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The Altar of the Land and Grain, with earth of five different colors on its surface.
 | As we have said, ancient China was an agricultural country. As agricultural production is often affected by natural adversities, ancient Chinese came to believe that land was essential to their subsistence but harvests were at the mercy of the sun, moon and stars high above, the rain falling from the skies and the wind from all directions. These awed them into worshipping the nature, into begging the nature for blessing before sowing and harvest and into offering sacrifices to Heaven at
thanksgiving ceremonies after the annual harvest.
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The Altar of Heaven.
| Chinese rulers, whether the kings in a divided China under the slavery system or the emperors that reigned supreme over a unified China under feudalism, all took advantage of this superstitious belief to consolidate their political power. They gave themselves the title "Son of Heaven", claiming to rule the country on behalf of Heaven. Heaven worshipping thus became institutionalized, and ceremonies in honor of Heaven were made the most important state ceremonies - even more important than sacrificial ceremonies in honor of the imperial ancestors. All sacrificial ceremonies
were banned during the period of mourning after the emperor or the queen mother died. The ceremony in honor of Heaven, however, was the only exception and would be held as planned. Ceremonies in honor of Heaven were a right exclusive to the emperor. Any other person,
now matter how high his position was, would be severely punished if he dared to hold such a ceremony. And for the same reason, the altars of Heaven and Earth featured prominently in the capital city of any dynasty.
According to the yin-yang philosophy, south is the direction of yang and north, the direction of yin, and Heaven is referred to as yang and the Earth, as yin. Besides, the sun rises in the east and the moon, in the west. That explains why the altar of Heaven is always in the south part
The Temple of Heaven, with the Altar of Heaven, the Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest on a straight line from south to north. | of the capital city, the altar of the moon, in the north part, the altar of the sun, in the east part, and the altar of the moon, in the west part. Moreover, these altars, as ancient Chinese believed, had to be built on the remote outskirts of the city, far from the city center, so that Heaven, Earth, the sun and the moon would be free from the noise. The Ming and Qing dynasties' altars of Heaven, Earth, the sun and the moon were all built outside the city wall of Beijing. To be more specific, the
Temple of Heaven lies beyond the south section of the wall, the Temple of Earth, beyond the north section of the wall, the Altar of the Sun, beyond the east section of the wall, and the Altar of the Moon, beyond the west section of the wall. The Temple of Heaven, however, became a part of the "outer city" in the Ming Dynasty as a result of the building of an outer wall.
The Temple of Heaven was built in 1420, the year when construction of the Forbidden City was completed. Some structures in the temple were renovated and a few more structures were built in the Qing Dynasty, but the ground plan and the most important structures remained intact. The temple occupies an area of 2.78 million square metes, four times as large as the Forbidden City.
But buildings there are relatively few and large tracts of the area are covered with trees.
The caisson in Imperial Vault of Heaven, which is recognized as a best example of this unique type of ceilings in traditional-style buildings. |
Here we are at the main gate of the temple at the west section of the wall that surrounds the complex. After we step in, we find ourselves on a long, straight road ahead of us. At the south side of the west section of the road there stands the Hall of Abstinence, where the emperor stayed for fasting before sacrificial ceremonies in honor of Heaven. Three days before such a ceremony, the emperor would move to the Hall of Abstinence. To "purify" his body and soul out of respect for Heaven, he would, during these three days, refrain from drinking wine, eating meat and strong smelling foods like leeks and garlic, and having carnal pleasure.
The main structures in the Temple of Heaven, however, are the Altar of Heaven, the Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, which stand from south to north, at east side of the road.
The Altar of Heaven, as the name suggests, was the venue of sacrificial ceremonies dedicated to Heaven. It is a three-layer round mound, each layer surrounded by a concentric railing of pure white marble. Two walls surround the platform, one enclosed within the other. The inner wall is round and the outer wall forms a square. Beyond the outer wall there is a forest of towering cypress tress, which helps create an atmosphere of solemnity and respect. The Heaven-worshipping
ceremony was held before dawn on the day of the Winter Solstice every year. The emperor would ascend the mound, amid the sound of music played by the imperial orchestra. High on the poles in front of the mound hung bright red lanterns. Smoke of sandalwood kept curling up from a
The avenue in front of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest. | dozen burners at the southeast side of the mound. Everything was designed to add mystery to the occasion. At the end of the ceremony, sacrificial articles in paper and silk were burned in the same burners, the emperor and his subjects believing that the curling smoke would carry these to Heaven.
The Imperial Vault of Heaven to the north of the Altar of Heaven was where the memorial tablet of Heaven was displayed. It is a round one-story structure, with a smaller hall at either side. A stone wall in a perfect circle surrounds the Imperial Vault of Heaven. What is peculiar about the wall is that the stones are so finely polished that anything said at one side of it, even in a low voice, can be picked up at the other side. The acoustic effect of this "Echo Wall", as it is called, was however
not deliberately designed.
