Stephen Bergeron

Dr. Desmond

ARCH 3005

30 November 2009

Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven complex is located in China’s capital city of Beijing. The current

structures were built between 1530 and 1545 during the Chinese Late Feudal Period. It is

oriented to the cardinal directions and lies in the southeastern part of the city. It sits on the

eastern side of the city’s main north-south axis. The site is roughly square with the northern

corners rounded and covers an area of around 675 acres much of which is covered with cypress

forest. Each year, the emperor of China would go to the temple on the winter solstice and the

first moon of spring to offer sacrifices to heaven and pray for a bountiful new year (Steinhardt).

Though there are many building on the site of the Temple Complex, the four most

important to the rituals are the Hall for Fasting, the Circular Terrace, the Imperial Heavenly

Vault, and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.

The Hall for Fasting (Photo A.1) is the first ceremonial building in the sequence.

Located on the west side of the complex, it served as the living quarters for the emperor on the

day before the ceremony on the winter solstice. It is a one story, blue roofed building sitting on a

white marble terrace flanked by two stone pavilions and a bell tower. The bell tower sits at the

northeast corner of the hall and was use at the beginning and end of the ceremony. From here,

the emperor would travel to the Circular Terrace.

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The Circular Terrace (Photo A.2) is the first place the emperor goes in the ritual sequence

on the winter solstice. There he would climb to the top of the Terrace and offer sacrifices to

heaven. The terrace is made of three concentric tiers of marble placed atop one another each

with a diameter relating to the “heavenly numbers.” The total diameter of the terrace is 230 feet.

There are four sets of stairs, one in each cardinal direction. The number of steps, balustrades,

and paving stones on each tier is nine or a multiple of nine. The Terrace is surrounded by two

rings of low walls (one round and one square) and eight gates (Map A.8).

The Imperial Heavenly Vault (Photos A.3 and A.4) is surrounded entirely by a circular

wall known as the “echoing wall” and can only be entered from the south (Map A.8). The

building houses the spirit tablet of the Heavenly Emperor which was part of the ritual on the

Circular Terrace. The building itself is circular and its single conical blue roof is supported by

two concentric rings of eight columns. It is 62 feet tall and has a diameter of 51 feet.

From the Circular Terrace, the emperor would travel north along the sacred axis 1180

feet to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (Photo A.5 and Map A.7). The journey north is

inclined slightly so that the Prayer for Good Harvests sits a few feet higher than the buildings

further south. The Temple of Prayer for Good Harvests sits atop the Terrace of Prayer for Grain.

The terrace is composed of three tiers of white marble, is approximately 20 feet high and has a

diameter of nearly 300 feet. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is a circular building with a

three-tiered blue roof supported by two concentric rings of twelve wooden columns and one

inner ring of four columns (Photo A.6). It stands at 125 feet tall and has a diameter of 107 feet.

The Temple of Heaven complex is an example of what scholars call ritual architecture.

Ritual architecture sprang from the Confucian idea that the country would be best governed
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through a ritual system. Ritual architecture is partly religious in that it provides a setting for

worship and sacrifice, but it did not serve as a setting for “a theory of faith” or “a religious

brotherhood” (Dazhang). These building were directly controlled by the Chinese government

and legitimized the Emperor’s position as the “son of heaven.” Ritual architecture is divided into

two categories: worship of natural elements and worship of human phenomena (Dazhang). The

Temple of Heaven fits under the category of natural elements which also includes elements like

the sun, the moon, mountains, rivers, and thunder.

In addition to legitimizing the government’s power, The Temple of Heaven complex also

supports the belief systems of “heaven round and earth square,” yin and yang, and the sacredness

of heaven through its symbolic construction and location.

The Temple of Heaven was constructed in the capital city to provide a place for the

emperor to honor heaven. Much of the form of the Temple of Heaven complex is dictated by the

Chinese idea of “heaven round and earth square” (Wu). The three main forms along the central

axis are all circular, representing heaven. A circular inner wall surrounds the Circular Terrace

and the Imperial Heavenly Vault to reinforce the notion of heavenliness. A square outer wall

surrounds the circular terrace and the hall of prayer for good harvests to act as a dividing line

between earth and heaven. The outer wall of the site has rounded corners on the northern end to

reinforce the idea that that end of the site is the closest to heaven. As the intermediate building

between the Circular Terrace and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Imperial Heavenly

Vault transforms the square motif of earth into the circular motif of heaven in its coffered ceiling

(Wu). This transformation is appropriate because the Imperial Heavenly Vault is the housing

place of the spirit tablet of the ancestors. Placing the Imperial Heavenly Vault in the middle of
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the ritual sequence reinforces the belief that the ancestors are intermediaries between earth and

heaven (Wu).

According to the ancient belief in yin and yang, yin was represented by negativeness,

femininity, even numbers, north, and earth while yang was represented by positiveness,

masculinity, odd numbers, south, and heaven. This idea dictated the location and construction of

the complex.

Because heaven was yang the temple complex was located on the south side of Beijing

(Dazhang). The Temple of Heaven was one of four suburban altars that “framed the capital”

(Steinhardt). Each altar was located at one of the four cardinal directions in relation to the city

and served a different natural god (the earth, the sun, and the moon being the others.) The

Temple of Heaven was simply one of a group of altars that played a role in legitimating the

government in power through ritual.

