Introduction

The Temple of Heaven is located in Dongcheng District towards the southeast side of the Forbidden City. It was built in the first half of the 15th century and covers an area of 273 hectares and can be estimated to be four times larger than the size of the Forbidden City. Emperor Zhu Di spent 14 years to complete the construction of the temple after which it was named Temple of Heaven and Earth at that time but was later renamed in the Ming Dynasty by Emperor Jiajing to the Temple of Heaven.

The layout of the Temple of Heaven takes a rectangular ambulatory plane shape made up of two wall altars that are subdivided into the inner altar measuring 3292 meters and the outer altar measuring 6416 meters. The arrangement of the buildings of the temple reflects the relationship between heaven and earth with the southernmost wall being rectangular in shape and is lower representing the earth while the northern wall that takes the shape of a semi circle symbolizing heaven which is higher.

The Temple reflects the core mystical Chinese cosmological laws that represent the relationship between heaven and earth considered to be the central to the workings of the universe.

Things and activities to do on a visit

Circular Mound Altar

A three-layered altar made of marble that is located in the south side of the Temple of Heaven. The Circular Mound Altar was used by emperors uses for carrying out the winter solstice ceremony normally on September 9th of the Lunar Calendar. This impressive engineering feat was designed such that it makes sounds travel in a certain way ensuring the emperor will be heard in the heavens.

Imperial Vault of Heaven

Imperial Vault of Heaven was reconstructed by Emperor Qianlong and is situated inside the Temple of Heaven, towards the northern side of the Circular Mound Altar. It was the hall dedicated to housing stone tablets also known as God’s tablets that were used in the harvest prayer ceremony.

Echo Wall is a round wall outside the Imperial Standing at 3.72 meters high, 0.9 meters thick and 5.2 meters in diameter, this wall has a circumference of 193.2 meters. The wall has a special sound transmission effect because the wall’s eaves and its hermetically laid bricks create a refraction of sound effect. If one person speaks inside the wall facing the north direction, the sound will echo for many times and be heard throughout the wall so long as the courtyard is not so crowded.

Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests

Located on the northern side of the Temple of Heaven, this Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is a national treasure and is the main building at the Temple that emperors prayed yearly for good harvests. Its original structure was struck by lightning and reduced to pieces in 1889 but was later rebuilt in the same Ming Dynasty style.

It is made up of three-tiered circular roof painted dark blue and paved with blue glazed tiles with hues of yellow and green symbolizing heaven and earth. There 28 pillars supporting the entire roof and all have a symbolic meaning. The four innermost pillars represent the four seasons and the 12 middle pillars represent the 12 months of the year and the outermost 12 pillars represent the two 12 hours that make a day.

Hall of Abstinence

Covering an area of about 40,000 square meters, this hall is located inside the West door of the Temple of Heaven. It is made up of double walls and its inner wall is surrounded by a long corridor that was used as a shelter for soldiers. At the front of the main hall are a Time Pavilion and Abstinence Pavilion that has five chambers that were worship grounds for emperors to abstain from wine and meat amongst other meals.

Seven Star Stones

With eight stones in total, the Seven Star Stones were set up according to the Big Dipper sky constellation where seven stones all of the same size comply with the similar brightness of the stars as seen by the naked eye from down on earth and the eighth stone that is smaller in size is believed to be the Alcor; a companion star to Mizar.

Winter Solstice Ceremony

The winter solstice sacrifice ceremony was carried out for good harvests in the first month of the lunar year and remained the most important religious and political activity. The ceremony was always carried out following set procedures and it was perceived that even a small deviation would upset the heavens.

Three days prior to the commencement of the ceremony, the emperor and his officials camped at the temple from their residence in the Forbidden City. The Emperor would dress up into ceremonial robes and abstain from eating meat, drinking wine, music, sex and politics as a sign of piety. A day before, sacrificial offerings would be prepared by slaughtering cattle and putting in place over 700 utensils used for the rituals.

Danbi Bridge

This is a 360 meter bridge that connects the north and south altars extending from the Circular Mound Altar all the way to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests which is the main road through the Temple of Heaven and Beijing’s first overpass. There are three marble walks on this bridge where emperors followed the right lane, officials followed the left lane while the middle walk was for the gods.

Morning Exercises

The Temple of Heaven is a beehive of activity every early morning and tourists get an interesting experience watching local people doing morning exercises, watching locals practicing tai chi, kung fu and even martial arts. Many visitors get the opportunity to join in the activities during their visit to the Temple.