The Imperial Ancestral Temple, or Taimiao () of

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, is a historic site in the

Imperial City In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

, just outside the

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is a Chinese palace, palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples includ ...

, where during both the

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

and

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...

Dynasties, sacrificial ceremonies were held on the most important festival occasions in honor of the imperial family's ancestors.The Imperial Ancestral Temple
/ref> The temple, which resembles the Forbidden City's ground plan, is a cluster of buildings in three large courtyards separated by walls. The main hall inside the temple is the Hall for Worship of Ancestors, which is one of only four buildings in Beijing to stand on a three-tiered platform, a hint that it was the most sacred site in imperial Beijing. It contains seats and beds for the tablets of emperors and empresses, as well as incense burners and offerings. On the occasion of large-scale ceremonies for worship of ancestors, the emperors would come here to participate. Flanking the courtyard in front of this hall are two long, narrow buildings. These were worship halls for various princes and courtiers. The Western Wing housed the

spirit tablets A spirit tablet, memorial tablet, or ancestral tablet, is a placard used to designate the seat of a deity or past ancestor as well as to enclose it. The name of the deity or past ancestor is usually inscribed onto the tablet. With origins in tra ...

of meritorious courtiers, while the Eastern Wing enshrined various princes of the Ming or Qing dynasty. Behind the Hall for Worship of Ancestors are two other main halls. The first was built in 1420 and used to store imperial

. By the 1920s, the Imperial Ancestral Temple and its surrounding spaces had become a public park, and that public park today has been expanded from its original size and is now also known as the Working People's Cultural Palace ( 劳动人民文化宫; pinyin: Láodòng Rénmín Wénhuà Gōng). This park was extended based on the Imperial Ancestral Hall site, and the park is located east of

Tiananmen The Tiananmen (also Tian'anmen (天安门), Tienanmen, T’ien-an Men; ), or the Gate of Heaven-Sent Pacification, is a monumental gate in the city center of Beijing, China, the front gate of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City of Beij ...

, while the

Zhongshan Park Zhongshan Park () is a common name for Chinese parks, in honour of Sun Yat-sen, better-known in Chinese as Sun Zhongshan, who is considered by many to be the " Father of modern China". Currently there are more than 40 Zhongshan Parks in China, and ...

lies to the west. These two parks along with

Beihai Park Beihai Park () is a public park and former imperial garden located in the northwestern part of the Imperial City, Beijing. First built in the 11th century, it is among the largest of all Chinese gardens and contains numerous historicall ...

and Jingshan and several other parks have a deep historic tie with the

Images

File:The Halberd Gate at the Imperial Ancestral Temple.JPG, The Halberd Gate File:Ancestral Shrine at the Imperial Ancestral Temple.JPG, The Ancestral Shrine (a.k.a. Back Hall) File:Name plaque at the Imperial Ancestral Temple.JPG, Name plaque. The left column is in Chinese, the right column in

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...

References

External links

Official siteEncyclopædia Britannica
Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Beijing Religious buildings and structures in Beijing Ancestral shrines in China Jongmyo shrines {{Old Beijing

Images

See also

References

External links