Many of the proportions and distances used in the construction of the complex are based

on odd numbers (Dazhang). The circular terrace is a prime example of the use of odd numbers

in construction. The Chinese used a unit of measurement called the zhang which equals 4.36 feet

(Dazhang). “The three tiers of the Circular Terrace measure 9 zhang, 15 zhang, and 21 zhang in

diameter” (Dazhang). All of these dimensions refer back to the heavenliness of the structure.

The Imperial Heavenly Vault and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests were built on the same

principle. The Circular Terrace also makes many references to the number 9 in its construction.

Because “9” is the largest of the odd numbers it represented imperial and heavenly power which

are both considered to be infinite (Dazhang). The top tier of the Circular Terrace is paved with

nine rings of marble slabs, each consisting of some multiple of nine.

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Symbolic numbers and colors are also used to celebrate and illustrate the sacredness and

perfection of heaven. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is supported by 28 columns. The

two outer rings of 12 represent the twelve months of the year and the 24 hours in the day while

the four inner columns represent the four seasons (Lou). This symbolism further reinforces the

sacredness of heaven and the purpose of the altar. All of the roofs in the Temple of Heaven

complex are a bright blue color. This color is reserved in Chinese architecture for buildings

relating to heaven. Because many other buildings in Beijing have either green or gold roofs,

these blue roofs stood out and had significance to those who experienced the site. Before 1751,

the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests had three different colored on its three-tiered roof. From

top to bottom the roofs were blue, gold, and green representing heaven, earth, and nature

respectively (Steinhardt). This symbolism served to embody the hierarchy of the Chinese

worldview. Now that the roofs are all blue, the message is slightly different. Changing the color

of the roof to blue refines the statement of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests to say that it is

entirely of heaven and makes the Hall the “roof of the entire composition” (Wu).

Great care was taken in constructing the temple complex such that the experience would

elevate the participant from the earth to heaven. Architect R.T.F. Skinner describes the

composition as achieving “an overwhelming effect with an extraordinary economy of elements”

(Boyd). The Circular Terrace, the semi-circular wall, the stone causeway, and the Temple of

Prayer for Good Harvests are four particular moments in the building sequence that are examples

of how the designers intended to convey that effect.

The Circular Terrace is surrounded by two walls with a large cypress forest beyond them.

When viewed from the top of the Circular Terrace, only the sky above and the trees below are

clearly visible. The circular wall seems to fit exactly within the square one giving the viewer the
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feeling of “rising above the earth” into the “unrestricted sky” above (Boyd). North of the

Circular Terrace and the Imperial Heavenly Vault is a semi-circular wall. This wall,

symbolically separates earth from heaven in the composition. Wu argues that its semi-circular

shape is to be interpreted as a “semi-spherical dome” to be penetrated on the path to heaven. The

long stone causeway that connects both ends of the complex was deliberately inclined toward the

Temple of Heaven. As one walks along this sacred way, one gets the feeling of “floating away

from earth” (Dazhang). As the emperor stood atop the Terrace of Prayer for Grain and looked

out, he would see only sky and trees giving him the feeling of “floating above a kingdom”

(Steinhardt).

The Temple of Heaven complex is a detailed and highly symbolic work of architecture.

Symbolism, arrangement, and location work together to deliberately embody the belief system of

the time and convey a message about that system. The temple conveys a message that is familiar

in ritual architecture. The message is one of safety, uniformity, validation, and order. The entire

temple complex is a celebration of heaven and its influence on earth, particularly its influence on

agriculture. At the time of its construction, Chinese emperors worked very hard to control the

population through a strong ritual system. This ritual system relied on a network of altars and

temples at which the emperor would perform ritual sacrifices and prayers on behalf of the

people. This ritual system became so important to Chinese culture that if poor harvests were

reaped one year it was blamed on the emperor having botched the ritual. As part of that ritual

system, the Temple of Heaven legitimized the emperor’s place as the “son of heaven” and

asserted his leadership over the Chinese people as long as the harvests continued to be bountiful.

The temple reinforces long held Chinese beliefs about the relationship between heaven and earth

and how people might travel beyond earth to heaven. The Temple complex even legitimizes its
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own existence by using symbolic, heavenly numbers in its structure. The entire experience of

the composition brings one from the square earth to round heaven slowly, solemnly and with

ease along the stone causeway. When standing at the top of the Circular Terrace, the emperor

would have little doubt that he is at the edge of the earth being lifted skyward.
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Appendix
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A.1: Hall for Fasting, Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in the background

A.2: Circular Terrace, looking north; round and square walls surrounding
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A.3: Imperial Heavenly Vault, looking north

A.4: Imperial Heavenly Vault, looking south; “echoing wall” surrounding

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A.5: Temple of Prayer for Good Harvests sitting atop the Terrace of Prayer for Grain

A.6: Four inner columns within the Temple of Prayer for Good Harvests, elaborately decorated
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A.7: Temple of Heaven Complex, North

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A.8: Temple of Heaven Complex, South