统的重檐四坡攒尖顶，在细节的处理上借鉴了中国传统建筑的形式。
The construction of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge was started on September 1, 1955. The main bridge closure was completed on 1 July 1957; it opened to traffic on October 15, 1957. The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge starts from Chuqin Interchange in the west, crosses the Yangtze River waterway, and ends at Zhongshan Road in the east; the total length of the line is 1,670.4 meters, and the total length of the main bridge is 1,155.5 meters. The upper deck is a two-way four-lane urban trunk road with a design speed of 100 km/h, while the lower deck is a double-track railway with a design speed of 160 km/h; the total investment is 138 million yuan. The main bridge of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge is in the form of a steel truss, while the approach bridge is in the form of an arch. The decorative patterns of the guardrails on both sides are all made of figurative animals and plants as modeling materials, which are vivid and lifelike and they are shaped by the most national characteristic hollow paper-cut technique, constituting beautiful and harmonious cast ironworks of art. The bridge deck adopts the traditional Chinese double eaves and four slopes and spires; the details are drawn from the traditional Chinese architecture.
武汉长江大桥是新中国成立后在“天堑”长江上修建的第一座大桥，也是古往今来，长江上的第一座大桥，是中国第一座复线铁路、公路两用桥。武汉长江大桥建成之后，成为连接我国南北的大动脉，对促进南北经济的发展起到了重要的作用。武汉长江大桥凝聚着设计者匠心独运的机智和建设者们的技艺。大桥历经了多年风雨仍然坚固如初，傲然静卧。它不仅是长江上一道亮丽的风景，而且也是一座历史丰碑，在人们的生活中留下了不可磨灭的印象。
The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge is the first bridge built over the Yangtze River after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the first bridge over the Yangtze River in all ages, and also the first double-track railway and highway bridge in China. After the completion of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, it has become the major artery connecting the North and the South in China, which has played an important role in promoting the economic development of the North and the South. The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge embodies the ingenuity of designers and the skills of builders. After years of wind and rain, the bridge is still strong as before, proudly lying still. It is not only a beautiful scenery on the Yangtze River but also a historical monument, which has left an indelible impression on people’s lives.
l 屈原Qu Yuan
屈原（公元前340年-公元前278年），名平，生于楚国贵族家庭。屈原受到楚怀王的信任，被任命为左徒，辅助楚怀王处理内政外交。屈原在任左徒期间，建议怀王任用贤能之士担任要职，实行依法治国，以振兴楚国。他还建议怀王与齐国结盟，对抗霸主秦国，进一步统一中国。但他的提议并没有得到怀王和其他贵族的支持。同时，秦国玩弄诡计，成功地离间了怀王与屈原。屈原因受奸臣诬蔑，被革职流放。
Qu Yuan (340 BC-278 BC), with the given name Ping, was born into an aristocratic family of the Chu state. Trusted by King Huai of Chu, Qu Yuan was appointed as Zuo-tu, an important post assisting King Huai of Chu in handling internal and diplomatic affairs. During his office as Zuo-tu, Qu Yuan advised King Huai to appoint virtuous and talented people to important positions and rule the state by law so as to revitalize the state of Chu. He also proposed that King Huai should form an alliance with the state of Qi against the hegemonic state of Qin and further unify China. But his proposals did not garner support from King Huai and other aristocrats. At the same time, Qin played tricks and successfully alienated King Huai from Qu Yuan. Slandered by treacherous court officials, he was dismissed and exiled.
当秦军攻破楚都时，屈原悲愤欲绝，跳进汨罗江自杀。据说屈原是在中国农历五月初五自杀的。此后，人们开始在每年的这一天吃粽子（一种糯米团子）和划龙舟来纪念这位伟大的爱国诗人，这就是端午节的起源。
When the Qin army conquered the capital of Chu, Qu Yuan, filled with grief and indignation, took his own life by jumping into the Miluo River. It is said that Qu Yuan committed suicide on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. People began to eat Zong’zi (a kind of glutinous rice dumpling) and row dragon boats in honor of this great patriotic poet on that day every year after that, and this is the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival.
