Beijing's Temple of Heaven hosted rites such as sacrifices to Heaven by Ming and Qing emperors. Its circular buildings and layout carry symbolic meaning and reflect a specialized ritual system.
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, Circular Mound Altar, and Echo Wall occupy areas with different functions. Acoustic effects have physical explanations, but the architecture is more than a sound experiment.
History
The temple complex was first built in 1420, during the reign of the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty, who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing. It was later expanded and reconstructed under the Jiajing Emperor and the Qianlong Emperor. During the Jiajing reign in the 16th century, the former Altar of Heaven and Earth was renamed the Temple of Heaven in 1534. Jiajing also built three other prominent temples in Beijing, the Temple of the Sun in the east, the Temple of Earth in the north, and the Temple of Moon in the west. The present layout of the complex was largely formed by 1749, following Qing-period reconstruction. The Temple of Heaven is located in Dongcheng District, Beijing, and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998.
The temple was occupied by the Anglo-French alliance during the Second Opium War. In 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion, the Eight-Nation Alliance occupied the temple complex and turned it into the force's temporary command in Peking, which lasted for one year. With the downfall of the Qing, the temple complex was left un-managed. The neglect of the temple complex led to the collapse of several halls in the following years.
In 1914, Yuan Shikai, 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. In 1918 the temple was turned into a park and for the first time open to the public.
Like many historical sites in China, the building was targeted and vandalized by rioters during the Cultural Revolution. The main central altar in the Temple was destroyed during the Revolution and parts of it along with miscellaneous rubble were thrown in the surrounding park.
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 sacrifices 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 robes 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.