The Temple of Heaven (Beijing)

Brief Introduction
The largest existing complex of ancient sacrificial buildings inChina; masterpiece of China's royal sacrificial buildings complex andone of the best symbolic illustrations of Chinese cosmology.
Located in the southern part of Beijing, the Temple of Heaven(Tiantan) has been one of the most sacred places for the whole countryfor more than five centuries. It served as a complex of sacrificialbuildings for the Ming and Qing emperors, and is the largest one inBeijing among several royal altars to Heaven, Earth, the Sun, the Moonand other deities or symbolic forces of Nature.
Cultural Heritage
The Temple of Heaven was built in 1420 during the reign of EmperorYongle of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), originally as an altar for theworship of both Heaven and Earth. It began to serve as the exclusiveimperial altar for Heaven and the Harvest since the worship of Heavenand Earth was divided in 1530, and a new Altar of Earth was built inthe northern part of the capital.
In the overall layout and individual designs of its buildings, theTemple of Heaven symbolizes the relationship between Earth and Heavenwhich stands at the heart of Chinese cosmogony, and also the specialrole played by the emperors within that relationship.
Surrounded by an outer wall of 5 km, it covers an area of 273 ha,thrice the size of the Forbidden City. It is divided into the InnerTemple (Neitan) and the Outer Temple (Waitan) by a double wall.
The main buildings of the Inner Temple are on a north-south axis,including the Circular Mound Altar (Huanqiutan) in the south and theAltar of Prayer for Good Harvests (Qigutan) in the north. The twoaltars are connected by a brick and stone walkway named Shendao (SacredRoad), an allusion to the long road to the imperial court. The OuterTemple consists mainly of age-old pinewoods, cypresses and theDepartment of Sacred Music (Shenyueshu), of which only half remains.
Architecture
In architecture the entire design is symbolic. The southern part ofthe Inner Temple is square, while the northern part is semi-circular, apattern representing the ancient belief that Heaven is round and Earthsquare. The northern wall was built higher than the southern wall,illustrating the notion of Heaven surpassing Earth. Compared to theimposing complexity and intricacy of royal palaces, the altar area hereis simple, setting off the vastness of the sky, and the grandeur ofHeaven.
In ancient China, odd numbers were regarded as heavenly or asrelated to the sun. Since nine was considered the most powerful of allnumbers, the altar, a three-tiered terrace, was constructed with ringsof stone slabs in multiples of nine, and the steps and balustrades arealso in multiples of nine. At the center of the top terrace lies around stone known as the Center-of-Heaven Stone (Tianxinshi), which hasan amplifying impact for speeches made from it.
Three major structures of the altar, namely the Circular Mound Altar(huanqiu), the Imperial Vault of Heaven (huangqiongyu) and the Hall ofPrayer for Good Harvests (qiniandian) all have round floors and roofs,in accordance with the concept of round Heaven. Deep-blue tiles werechosen to cover these structures so as to harmonize with the blue sky.
The Circular Mound Altar, also known as the Altar for WorshipingHeaven (Baitiantai) or the Sacrificial Altar (Jitai), is the placewhere the emperor worshiped Heaven at the winter solstice. The ImperialVault of Heaven is the place where the tablets of the gods were kept,surrounded by a circular wall of polished bricks, known as Echo Wall(huiyinbi), where a person whispering close to the wall at any pointcan be heard distinctly at any other point along the wall.
In the northern part of the temple, the Hall of Prayer for GoodHarvests is a lofty, round structure with triple eaves and acone-shaped blue-tile roof crowned with a gilded knob. When the hallwas built in 1420, the colors of the triple eaves, from top to bottom,were blue, yellow and green, representing the God of Heaven, theemperor, and the common people. In 1752, all the eaves were paintedblue. The hall burned down in 1889 after being struck by lightning. Itwas reconstructed in 1890 and renovated in 1970.
The ceiling of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is painted withan exquisite design of nine dragons, and is supported by 28 woodencolumns. The four central columns, called the Dragon-Well Columns,represent the four seasons. They are surrounded by two rings, oneinside the other, of 12 columns each. The inner ring symbolizes the 12months of the year, and the outer, the 12 divisions of day and nightaccording to the old Chinese way of reckoning time. Every year, theemperor led civil and military officials to the hall and prayed forgood harvests.
Designed with distinctive compactness and exquisiteness, anddecorated magnificently, the Temple of Heaven is a building complex ofa beauty rare even among the sacrificial buildings in China and avaluable part of the architectural heritage of the world.
Sacrificial Culture
Sacrifices to Heaven were arranged in winter every year. On the 15thday of the first lunar month, on the winter solstice (22nd solar term),and some time during the first month of summer, the emperor would go tothe Temple of Heaven to worship Heaven, to pray for good harvests andrainfall, and to offer sacrifices to the ancestors, to the gods of thesun, the moon and the stars, and to the gods of the clouds, wind, rain,and thunder and lightning.
Sacrificial ceremonies followed complex procedures. First, the wholealtar area had to be renewed from end to end, including the roads to betaken by the emperor. Second, the sacrifices, including oxen, goats,piglets, fruits, etc., had to be properly prepared and displayed infront of seven groups of spirit tablets. In addition, 700-odd items ofutensils and other sacrificial facilities, as well as more than 60musical instruments of 16 kinds, including bells and chimes, had to beplaced in order. Third, one day before the formal ceremony, the emperorwas obliged to burn joss sticks in the Imperial Vault of Heaven, tocheck the spirit tablets in the Circular Mound Altar, to examine thesacrifices in the sacred kitchen, and to begin fasting in the Palace ofAbstinence.
The ceremony began before sunrise. The emperor proceeded from thePalace of Abstinence, amid the sound of bells, to the Circular MoundAltar, when drums and other instruments took the place of the bells. Atthe formal opening of the sacrificial ceremony, oxen were roasted,lanterns were raised, and a mystical aura would soon cloak the scene.The whole ceremony was divided into nine procedures -- from receivingthe Heavenly King to seeing Him off. Different music would accompanydifferent parts of the ceremony.
Every sacrificial ceremony was a grand occasion to solicit welfarefor the country, as well as respect and awe from the people towards theemperor, who was sanctified as the Son of Heaven (Tianzi) throughoutages.