屈原虽在政治上失意，但在文学上却取得了辉煌的成就。他是中国最伟大的诗人之一，创作了许多优秀的诗歌。屈原以楚国民歌和楚国方言为基础，创造了一种被后人称为“楚辞”的新诗体。他最著名的诗歌是长达两千多字的抒情作品《离骚》。《离骚》充满了丰富的想象和真挚的情感，体现了诗人对祖国和楚国人民的热爱。屈原运用象征、隐喻等手法，将神话、传说、历史人物、山川、日月、风雨、花草等编织成生动、瑰丽的画面。除了《离骚》，屈原还写了《九章》和《九歌》。他的诗已被译成多种外语。1953年，世界和平理事会选举屈原为“世界文化四大名士”之一。
Although Qu Yuan was frustrated in his political career, he achieved brilliant accomplishments in the field of literature. He was one of the greatest Chinese poets, composing many splendid poems. Based on the folk songs of Chu and the Chu dialect, Qu Yuan created a new style of poems called by later generations the“Elegies of Chu”. His most famous poem is the long lyrical workLi Sao, which amounts to more than two thousand characters.Li Sao, full of rich imaginative expressions and sincere emotions, reveals the poet’s love of his native country of Chu and its people. By adopting symbols and metaphor, Qu Yuan wove the myths, legends, historical figures, mountains, rivers, the sun and moon, storms, grass, flowers, and so on into lively and magnificent pictures. Qu Yuan also wroteJiu Zhang andJiu Ge besidesLi Sao. His poems have been translated into many foreign languages. In 1953, the World Peace Council elected Qu Yuan as one of the Four Famous Men of World Culture.
l 曾侯乙编钟The Marquis Yi Chime Bells
编钟是流行于春秋至秦汉时期的大型打击乐器，由大小不同的钟按照音调组合而成。演奏时，用丁字形的木锤敲击就能奏出美妙的音乐。
Bianzhong or the chime bells are a set of large-scale percussion instrument in ancient China, prevailing from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Han Dynasty. It is composed of bells of different sizes with diverse tones, and beautiful music can be played if beaten with a T-shaped mallet.
曾侯乙编钟由青铜制成，整套编钟钟架长7.48米，高2.73米，重达4.42吨，共包括65件单个钟器，是我国目前出土数量最大最完整的一套编钟，全面展示了中国古代灿烂的音乐文化。曾侯乙编钟悬挂在桐木制成的三层钟架上，两面钟架由彩绘木质横梁连接成曲尺形，横梁两端用铜套加固。六个佩剑铜人和八根圆木位于中下层，承托起整个钟架。钟上刻有3000多字的铭文，详细记录了标音和乐律等内容，堪称中国古代乐律理论专著，成为后人研究当时音律的重要资料。由于钟上还刻有“曾侯乙作持”的铭文，这套编钟因此而得名。
Made of bronze, the Marquis Yi Chime Bells is comprised of 65 single bells with a length of 7.48 meters, a height of 2.73 meters and a weight of 4.42 tons. It is the largest and most integrated set of bells unearthed up till now, fully displaying the splendid music culture of ancient China. The chime is hung on a three-layered paulownia wood shelf of two parts, connected by painted wooden beams into a right-angle shape, and the ends of the beams are reinforced with copper sheathing. Six sword-bearing bronze warriors and eight round logs in the middle and lower layer serve as the base supporting the whole frame. On the bells are engraved more than 3,000 words of inscription, recording in detail the phonetic symbols and tonality in that period. These descriptions can be seen as the monograph of ancient Chinese music theory, and therefore become the important material for later generations to study the music then. The name of the chime is named by the inscription of“Marquis Yi of the State of Zeng” on the bells.
曾侯乙编钟音域宽广，音色优美，音律准确。每件钟根据敲打部位的不同，都能发出两个乐音，并且能够同时击打，互不干扰。编钟能够演奏的音域为C2至D7，跨越五个半八度，十二个半音完整，只比现代钢琴少一个八度，因此可以灵活自如地演奏七声音阶的乐曲作品。
The Marquis Yi Chime Bells have a wide range of diapason with beautiful tones and accurate tonality. Each bell can make two tones simultaneously depending on the location of the beat, having no interference with each other. The chime can be played from C2 to D7 with 12 semitones, spanning five and a half octaves, only one less than modern piano and therefore heptachord music pieces can be flexibly performed on the chime.
曾侯乙编钟气势宏伟、壮观无比，展现出高超的铸造工艺和音乐音律水平，被称为世界音乐史上的奇迹。
Characterized by its grandness and spectacular, the Marquis Yi Chime Bells show superb casting techniques and musical levels, and it is known as a miracle in the world music history.