Download
What's instantly noticeable about the Forbidden City, which served as the home of emperors and their households for almost 500 years since the 15th century, are the enormous white stone foundations supporting the historical site's 980 wooden buildings.
"You go to the Forbidden City and see these massive rocks and you ask yourself: 'How in the world did they ever move this rock here?'" said Thomas Stone of the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton University, as quoted by Nature magazine.
Stone is part of a three-person team that recently discovered how. In a report published on Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they revealed that Chinese architects hauled the rocks from quarries in Fangshan, located 70 kilometers south of downtown Beijing, on wooden sledges along ice roads.
Li Jiang, an expert in mechanical engineering from the University of Science and Technology Beijing and a member of the team that performed the study, found ancient Chinese documents describing how people transported a 120-metric-ton rock to repair three major halls in the Forbidden City in 1557.
The ancient document, Lianggong Dingjian Ji, which translates as "the reconstruction record of two palaces", detailed how workers created man-made ice paths to transport the stone. The process was methodical: every half kilometer, wells were dug to obtain water, which was then poured onto a road and allowed to freeze to reduce the friction between the sledges and the road.
"The 49-cubic-meter rock was hauled to Beijing in four weeks. That is an average speed of about eight centimeters per second," Li said.
Studies comparing the ancient Chinese technique of transporting stone with methods from other ancient civilizations show it is more efficient to drag the sledges rather than to use wooden rollers, as the Assyrians did.
Stone said the team's calculations show that dragging the 120-ton rock with a sledge over ground that was not frozen with ice would have required a labor force of more than 1,500 people. On ice or wet wooden rails, on the other hand, it would have required 330 men. The ancient Chinese practice of hauling stone along an ice road lubricated by water would have needed fewer than 50 men.
Questions:
1. Where did the ancient Chinese get the stone to build the Forbidden City?
2. How were the massive stones hauled to Beijing?
3. How long did it take to haul the 49-cubic-meter rock?
Answers:
1. Fangshan.
2. On sledges along icy roads.
3. Four weeks.
About the broadcaster:
Anne Ruisi is an editor at China Daily online with more than 30 years of experience as a newspaper editor and reporter. She has worked at newspapers in the U.S., including The Birmingham News in Alabama and City Newspaper of Rochester, N.Y.
总结GMAT写作题库中的常识
几种常用的GMAT作文结构整理
GMAT作文开头及结尾模板分享
总结GMAT写作中的优秀句子
GMAT高分作文的评判标准及技巧
GMAT写作的模板速成法
GMAT写作论据如何合理构建
GMAT写作有哪些常见套路
GMAT写作AWA的重要性
GMAT写作的英式思维很重要
如何写好GMAT作文的论据
GMAT写作高分技巧分享
GMAT写作要形成自己的写作套路
高分考生分享GMAT写作的理解和方法
GMAT满分作文模板怎么用
在职考生的GMAT满分备考方法
GMAT作文满分的秘诀分析
整理GMAT写作中容易出现的问题
GMAT备考OG写作攻略
GMAT写作中引号如何正确使用
GMAT写作满分范文分享:以身作则
GMAT写作高分经验分享
GMAT写作Argument范文分享
GMAT写作黄金句总结
GMAT写作模板使用方法心得
GMAT写作有哪些热点话题
GMAT作文写多少字合适?
GMAT作文提高的五个步骤
GMAT作文各部分常用的句型模板整理
GMAT写作如何从入门到进阶
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |