Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The temple was the site of the most important ceremony of the imperial court calendar,
when the emperor prayed for the year's harvests at the
wintersolstice
. Purified by three days
of fasting, he made his way to the park on the day before the solstice, accompanied by his
court in all its magnificence. On arrival at Tiantan, the emperor would meditate in the Imper-
ial Vault, ritually conversing with the gods on the details of government, before spending the
night in the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. The following day he sacrificed animals before
the Circular Mound Altar. It was forbidden for commoners to catch a glimpse of the great
annual procession to the temple, and they were obliged to bolt their windows and remain in
silence indoors. Indeed, the Tiantan complex remained sacrosanct until it was thrown open
to the people on the first Chinese National Day of the Republic, in October 1912. The last
person to perform the rites was General Yuan Shikai, the first president of the Republic, on
December 23, 1914. He planned to declare himself emperor but his plans were thwarted by
his opponents, and he died a broken man in 1916.
Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests
At the north end of the park, the principal temple building, the
HallofPrayerforGoodHar-
vests
, amply justifies all the hype. Made entirely of wood, without the aid of a single nail, the
circular structure rises from another tiered marble terrace and has three blue-tiled roofs. Four
compass-point pillars, representing the seasons, support the vault, enclosed in turn by twelve
outer pillars (one for each month of the year and hour of the day). The dazzling colours of
the interior, surrounding the central dragon motif on the coffered ceiling, give the hall an ul-
tramodern look; it was in fact rebuilt, faithful to the Ming design, after the original was des-
troyed by lightning in 1889. The official explanation for this appalling omen was that it was
divine punishment meted out on a sacrilegious caterpillar, which was on the point of crawling
to the golden ball on the hall's apex when the lightning struck. Thirty-two court dignitaries
were executed for allowing this to happen.
Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Echo Wall
Directly south of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the
Imperial Vault of Heaven
is an
octagonal tower made entirely of wood, with a dramatic roof of dark blue, glazed tiles, sup-
ported by eight pillars. This is where the emperor would change his robes and meditate. The
shrine and stone platforms inside held stone tablets representing the emperor and his ancest-
ors, and the two chambers either side carried tablets representing the elements. The tower is
encircled by the
Echo Wall
, said to be a perfect whispering gallery, although the unceasing
cacophony of tourists trying it out makes it impossible to tell.
Circular Mound Altar
Heading south again from the Imperial Vault of Heaven, you'll soon be upon the
Circular
Mound Altar
, consisting of three marble tiers representing (from the top down) heaven,
earth and man. The tiers are comprised of blocks arranged in various multiples of nine, cos-
