an ideal short half-day outing
after the feet-challenging Forbidden City
Temple of Heaven is the general name
which consists of a few praying halls
this being the iconic one
Praying Hall for Good Harvests, 祈年殿
the reigning Emperor will be here at least once a year
with fasting on vegetarian food
and some really elaborative rituals
to show gratitude for the prosperity year
and pray for a smooth-sailing year ahead
The Imperial Vault of Heaven, 皇宆宇
where the ancestral tablets of the previous Emperors
are being placed and worshipped
The Blue
Temple of Heaven
as the name already explains
blue, being the theme colour corresponds to
the colour of the sky
The Circular
all the praying buildings being sphere-shaped
surrounded by rectangular walls
due to an old saying, Round Sky Square Earth 天圓地方
bad translation but it roughly means
the land are flat and square in generally
contrasting the sky which is
deemed to be round-shaped
The Tragics and Restoration
back in 19th century, 1872 to be exact
the reign of Emperor Guang Xu 光緒皇帝
the whole Praying Hall of Good Harvest
was burnt down to ashes
it was seen as a bad omen
at the same time, the reconstruction was done
true enough, the Empire didn’t last that long afterwards
much damages were done again
during the foreign invasions
the two massive restoration were carried out
after liberalization and the 70’s
The Park
it’s called Tian Tan Park for a reason
a place for the retirees and housewives
morning workouts, knitting groups, etc etc
not forgetting the lovely shades of some
really old Junipers
Juniper, (Song 松) is a favorite motif in Chinese art
along with bamboo (Zhu 竹)
and plum flower (Mei Hua 梅花)
the trio are known as Friends of Winter，歲寒三友
for their resilience through the winter
The Five Temples
The Mandarin Name, Tian Tan
literally translated as Temple of Sky
basically there are five temples 五壇
in the vicinity of central Beijing
surrounding the Forbidden City
in a symmetrical way
which serve the respective ritual functions
the other four are namely
Temple of the the Sun, Ri Tan 日壇
Temple of the Moon, Yue Tan 月壇
Temple of the Land, Di Tan 地壇
Temple of the Peasant God, Xian Nong Tan 先農壇
all are opened to public for visit
My Little Puzzle
architecture models never fail to attract me
there was another one
how could I forget to snap a photo
it is to show the inner design, where
the building was sliced into two,
therefore half of the building, revealing the
details of the interior
there were a few others of different eras
this was back in the Tang Dynasty
saw this which was kinda fun
going for RMB 39 each at bookstore
yet was turned down by my dad
because he thinks it’s kinda childish
the material being paper
I am way beyond the age to beg
some other time I will be back in Beijing
and this would definitely be in my shopping list
p.s.
apology and much regret
the interior photos were kinda bad
well you know
