皇城故事多

李蓓

In Chinese history， the emperor（皇帝） and his big family live in palaces（宮殿）. The palace shows the power of the emperor. During the Ming and Qing dynasties（明朝和清朝）， the emperors worked and lived in the Forbidden City（故宮）.

The palace has two parts. The emperor works in the front part of the palace. His big family lives in the back part of the palace. Inside the palace， its color and animals want to tell you some stories.

The roof（屋頂） of each palace is made of glazed tiles（琉璃瓦）. Only the emperor uses yellow. Most of the roofs here are yellow. But one of them is black. The room with black roof stores（儲存） books. People think black can protect（保護） the books from fire.

Small animals line up（排成隊） on the roof. They fix（修理） the roof and protect the palace from bad luck.

Xian Ren仙人

A king sits on a phoenix（鳳凰）. It saved the emperor’s life. They bring good luck.

Zou Shou走獸

They line up in order. The dragon is the first. It shows the emperor’s great power.

Wen Shou 吻獸

It is a son of the Dragon King（龍王）. A sword（劍） fixes（固定） it to the roof. It brings rain.

Wang Shou望獸

It has a lower position（地位） than Wen Shou.