2018 Temple of Heaven Self-guided Tour Travel Guide

The Temple of Heaven is a landmark ancient building in Beijing and a place where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties worshiped gods and prayed for blessings. It has a very high historical status and historical research significance, and is also a national treasure heritage of our country. Below is the guide for the 2018 self-guided tour of the Temple of Heaven.

Address: No. 2, East Temple of Heaven, Dongcheng District, Beijing

Although I have lived in Beijing for a long time, I have never been to the Temple of Heaven. This also proves that the easier things are to do, the easier it is to be ignored, just like it is easy for us to give a hug to someone close to us, but we always forget it in life.

I went out to do errands yesterday and happened to pass by the Temple of Heaven, so I decided to go in and have a look to make up for the regret of missing it in the past. It's not too late. It doesn't matter what I saw, it completely overturned my imagination of the Temple of Heaven.

At around 3 p.m., we arrived at the South Gate of the Temple of Heaven on Yongdingmen East Street. Although the weather is sunny, the chill in the air still makes people feel chilly because of the low temperature. So, except for two tour groups, there are very few tourists here. This is exactly what I want, especially in the Temple of Heaven.

Transportation Guide

1. Public transportation

South Gate of the Temple of Heaven: No. 36, No. 120, No. 122 Road.

West Gate of the Temple of Heaven: No. 2 and 20, No. 120 Road.

North Gate of the Temple of Heaven: Routes 6, 34, 35, 36, 106, and 111.

East Gate of the Temple of Heaven: Routes 6, 25, 34, 35, 36, 39, 41, 43, 60, 610, 684, 685, 723, and 814.

2. Subway

Subway Line 5-Tiantan East Gate Station.

Ticket price

Peak season (April-October): Tickets are 15 yuan, and combined tickets (including tickets, Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, Qiu'er, and Echo Wall) are 34 yuan.

Off-season (November to March): Tickets are 10 yuan, and combined tickets (including tickets, Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, Waqiu, and Echo Wall) are 28 yuan.

Combined ticket for attractions (including Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, Wawushan Mountain, and Echo Wall): 20 yuan, ticket for the sacred music department: 10 yuan.

Business hours

The first and fourth doors:

Opening hours: 6:00 in peak season, 6:30 in off-season; sale time: 20: 00; park visit time: 21:00; closing time: 22:00

Two. The attraction is open at 8:00 every day:

High season closing time: 17:30 (combined tickets are sold at the door at 16:00)

Off season closing time: 17:00 (15:30 Coupon tickets are sold at the gate)

3. The peak season is from April 1st to October 31st.

4. The off-season is from November 1st to March 31st of the following year.

Tourist Guide to the Temple of Heaven

Unlike ancient royal palaces such as the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace, walking in the Temple of Heaven, closing your eyes and reaching out, you can feel a sense of tranquility and peace.

Whenever tourists are busy, even if you stand alone in the center of the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace, you can imagine in your mind the princes and ministers going in and out of the palace, riding horses or sedan chairs;

< p>You can also outline the eunuchs serving the master's concubines, serving tea and water, or running quickly. In short, these places must be crowded and lively. The Temple of Heaven is different. Because of its special functions, the temperament reflected in its environmental layout and architectural style is tranquil.

The Temple of Heaven is used by the royal family to worship heaven. Since ancient times, our ancestors have expressed people's gratitude to God for nourishing all things and prayed to God to bless the Chinese people through "sacrifice to heaven", a form of communication between heaven and man.

The person who presided over the ceremony of worshiping the heaven was naturally led by the "Emperor". During the ceremony, people must recite hymns, play elegant music, and burn sacrifices to show that people contribute the fruits of their labor to God in return for God's nourishment of all things.

I deeply believe that this is a cultural inheritance and a deep belief that cannot be simply reduced to superstition. Although such ceremonies have been held in the Temple of Heaven during the Spring Festival in recent years, they have lacked the solemnity and respect for "Heaven" in the past and have become gimmicks and performances to attract tourists. From the perspective of cultural inheritance, it is really sad.

According to data, the Temple of Heaven covers an area of ??about 2.7 million square meters and was built in the 18th year of Yongle (1420) in the Ming Dynasty. It was rebuilt during the Qianlong and Guangxu years of the Qing Dynasty. It was a place where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties worshiped the emperor and prayed for a good harvest.

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The ancient cypresses outside the altar are lush and green, surrounding the inner altar, making the main building more solemn and magnificent. There are echo walls, three-tone stones, dialogue stones, etc. inside the altar. The ingenious construction using acoustic principles fully demonstrates the advanced level of ancient Chinese construction technology.

