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THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN
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| THE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION |
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The
Temple of Heaven is located in the south part of
Beijing and to southeast part of The Forbidden City.
it was built in 1420 in Ming dynasty and covers
an area of 273 hectares.the temple of heaven is
not only the largest temple building in China but
also the the largest
heaven-worshipping architecture in the world.It
was listed as the World Cultural Heritage by the
UNESCO in 1998
the temple of heaven was built according to the
temple of Heaven and Earth in Nanjing. At that time,
both heaven and earth were worshipped here. In 1530,
another stucture, the temple of Earth was built
in the north part of Beijing. So heaven and the
Earth were worshipped seperately.Since only the
heaven was worshipped here, it was renamed the temple
of heaven.
During Ming and Qing dynasty, it served as the place
for the emperor to worship the heaven. The emperor
came here twice a year. The first time was on the
fifteenth day of the first luner month. The emperor
would hold a big ceremony in the hall of Prayer
for Good Harvest to pray for a bumper harvest.the
second time was on the winter solstice.A sacrificial
ceremony would be held in the Circular Mound Altar
to offer sacrifice to the heaven.
Architecturally
speaking,there are two themes: the temple andthe
earth.the surrounding halls of the temple of heaven
are 6 meters high with a semicircular hall to the
north and a square shaped wall to the south. This
represents the the ancient beliefs of Chinese people
that the heaven is round and the earth is square.
The Temple of Heaven mainly consists of three buildings:
Circular Mound Altar,The Hall of Prayer For Good
Harvest, the Imperial Vault of Heaven.
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| The
Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest |
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How
to worship the God
in ancient
1.welcoming the deities where
something special were burnt to the usher of the God
of Heaven
2.Offering jade and silk items in the boxes
3.Presenting sacrificial animals
4.First presenting offerings
5.second presenting offerings
6.final presenting offerings
7.Removal of the offerings
8.seeing the deities off:stuff of each kinds of offerings
was burnt
9.the emperor viewed burning of all things
Different
procedure was accompanied by different music whch
was followed by the kowtow of the emperor and
his ministers. when the smell of the burning the
offerings filled the air in the Circular Mound
Altar, the ceremony was over.
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| About
the Circular Mound Altar |
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The
Circular Mound Altar was built in 1530 and enlarged
in 1740. It served as the place for worshipping the
heaven. It is comprised of three round white marble
terraces. each is edged with a balustrade.The bottom
terrace represents the hell, the middle terrace represents
the mortal world and the upper terrace represents
the heaven.
A kind of ancient yardstick was used to measure the
length in"Zhang".(one Zhang is a little
less than 3.5 meters) theupper terrace is 9 Zhang
(30meters) in diametr, the middle terrace is 15 Zhang
(50 meters) in diameter and the bottom terrace is
21 Zhang (70 meters) in diameter. the numbers:1*9=9,3*5=15,3*7=21,includes
all the so-called heaven number:1,3,5,7,9 the total
number of the three terraces is 45, the result of
9*5=45 which is in conformity with the Supreme number
of nine and five in the Book of Change.The arrangement
of putting nine and five together was only used in
ancient china by the emperors. that is why they are
used here.
In the center of the upper terrace is the heaven's
heart stone which is surrounded by concentrically
arranged flag-stones. there are 9 stones in the first
circle, 18 stones in the second, 27 in the third.
It continues this manner up to the ninth circle which
has 81 stones. the middle and bottom terrace also
have nine circles each. the total number of the flag
stone on the surface is 3,402. Each terrace has an
entrance and a flight with 9 steps leading down to
all the directions. the total number of the balustrades
is 360 which is also the multiple of 9 standing for
the 360 degree of the heaven.
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| the
Imperial Vault of Heaven |
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To
the north of the Circulr Mound Altar is the Imperial
Vault of Heaven.Its structure is made of wood and
bricks with a blue tiled roof which is topped with
a gilded ball.It is 19.5 meters high and 15.6 meters
in diameter.from a distance, it looks like a small
version of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest. in
the center of the Imperial Vault of Heaven stands
the shrine where the tablets of god was placed.there
are four stone platforms one each side where the tablets
of the emperor's eight ancestors were kept.During
each winter solstice, these tablets were placed in
a small pavilion-like cage and removed to the Circular
Mound Altar for worshipping heaven ceremony. after
the ceremony , the tablets would be returned to the
stone platform.
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How
To Book Your Heavenly Temple Tour
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sReserve
This Tour
Please send the following information to us:
1. Travelers' name on passport and nationality
2. Travelers' requests
3. Travelers' Number
4. Tour Date
ts:
Once received your above information, we will start
to arrange tour details according to your request. Confirmation
will be sent to you when all tour details arranged.
TEL: :00 86-10-81425577
FAX::00 86-10-81425577
Mobile: 15201381995
Mail:
info@tours.bj.cn
Mail: tourchina@263.net
Address: No 11 Courtyard Summer Palace Beijing China
Copyright:
Crown Beijing International Tourist Service Centre |
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TEL:
:00 86-10-81425577
Mobile: 15201381995
EMail: info@tours.bj.cn
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Pay
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