44. The Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven is situated in the southern part of the City of Beijing. It was built in 1420, covering an area of 273 hectares.

The Temple was the place where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties 1)worshipped heaven and prayed for good harvests. They came here twice a year, on the 15th day of the 1st 2) lunar month and also in winter. After 1530 when the Temple was built in the northern suburbs, only heaven was worshipped in the Temple.

The Temple of Heaven is regarded as one of the greatest 3) architectural structures in the world. Some environmental artists and gardeners describe the temple as a place where people can talk to heaven. In Beijing four imperial temples were built during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368---1911).At the southern end of the city axis(轴) is the Temple of Heaven. It is the most important of the four. The other three are the Temple of Earth in the north, the Temple of Moon in the west, and the Temple of Sun in the east just behind the Beijing Friendship Store. All of them are still standing, but the Temple of Heaven is the largest group of temple buildings of its kind in China, nearly four times larger than the Forbidden City. The whole building was designed 4) in a way that makes you close to heaven.

In making the heaven-like structures, the designers made good use of colour, sound, 5) figures of the circle and the square, and changes in its height. The 6) combination of building and garden helps to make it appear mysterious and 7) magical. The temple’s architecture has two themes. One is “on the earth” while the other is “in the heaven”. The square-shaped palace for feasting in the west of the temple appears like a “forbidden city” in a smaller size.

In imperial days, the Chinese people believed that the sky was 8) circular in shape and the earth was square. 9) On the basis of this traditional concept, the circle was widely 10) adopted in the design of the temple’s main buildings. It is in accord with people’s imagination of heaven.