Temple of Heaven
(pictures: Mark A. Torres Aug. 2006)
The
Temple
of Heaven, or Tiantan, is China's largest temple and altar complex. It
was the place where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties worshipped heaven
and prayed for abundant harvests. As Chinese emperors called themselves Tianzi,
or the son of heaven, they had to cede supremacy to the heaven in terms of
abiding.
Apart
from heaven, Chinese emperors also worshipped many other gods as well as their
own ancestors. Therefore, god-worshipping was an important part of their busy
schedules. Other than the Temple of Heaven, there are other temples of various
kinds scattered in Beijing, including the Temple of Earth, the Temple of Sun and
the Temple of the Moon. But the
Temple of Heaven is
the most important and the grandest of them all.
Situated
2km southeast of the Forbidden City, the Temple, plus subsidiary buildings and
surrounding gardens, covers an area five times the size of the Forbidden City.
With exquisite architectural workmanship, it is the largest existing ancient
architectural group for worshipping in China.
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