Great Wall of China | Forbidden City | Tiananmen Square | Temple of Heaven | Summer Palace |
The Temple of Heaven is one of the four imperial temples built during the late Ming Dynasty and is also the largest of all temples. The other three are the Altar of the Earth, Altar of the Moon and Altar of the Sun respectively. Indeed, the Temple of Heaven is so huge that it covers an area four times larger than the Forbidden City.
The Temple of Heaven is also another ancient Chinese structure that is listed in UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was constructed in early Fifteenth Century at the same time with the Forbidden City. The Temple of Heaven served as a Taoist temple where Emperors visited annually to pray for good harvests and fortunes. It is also the place where Emperors ‘speak’ to Heaven.
In ancient China, people believed that the Heaven was round in shape while the Earth we lived in was square. As such, the architects designing the Temple of Heaven made use of numerous figures of circles and squares to help symbolize the connection of the Earthly Emperors to the Heavenly Gods. These unique designs have tremendous influence on the architectural styles of buildings in China in later years.
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