Temple of Heaven, Beijing

A large (and discreet) platform was, in the old days, considered the center of the world.

There is a long story about stone in circle, multiples of nine, and so on, but you will have to listen to it in location, to check by yourself.

I couldn't memorize it.

1 more image

This was the primary temple for worship visited by the emperors during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Built by the Ming in the 14th and 15th centuries, it is actually a complex surrounded by beautiful parkland. The Emperor would visit 2 times a year and pray for a good year, with ample crops and abundant rain.

The complex is designed so you either buy a through ticket or individual tickets, depending on what you wish to do. In addition to the temples, the park is a lovely place to simply stroll. The Temple of Heaven, like the Forbidden City, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

4 more images

This is where the burning took place before worshiping.

Signboard was written as:

Firewood Stove - The Firewood Stove is a huge green glazed brick stove. Before the ceremony of worshiping Heaven began, a clearly washed and shaved calf was put on the stove and with great respect and to be burnt while the emperor stood by watching the process- a ritual called " Observation of the Burning".

Burning Stove - It is a iron stove for burning the offerings. 8 stoves placed here were used to burn the offerings placed in front of the tablets of the first 8 generations of the Qing Emperors worshiped as the accessory deities.

After visiting the Hall of Imperial Heaven including the Stoves, we proceeded to Vermillion Steps Bridge..

1 more image

After passing the Chengzhen Gate, we saw this very old tree with named Nine-Dragon Cypress. The signboard was written as:

" This is a Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis) of over 500 years old. Straight, robust and in a grotesque shape, the trunk is covered all over with spiral grooves which twist up vertically along as if nine coiling dragons were wreathing up into the sky, and hence the name of "the Nine-Dragon Juniper".

Don't miss this... very interesting to watch..

In Chinese: 九龙伯 (Jiu Long Bo)

4 more images

The southern part of The Temple of Heaven is the Circular mound surrounded by Echo Wall and Lingxing Gate. The Circular Mound was also built for religious purpose. The emperor would do a ceremonies to pray for rains during in the time of drought. Many animals would be scarified to make sure they have a good harvest.

In Chinese: 圜丘坛 (Jiu Qiu Tan)

The Echo Wall and Lingxing Gate were built to let their offering heard from Heaven.

The signboard was written as:

Echo Wall: The Echo Wall is the circular surrounding wall of the Celestial Warehouse. The hard and smooth wall in a perfect circumference constitutes an excellence refelcting body for the sound waves, which travel along the wall surface by continuous reflections. If two persons stand by the wall behind the East Annex Hall and the West Annex Hall respectively and speak with their face toward north, they can hear each other's voice clearly. Calls and responses or asks and answers constitute a wonderful conversation.

Lingxing Gate: They are made of white marble in the special gate form of the surrounding walls of ancient alters, form similar to that of the monumental archway. The outer and inner surrounding walls of the Circular Mound are pierced with four groups of gates, each group with three gates. There are 8 groups of Lingxing gates, 24 gates in all, known as "the Cloud Gates Forming a jade Forest".

Very interesting place to end the trip to The Temple of Heaven. It was almost sunset...: )

3 more images

After visiting The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, I continued to visit The Hall of Imperial Heaven. It is much smaller hall. The signboard was written as:

The Imperial Hall of Heaven was "the Heavenly Warehouse" of the Altar of Prayer for Grains. The tablet of 'the God of Heaven" and the tablets of the emperor's ancestors to be displayed and Harvests were kept here. The day before the ceremony, the emperor came here in person to burn incense sticks and perform the divide greetings for the transference, and then the officials of the Ministry of Rituals transferred the tablets to the appropriate places in the Hall of Prayer of Good Harvests. With a square root and eaves in four directions covered with blue glazed titles, the hall was built in 1420 (the 18th year of Ming Emperor Yongle's reign), and the hall placard bears an inscription in the handwriting of Zhu Houcong, emperor Jiajing of Ming Dynasty.

In Chinese: 皇乾殿 (Huang Qian Dian)

After visiting The Hall of Imperial Heaven, we continued to visit the Firewood Stove and Burning Stoves.

4 more images

I visited this place, and took the note on the signboard was written as:

"Built in 1420 (the 18th year of Emperor Yongle's reign of Ming Dynasty), the original hall, rectangular in shape, was first named the Great Hall of Sacrificial Rituals used to workship both Earth and Heaven. Rebuilt in 1545 (the 24th year of Emperor Jiajing's reign) into a round hall with a triple-eaved roof, each covered with blue yellow and green glazed tiles respectively, symbolizing Heaven, Earth, and the mortal world, it was surmounted by triple roof with azure glazed titles only, culminating in a gilded sphere, and designated the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, exclusively used to pray for good harvests in early spring (in January). 38.2 meters in height and 24.3 meters in diameter, the hall is supported by immerse pillars, symbolizing the four seasons, the 12 months of the year, the 12 time divisions of the day and night, and all the constellations. It is the only existing example of the ancient architectural style of Mingdang."

At least, you know what to expect before your visit!!

In Chinese: 祈年殿 (Qi Nian Dian)

After visiting The Hall of Imperial Heaven, should proceed to The Hall of Imperial Heaven..

4 more images

BEIJING
Like everything that I have decided to visit here, I have found that it takes a long time to see properly and this huge park The Temple of Heaven Park is no exception...I decided that I would take a taxi here as my experiences with the local taxis were good as they even give you a metered receipt...great...
The Park has a wall running right around it and has four gates , they are located at each compass point , and The park covers an area of over 250 hectares...many wonderful very old buildings can be seen within the park and like everywhere here a pair of comfortable walking shoes are a must , as you will certainly have to walk a lot here to visit the various sites.
The dominant feature here , is of course the "Great Temple of Heaven...one of the Top Ten Temples in the world..known as the " Hall of Great Harvests"..a truly amazing three tiered structure with an umbrella type roof covered with beautiful blue glazed tiles..
Like The Forbidden city you will encounter lots of groups of Chinese with their same coloured baseball caps lead by their whistle blowing guide carrying his raised flag....and although there are a lot of visitors ..there also is a huge amount of space..
The gardens are beautifully maintained along with vast grassed areas if you want to sit down...but as I found allover my travels through Asia there are very few public seats to rest your weary self..Public toilets are rather scarsce also..