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Temple Of Heaven , Beijing , China

History Of Western Art And Architecture

The largest temple complexes in china

History of temple of heaven

The temple complex was constructed from 1406 to 1420 during the reign of the Yongle Emperor, who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The complex was extended and renamed Temple of Heaven during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor in the 16th century. The Jiajing Emperor also built three other prominent temples in Beijing, the Temple of Sun ( 日壇 ) in the east, the Temple of Earth ( 地壇 ) in the north, and the Temple of Moon (月壇 ) in the west. The Temple of Heaven was renovated in the 18th century under the Qianlong Emperor. Due to the deterioration of state budget, this became the last large-scale renovation of the temple complex in the imperial time. The temple was occupied by the Anglo-French Alliance during the Second Opium War. In 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion, the Eight Nation Alliance occupied the temple complex and turned it into the force's temporary command in Beijing, which lasted for one year.

Architecture Temple Of Heaven

The architecture and layout of the temple of Heaven is based on elaborate symbolism and numerology. In accordance with principles dating back to pre-Confucian times, the buildings in the Temple of Heaven are round, like the sky, while the foundations and axes of the complex are rectilinear, like the earth

Caisson cellingThe splendid circular caisson

ceiling has a gilded dragon and phoenix at its center.the hall is entirely built of wood without

using a single nail.

Qinian Dian,where the emperor prayed

for a good harvest

Marble platformThree tiers of marble form a

circle 300 ft and 20 ft high.the balusters on the upper tier are decorated with dragon

carvings.

Temple of Heaven has the layout of the rectangular-ambulatory-plane, consisting of two altar wall which is divided into the inner altar and the outer altar. The outside altar wall has the total length of 6416 m and the inner wall has the total length of 3292 m.

The "Long Corridor" to the east of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (photo, above) was used to carry slaughtered sacrificial animals from the "Divine Kitchen and Butcher House" to the temple alter. The covered walkway was designed to protect the sacrifice from being "stained" by the elements.

As with most Chinese temples and palaces, the emperor would always enter the Temple of Heaven complex from the southern-most Zhaoheng Gate.

Further to the south is the "Circular Mound Alter" .

Temple Of Heaven Complex

Ceremony

In ancient China, the Emperor of China was regarded as the Son of Heaven, who administered earthly matters on behalf of, and representing, heavenly authority. To be seen to be showing respect to the source of his authority, in the form of sacrifices to heaven, was extremely important. The temple was built for these ceremonies, mostly comprising prayers for good harvests.Twice a year the Emperor and all his retinue would move from the Forbidden city through Beijing to encamp within the complex, wearing special robes and abstaining from eating meat. No ordinary Chinese was allowed to view this procession or the following ceremony. In the temple complex the Emperor would personally pray to Heaven for good harvests. The highpoint of the ceremony at the winter solstice was performed by the Emperor on the Earthly Mount. The ceremony had to be perfectly completed; it was widely held that the smallest of mistakes would constitute a bad omen for the whole nation in the coming year.

Interior Temple Of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven encompasses an area of 2,700,000 square meters. It is surrounded by a long wall. The semicircular northern part within the wall symbolizes the heaven, while square shape southern

part represents the earth.

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