Today was our last day at Beijing… sob..sob, but still there were few places we planned to visit before our train to Xian at 4.30pm. Remember my last post where we skipped Temple of Heaven due to "Tragedy November" incident 😅, so today we would like to “Qada” back our visit, so that was our first destination of the day. As it is advisable to be at the train station 2hours before departure, so we started our day early at 8pm. We will make each visit a really quick one since we planned to check-out from our hotel around 12.30pm.
i) Temple of Heaven (Tiantan)
The Temple of Heaven Park is located in the Dongcheng District, southeastern part of central Beijing. It is the largest and most representative existing masterpiece among China's ancient sacrificial buildings. Originally, the Temple of Heaven was the place where emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasty held the annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for a good harvest. First built in 1420, the 18th year of the reign of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, the Temple of Heaven was enlarged and rebuilt during the reigns of the Ming emperor Jiajing and the Qing emperor Qianlong. In 1988, it was opened to the public as a park, showing ancient philosophy, history and religion. Its grand architectural style and profound cultural connotation give an insight into the practices of the ancient Eastern civilization.
Address:
1 Tiantan E Rd, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100061.
Direction:
- Via
- Via North Gate: Take Subway Line 7 to Qiaowan and leave from Exit C.
Entrance Fee:
Main Entrance Fee: RMB 10
Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, Circular Mound Altar & Echo Wall: RMB 20
Combo Ticket (including the entrance fee & above attractions):RMB 28
Divine Music Administration: RMB 10
Operating Hour:
6am–9pm (Apr.–Oct)
6:30am–9pm (Nov.–Mar)
As usual from Dangshikou Station, we took the below route:
Dengshikou Stn (Line 5) ==> Tiantandongmen (Line 5)
The total area of Temple of Heaven Park is about 2.73 km2 (1.05 sq mi). That's a similar size to Central Park in New York or twice the size of Hyde Park. Clearly Chinese always have enough land and like it big! Temple of Heaven is divided by two encircling walls into an inner part and outer part. The main buildings lie at the south and north ends of the middle axis of the inner part. The most magnificent buildings are the Circular Mound Altar (Huanqiutan), the Imperial Vault of Heaven (Huangqiongyu) and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest (Qiniandian) from south to north.
Temple of Heaven is known for its rigorous symbolic layout, peculiar structure, and magnificent decoration.
The design of the Temple of Heaven complex, true to its sacred purpose, reflects the mystical cosmological laws believed to be central to the workings of the universe.
The design of the main buildings is a combination of circles and squares, which symbolize the belief that Heaven is round and Earth square.
The most striking building of the Temple of Heaven is the tall, circular Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, in the north of the park. In the south of the park lie the Imperial Vault of Heaven and Circular Mound Altar.
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests was built in 1420, which makes it the earliest building of the Temple of Heaven complex. It is one of the world’s largest medieval wooden structures: 38 meters (125 ft) tall and 36 meters (118 ft) wide, built completely without nails.
Its original name was ‘The Hall of Great Sacrifice’. The Hall of Great Sacrifice was rectangular initially, when the early emperors of the Ming Dynasty worshiped Heaven and Earth there. In 1545, the Hall of Great Sacrifice was remodeled to be a circular, wooden hall, standing on a square yard, which represented the philosophy of ancient China’s key elements: roundness representing Heaven, and squareness representing Earth. In 1751, (during the reign of Qianlong), the color of the three-tiered roof was changed to blue (blue means the blue of the sky or Heaven). It was also renamed ‘The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests’, as then it was dedicated to praying for good harvests alone.
The Circular Mound Altar
The Circular Mound Altar was built in 1530 by the Jiajing Emperor. The Altar is a three-layered altar made of marble, it was enclosed by two sets of walls that are square outside and round inside. In ancient China, nine was considered to be the most powerful number (representing eternity), so the slabs forming the Circular Mound Altar were laid in multiples of nine.
The center of the altar is a round slate called the Heart of Heaven, where the Emperor prayed for good weather. There is an interesting fact about the Heart of Heaven: due to the special design of the Altar, when you shout at the Heart of Heaven, there is a significant echo from the round wall around you, just like hundreds responding to a single call.
The Imperial Vault of Heaven
The Imperial Vault of Heaven was dedicated to housing ‘God’s Tablets’ — stone tablets used in the harvest prayer ceremony. It is located between the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and the Circular Mound Altar. Thanks to its excellent design, the Imperial Vault of Heaven is a wooden structure that didn’t need any nails. There are no beams inside the hall. The vast dome is supported by 16 wooden pillars and numerous brackets.
This Imperial Vault of Heaven is surrounded by a circular wall (the Echo Wall). Due to its smooth surface, sound can travel (reflect) large distances along the wall.
We had enough exploring the temple of heaven, so it’s time to the next destination……………
Continued to the next post………