Pictures from our June 2006 visit: The Temple of Heaven (Tiantan)

Built in 1420, Tiantan became part of the city during the Qing dynasty, when the Manchus extended the city walls. It is China's most famous temple and stands within a 667-acre park.

The whole area is enclosed by a wall, the northern portion of which is round (heaven) and the southern half square (earth). Shown in the picture above is Qiniandian (Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests). It is an 1890 replica of the building destroyed by lightening the preceding year. It was here that the emperor came to pray for a good harvest during the first lunar month each year.



Constructed without nails, this has wooden mortise and tenon joints and wooden brackets on supporting pillars. The 28 pillars (representing the constellations) are made of nanmu hardwood. The four large ones represent the seasons, the 12 inner pillars are the months of the lunar calendar and the outer 12 are the two-hour periods into which the day was traditionally divided. Together they become the 24 solar periods of the year.