World Cultural Heritage: The Temple of Heaven (2)

The Temple of Heaven was built in the 18th Yongle Year of the Ming Dynasty (1420), and was the dedicated sacrificial altar used by emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties to makes sacrifices to heaven, pray for rain and a harvest year. The Temple of Heaven is almost a square altar, with two corners in the south side being right angles and the north side being arc-shaped, which reflect ancient Chinese people's understanding of heaven and earth of "Heaven being circular and Earth being square." The Temple of Heaven is surrounded by double walls, with the outer wall standing at 1,650 meters long from the south to north and 1,725 meters from east to west, and the inner wall standing at 1,243 meters long from south to north and 1,046 meters from east to west. The center of the Temple of Heaven is called the "inner altar" while the section between the two walls is called the "outer altar," with the main entrance set in the west side of the outer altar.

The sacrificial buildings are concentrated in the inner altar and divided into two parts, with the southern part being the Circular Mound Altar and northern part being the Altar of Prayer for Grain. The southern and northern altars are linked by the Danbi Bridge, a 360-meter-long bricked path above ground level, acting as the the axis of the Temple of Heaven that is 1,200 meters long. The Circular Mound Altar covers an area of around 45 hectares, and consists of the circular mound, Lingxing Gate, Imperial Vault of Heaven, divine storage and kitchen and Slaughter Pavilion. The ceremony of “sacrificing to heaven” was held there on the winter solstice. The Altar of Prayer for Grain covers an area of 72 hectares and its main building include the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, the Hall of Imperial Zenith, the divine kitchen, the Slaughter Pavilion and the gallery. The "Prayer ceremony for Good Harvest" was held there every spring, praying for a bumper harvest year.

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