The Temple of Heaven was built in 1420 in the Ming Dynasty. It has a total area of 273 hectares. The Temple of Heaven is not only the largest group of temple buildings in China, but also the largest heaven-worshiping architecture in the world.
When the Temple of was first built in 1420, it was called Temple of Heaven and Earth. At that time, both heaven and earth were worshiped here. But in 1530, Emperor Jiajing built the Temple of Earth in the northern part of Beijing, and then Heaven and Earth were worshiped separately. Ever since then it was renamed the Temple of Heaven.
The emperor came here on the 15th day(6th,8th,10th) of the first lunar month to pray for a good harvest. On winter solstice each year, the emperor would come here to hold a sacrificial ceremony to worship the God of Heaven. But whenever there was a drought in that year, the emperor would come here on Summer Solstice to hold a ceremony praying to Heave for rain.
However this kind of worshiping ceremony ended in 1915, In1918, the Temple of Heaven was opened to the public and turned into a park. Now this is area is called Tiantan Park.
In 1961, Chinese Government listed the Temple of Heaven as one of the important historical monuments under special preservation, and in 1998 it was listed as a world cultural.
Author: AmoyTrip.com--The History of the Temple of Heaven
Free Inquiry: ryan@amoytrip.com
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