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The Temple of Heaven, literally the '''Altar of Heaven''' (; buildings situated in southeastern urban Beijing , in Xuanwu District . The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest. It is regarded as a Taoist temple, although Chinese Heaven Worship , especially by the reigning monarch of the day, pre-dates Taoism. HISTORY The temple complex, initially called ''Temple of Heaven and Earth'', 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 in the east (日坛), the Temple Of Earth in the north (地坛), and the Temple Of Moon in the west (月坛). The Temple of Heaven was renovated in the 18th century under the Qianlong Emperor . In 1914, Yuan Shih-kai , then President of the Republic Of China , performed a Ming prayer ceremony at the temple, as part of an effort to have himself declared Emperor of China. The Temple of Heaven was registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998 . According to Xinhua , in early 2005 , the Temple of Heaven underwent a 47 million yuan (5.9 million USD) face-lift in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and the restoration was completed on May 1st, 2006 . BUILDINGS AND LAYOUT The Temple grounds covers 2.73 km&2 of parkland, and comprises three main groups of constructions, all built according to strict philosophical requirements:
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 Sacrifice s 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 Robe s 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. SYMBOLISM Earth was represented by a square and Heaven by a circle; several features of the temple complex symbolize the connection of Heaven and Earth, of circle and square. The whole temple complex is surrounded by two cordons of walls; the outer wall has a taller, semi-circular northern end, representing Heaven, and a shorter, rectangular southern end, representing the Earth. Both the ''Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests'' and the ''Earthly Mount'' are round, each standing on a square yard, again representing Heaven and Earth. The number Nine represents the Emperor and is evident in the design of the ''Earthly Mount'': a single round marmor plate is surrounded by a ring of nine plates, then a ring of 18 plates, and so on for a total of nine surrounding rings, the outermost having 9×9 plates. The ''Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests'' has four inner, twelve middle and twelve outer Pillar s, representing the four Season s, twelve months and twelve traditional Chinese hours respectively. All the buildings within the Temple have special dark blue roof tiles, representing the Heaven. The ''Seven-Star Stone Group'', east of the ''Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest'', represents the seven peaks of Taishan Mountain , a place of Heaven worship in classical China. MORE IMAGES |
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