The Temple of Heaven,literally the Altar of Heaven (Traditional Chinese:天坛; Simplified Chinese:天坛; pinyin:Tiān Tán) is a complex of Taoist buildings situated in southeastern urban Beijing,in Xuanwu District.Construction of the complex began in 1420,and was thereafter visited by all subsequent Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties.It is regarded as a Taoist temple,although the worship of Heaven,especially by the reigning monarch of the day,pre-dates Taoism.
The Temple grounds covers 2.73 km² of parkland,and comprises three main groups of constructions,all built according to strict philosophical requirements:
The Earthly Mount (圜丘坛) is the altar proper.It is an empty platform on three levels of marble stones,where the Emperor prayed for favourable weather;
The House of Heavenly Lord (皇穹宇),a single-gabled circular building,built on a single level of marble stone base,where the altars were housed when not in use;
The Hall of Annual Prayer (祈年殿),a magnificent triple-gabled circular building,built on three levels of marble stone base,where the Emperor prayed for good harvests.
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 comprised of prayers for good harvests.
Each winter solstice the Emperor and all his retinue would move through the city to encamp within the complex,wearing special robes and abstaining from eating meat; there the Emperor would personally pray to Heaven for good harvests.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.
Inside the Hall of Annual Prayer.The Temple of Heaven is the grandest of the four great temples located in Beijing.The other prominent temples include the Temple of Sun in the east (日坛),the Temple of Earth in the north (地坛),and the Temple of Moon in the west (月坛).
According to Xinhua,in early 2005,the Temple of Heaven underwent a 47 million yuan (5.9 million USD) face-lift in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and the restoration was completed on May 1st,2006.
The Temple of Heaven was registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998.
猜你喜欢
- 1初中物理 导体的电阻的大小与横截面积_______,导体的横截面积越大,电阻___________.
- 2这附近有一座带花园的大房子用英文怎么翻译
- 3甲数的 2/3等于乙数的 4/5,甲数比乙数多_%,乙数与甲数的比是_.
- 4甲、乙两数的差及商都等于6,那么甲乙两数的和是多少(方程解)
- 5请问 一个数学符号 AB上面加一个横杠
- 6我们在向他人宣传环保知识的同时,也要先从自己做起.麻烦帮我用英文翻译下
- 710道一元一次方程应用题带答案
- 8It's still polite to give up your seat to an old man 里为什么要加an呢,可以不加吗?
- 9人教版语文六年级上册第八单元作文
- 10李白的中"行路难"比喻什么