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The Temple of Heaven (simplified Chinese: 天坛; traditional Chinese: 天壇; pinyin: Tiāntán) is a complex of imperial religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for a good harvest.
Visitors enter the China Pavilion through a large Chinese gate. The courtyard is dominated by a replica of the Temple of Heaven, which contains the entrance to "Reflections of China", a Circle-Vision 360° movie exploring China's history and scenery, as well as a museum containing several ancient Chinese artifacts.
The top layer has 72 slates, the middle layer has 108 slates, and the bottom layer has 180 slates. All together there are 360 slates. This is similar to 360°, which is a circle and thus represents the circumference of heaven. In the centre of the upper terrace is the Heaven's Heart Stone which is surrounded by concentrically arranged flag-stones.
Goryeo monarchs sacrificed to heaven until 1385, [1] even during the period of Mongol rule. [2] King Sejo of Joseon briefly restarted the rite at a location elsewhere in Seoul, but stopped the practice in the tenth year of his reign in 1464 because the rite could only be performed by the Son of Heaven, and Joseon was a tributary state to Ming. [4]
Yuanshi Tianzun is never represented with either images or idols. Instead, in the center building of the Temple of Heaven, in a structure called the "Imperial Vault of Heaven", a "spirit tablet" (神位, or shénwèi) inscribed with the name of Yuanshi Tianzun is stored on the throne, Huangtian Shangdi (皇天上帝). During an annual sacrifice ...
In contrast to this, the much larger Temple of Heaven is circular in shape, symbolizing the heavens and sky, and is located in the south of Beijing. These two temples, along with the Temple of the Moon and Temple of the Sun (located in the west and east, respectively), interact with each other in spiritually important ways.