The supplementary reply to the landlord's question is as follows:
The ancients' humanistic concept, all things in the universe, takes heaven as the biggest, and all things in the world, the emperor is the only one. Sacrificing to heaven is a gift from the royal family. Thinking from a far place, the Temple of Heaven is located in the south of the imperial city, why not on the central axis of the imperial city? Because Judy, the prince of Yan, seized the throne from his nephew Wen Jian, she changed the Yuan Dynasty to Yongle and made Beijing her capital. The Ming Imperial City in Beijing was established on the basis of the original imperial city in the Yuan Dynasty, and the central axis of the imperial city was finalized at that time. The central axis of the imperial city passes through the dragon throne of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The emperor claims to be the "son of heaven", and of course he should respect and respect the emperor. The Temple of Heaven is a symbol of "Heavenly Father". If located on the same central axis, the emperor sits on the throne of the dragon, and the "heavenly father" faces the "son of heaven" and is in a subordinate position. Isn't it disrespectful to God? In the same way, the emperor needs to come in person, kneel three times and knock nine times, while the dragon seat is empty; According to the custom in China, it is taboo to give gifts to empty seats, which means that the owner of the seat is no longer alive. In this way, when the emperor gives gifts to his empty seat, he will not be able to pass. Based on the above two reasons, the Temple of Heaven chose to deviate from the central axis of the imperial city and build it in the southeast of the imperial city. Through the above analysis, we can roughly infer the thinking process of the ancients when they chose the site for the construction of the Temple of Heaven.
Original answer:
The Temple of Heaven was founded in the 18th year of Yongle in Ming Dynasty (1420). At first, heaven and earth were enshrined together, which was called the altar of heaven and earth. In the ninth year of Jiajing (1530), after the implementation of the four-suburb system, an altar was built in the northern suburb. The original altar of heaven and earth was dedicated to praying for heaven, valley and rain, and was renamed the Temple of Heaven. The Qing dynasty basically followed the Ming system, and it was rebuilt and expanded on a large scale during the Qianlong period. At present, the main buildings were built in the Qing Dynasty, except for the prayer gate and the Huanggan Hall, which were built in the Ming Dynasty.
The Temple of Heaven is located in the southeast of the Forbidden City, and the Ditan is built in the northeast of the Forbidden City, which is in line with the old saying in China that "the sky is far apart".
The main building of the Temple of Heaven is circular, and the Ditan is a square according to the record of Qinghui Hall, which is the embodiment of the ancient round place in China.
According to the Taoist theory of Yin and Yang, the sky is Yang and the earth is Yin. The building materials used in the Temple of Heaven, such as stones, steps, columns, etc., are all strange (Yang Shu). Ditan uses even numbers (negative numbers). For example, the steps of Fangze altar are eight steps, the altar surface is six flat abbots, and the stone slabs used are flat, which embodies the traditional culture of the Chinese nation.
architectural feature
The Temple of Heaven in Beijing is the largest ancient architectural complex dedicated to heaven in the world. In China, the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven originated from the Zhou Dynasty, and emperors of all dynasties have attached great importance to it since the Han Dynasty. After Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, every winter solstice, the first month, the new day and Xia Meng (the first month of summer), emperors would come to the Temple of Heaven to hold ceremonies of offering sacrifices to heaven and praying for blessings. If it rains a year, we will pray for rain at Waqiu altar. Fasting is usually required before sacrifice. When offering sacrifices, the emperor not only offered sacrifices, but also led hundreds of civil and military officials to worship sacrifices in order to pray for God's mercy.
The main design idea of Tiantan architecture is to highlight the vastness and height of the sky to show the supremacy of "heaven". In layout, the inner altar is located on the east side of the north-south central axis of the outer altar, while the ball altar and prayer altar are located on the east side of the central axis of the inner altar. These are all to increase the openness of the west, so that people can gain a broad vision after entering the Temple of Heaven from the main entrance in the west, and thus feel the greatness of heaven and its own smallness. As far as single buildings are concerned, the Hall for Praying for the New Year and the Royal Hall both adopt circular pyramid roofs, and their external bases and eaves shrink and rise layer by layer, which also reflects a feeling of being close to the sky.
The Temple of Heaven also displays the unique meaning and symbolic expression of China traditional culture everywhere. The altar wall and outer wall in the south of the North Circle are square and circular architectural design, which symbolizes the traditional world view of "the sky is round and the place is round". The widespread use of blue glazed tiles in major buildings, as well as the "Yang Shu" in the altar and the design of columns in the Hall of Prayer for the New Year are also concrete manifestations of this expression.