Our first official tourist destination in Beijing was The Temple of Heaven (aka Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest). It was built by Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty from 1406-1420 so that the emperor could pray in the summertime for a good harvest and in the wintertime to give thanks. During the prayers, ritual sacrifices were given to the gods. There are no pictures of their gods in the temple as to not offend them by portraying them incorrectly - there are just tablets with the god's name on it. Also, the structure is completely free of nails - it was stuck together with sticky rice. The number 9 is said to represent the emperor and is prevalent throughout all the sites we visited (i.e. 9 steps up to the Temple, 9 pegs in the doors, etc).
Here is Michael with one of the marble dragon water spouts:
Michael right in front of The Temple of Heaven:
a closer view of the structure:
Inside the temple:
Showing where the sacrifices were held:
The Temple of Heaven has four inner, twelve middle and twelve outer pillars. The four inner pillars represent the four seasons, and the 12/12 represents the 12 months and 12 traditional Chinese hours. All 28 pillars together represent the time concept of the Chinese lunar calendar.
Blue is a heavenly color and yellow/gold is for the master of the earth:
We were there when they were preparing for the 60th anniversary of communism. We flew out of Beijing the day before they celebrated - thank goodness (all flights were grounded)! Here is a pic of some of the decorations going up:
Us in front of the Temple:
a picture of Emperor Yongle:
Michael caught me taking notes :)
How beautiful!
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