The Temple of Heaven served as a place of worship for the Ming and Qing emperors (r. 1368 – 1911). When Emperor Yong Le ordered the construction of the Forbidden City to be the imperial residence, he commissioned the ‘house of gods’ to be built on a vast area in southern Beijing.Occupying 2.75 million square meters the temple is nearly four times bigger than the Forbidden City (720,000sqm) – as the son of gods dared not build a grander dwelling than that of his divine fathers’. Originally called the Temple of Heaven and Earth, the temple underwent a period of expansion and was renamed the Temple of Heaven under Emperor Jiajing (r. 1521-1527), who ordered three separate temples to be built to enshrine the gods of the sun, earth and moon in the east, north and west of Beijing, respectively.
Open to the public in 1912, the Temple of Heaven has since amazed visitors with its marvelous architecture, craftsmanship as well as its landscape design. It is also one of the most popular parks for local people to relax, do their morning exercise and fly kites. The Temple of Heaven showcases a perfect geometrical setup and heavy emphasis on ancient symbolisms as old as the great philosopher Confucius (551-497 BC) himself.Even the wall surrounding the entire compound has a rounded northern perimeter, then an angular base for the southern section, again to embody the concept of heaven as a higher, celestial entity.