Stepping out of the north gate of the Imperial Vault of Heaven, we see, ahead of us, a broad, straight avenue. Large tracts of ever-green trees - pines and cypresses, etc. - flank the avenue, which is 360 meters long and 30 meters wide and is raised four meters above the ground.
Taking a stroll along the avenue with so broad a vision under the blue sky, we feel as if we were
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Imperial Vault of Heaven.
| melting into a vast sea of blue and green, into the embrace of Heaven that overlooks the world from high up in the universe. The kind of artistic conception we are getting hold of is exactly what the designers and builders of the Temple of Heaven wanted to create, an artistic conception commensurate with the full solemnity and respect that characterized the imperial ceremonies.
At the end of the Avenue, we find one more group of structures, which is nonetheless meant for prayer for good crop years. The main structure is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, a cone-shaped structure that features an elaborate roof with three eaves at different heights. Like other imperial structures of major importance, it stands on a pure white marble platform, and is flanked by side halls and surrounded by walls.
The Temple of Heaven, as we can see now, is designed to serve two functions, Heaven worshipping and prayer for good harvests. But how the ancient Chinese architects fulfilled the demanding task of arranging the different structures in such a way as to suit the dual purpose?
Perfect use of symbolism is the answer.
A bird's-eye-view of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest.
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The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest. | Ancient Chinese saw the universe or Heaven as an immeasurably large vault hanging above the ground, and the land as a neat square. That is why things symbolizing Heaven are always in the shapes of circles or cylinders and things denoting land, in the shape of squares. The three main structures in the Temple of Heaven, the Altar of Heaven, the Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Hall of Prayer for Harvest, are all conical in shape. The walls surrounding them, however, form three
neat squares.
The numbers are also symbolic. As ancient Chinese saw it, Heaven and the emperor should be referred to yang. So should be single numbers. Nine is the biggest single number. As such, nine and numbers multiplied by nine are most frequently used in structures for exclusive use by the emperor including, of course, those in the Temple of Heaven. Take, for example, the Altar of Heaven or the "Circular Mound" as it is called for convenience. The top of the mound is covered with stone slabs. The slab in the center is round. Round the center there are nine enclosures, one within another. The innermost enclosure is formed with nine stone slabs, the second enclosure, with 18, the third, with 27, the fourth, with 36, and in the outermost enclosure, 81 stone slabs are counted. The railings on the marble platforms are also in numbers multiplied by nine - those of the top layer numbering 36, those in the middle, 72, and those in the bottom, 108. The platforms each have a terraced stairs with nine steps.
The Hall of Prayer for Harvest, however, is different, involving numbers that are associated, one way or another, with agricultural production. The pillars of the hall form three circles, which support the three-eave roof of the structure. The outermost circle consists of 12 pillars supporting the outermost eave, which symbolize the 12 two-hour periods into which the day is traditionally divided.
A temple dedicated to Mt. Hengshan, one of the five sacred mountains. Mt. Hengshan is in Shanxi Province, but the temple is in Quyang County of the neighboring Hebei Province. | The circle in the middle also consists of 12 pillars, which symbolize the 12 months
of the year. The 24 pillars symbolize the 24 periods, approximately 15 days each, into which the lunar year is divided. The inner most four pillars that support the top layer of the roof denote the four seasons of the year.
The land is yellow, and the sky is blue. This visual impression generated by nature made the yellow color symbolic of the land and the blue color, of Heaven. That explains why blue is the dominant color of the Temple of Heaven. Tiles glazed in blue are used to decorate the top of the walls that surrounds the Altar of Heaven and the Round Mound, and so are the walls that surround the courtyards. The Roof of the Hall of Prayer for Harvest is covered with blue glazed tiles, and so are the roofs of the side halls. The blue color matches perfectly with the pure white marble platforms and the evergreen trees around, creating an atmosphere strong enough to keep people in awe of Heaven.
The altars dedicated to the land, sun and moon lie beyond old Beijing's outer city. The three altars, all with facilities for preparing sacrificial food and storehouses of sacrificial utensils, are smaller than the Altar of Heaven dedicated to the supreme ruler of the universe. Like the Altar of Heaven, however, the structures are largely symbolic.
The Altar of Land, for example, is in the north suburbs of Beijing because north is referred to as yin, relative to south which is referred to as yang. Round numbers are referred to as yin, and that is why the altar is a two-layer mound with four straight sides and has four terraced stairs with eight steps each.
Famous rivers and mountains were also worshipped in ancient China. The Five Sacred Mountains all have magnificent temples dedicated to their respective gods. Mt. Taishan in Shandong Province, the most important of the five mountains, has a temple as magnificent as a palace complex on its south slope. Newly enthroned emperors would hold elaborate ceremonies on Mt. Taishan to beg Heaven and land for blessing. The ceremony dedicated to Heaven was always held on the top of Mt. Taishan, and the ceremony dedicated to land, at its foot. |
