The Imperial Ancestral Temple, or Taimiao () of
Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, is a historic site in the
Imperial City, just outside the
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City () is the Chinese Empire, imperial Chinese palace, palace complex in the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasty L ...
, where during both the
Ming and
Qing dynasties, sacrificial ceremonies were held on the most important festival occasions in honor of the imperial family's ancestors.
[The Imperial Ancestral Temple](_blank)
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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 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 spirit tablets.
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, while the Zhongshan Park lies to the west. These two parks along with Beihai Park and Jingshan and several other parks have a deep historic tie with the Forbidden City
The Forbidden City () is the Chinese Empire, imperial Chinese palace, palace complex in the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasty L ...
.
The temple platform was used in 1998 to stage performances of the opera '' Turandot''. This was recorded and broadcast as '' Turandot at the Forbidden City''.
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.
See also
* Imperial City
* Shejitan
* Jongmyo, Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
* Ise Grand Shrine
* Thế Miếu, Huế
* Triệu Tổ miếu, Huế
References
External links
Official siteEncyclopædia Britannica
{{Old Beijing
Confucian royal ancestral shrines
Ancestral shrines in China
15th-century establishments in China
Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Beijing
Religious buildings and structures in Beijing