When I entered from the south gate, the first thing I saw was the mound altar. The Ball Altar is where the winter solstice ceremony to worship the sky is held. Viewed from a distance, the mugwort bluestone tabletop and white marble pillars look solemn and sacred in the sunlight. The dome is round as the sky and consists of three levels of altars, about 5 meters high, with nine steps on all sides of each level.

The upper layer is a huge stone, with nine circles of fan-shaped stones on the outside and nine circles on the inner circle, extending outward in multiples of nine. The railings and watchtowers also use nine or multiples of nine to symbolize the number of "heaven" to echo the "nine days" and emphasize the supremacy of heaven.

Standing on the mound altar, looking at the Royal Dome dozens of meters away and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest further north, the golden-roofed blue glazed tile building exudes special architectural charm in the sunlight.

Looking at the buildings with yellow tiles and red walls in the Forbidden City, I think the buildings covered with blue glazed tiles are particularly unique. The Imperial Vault is a place where the gods of the football world are enshrined. The tablet of "God of the Emperor" is placed on the right side of the door, which is awe-inspiring.

To the north of the Qiuqiu Altar is the Valley Prayer Altar. Its main building is the Prayer Hall, which is a special building used to pray for the valley in Meng Chun (January). With a height of 38.2 meters and a diameter of 24.2 meters, the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests symbolizes the four seasons, December, twelve o'clock, Sunday and stars respectively. It is the only example of famous architecture from antiquity.

Twenty-eight golden nanmu columns are supported, and the four "Longjing columns" in the middle support the upper eaves; the twelve gold columns in the middle support the second eaves, which are painted on the cinnabar primer using the method of dipping powder and gold. It has exquisite patterns; 12 outer eaves columns support the third eaves; a three-story ceiling is set up with a dragon and phoenix caisson in the middle; there are portraits of Shilongfeng and Xi Caihua in the temple. Presumably the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties prayed for abundant harvests and good weather in this beautiful but solemn place.

The central axis connecting the Qiuqiu Altar and the Guqi Altar is a bluestone road 360 meters long and 30 meters wide, called Shanbi Bridge. Walking on this wide stone road, it seems that you can hear the dialogue between modernity and history.

In those days, it was on this stone road that emperors of all dynasties led their princes, grandsons, civil and military ministers to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, where they worshiped heaven amidst harmonious and elegant music and prayed for good fortune and good health in the four seasons.

Of course, before the sacrificial ceremony, the emperor would take off his usual yellow dragon robe and put on his blue sacrificial robe in front of the dressing table on the east side of Shanbi Bridge to show his respect to the sky. respect. There is no need to be demanding about the red tape such as the preparations for the sacrifice and the agenda. It must be extremely trivial, but there can be no mistakes.

After walking through the inner altar, it is natural to talk about the ancient trees in the outer altar. Ancient cypresses stand tall and tall, with different tree shapes. One of them, named "Kowloon Cypress", is even more peculiar. The tree is located outside the northwest wall of the Imperial Vault. It is more than 10 meters tall, with green needles and copper-colored branches. Extremely simple and elegant. There are longitudinal folds between the trunks, dividing the tree into nine branches, like nine dragons entwining and stirring.

This tree still has a story. According to legend, Emperor Qianlong once came to the Temple of Heaven to worship heaven. As he inspected the preparations for the ceremony and rested under the walls of the Imperial Treasury, he suddenly heard a strange sound.

So Emperor Qianlong looked around and found nine snakes under the fence, and they immediately dived into the soil. The Dragon Emperor ordered his men to go out of Emperor Bend to catch snakes. After searching around, they found a tree outside the fence. The trunk was covered with furrows, like nine dragons rising into the sky, so it was named Nine Dragons. Of course, this is suspected of being interpreted by storytellers, but the unique shape of the tree trunk is really true

It is said that the use of glazed tiles in the Qing Dynasty was particular. Yellow tiles can only be used in the emperor's house, and green tiles can be used in the prince's garden. Ordinary people can only use black ceramic tiles. The Temple of Heaven is made of blue glazed tiles. Blue is said to represent the color of the sky. It carries the oldest ritual of communication between humans and heaven, and every brick and tile is permeated with the solemnity and dignity of history.

When the sun goes down, all the birds return to the forest. At sunset, a layer of gold is affixed to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and the royal dome decorated with blue glazed tiles, making it more peaceful and magnificent. With occasional satisfaction, I set out on my way home.