Temple
of Heaven was initially built as the Temle of Heaven and Earth in 1420,
the 18th year of Emperor Yongle's reign, Ming Dynasty. Moving his capital
from Nanjing to Beijing in the early days of the Ming, Emperor Yngle
built in Beijing the Temle of Heaven and Earth on the model of the one
in Nanjing,
which was used for offering sacrifices to both heaven and earth.
The early
version of the building was not as large as the present one. The southern
half was added in 1530, the ninth year of Emperor Jiajing's reign in
the same dynasty, forming two altars with the Altar of Prayer for Good
Harvests in the north and the Circular Mound Altar in the south, linked
up by a long platform called "Dianbiqiao". The platform,
30 meters in width, paved with large bricks, stretches 360 meters from
north to south.
The historical
value of the Temple of Heaven lies also in over 3000 cypresses of about
600 years old, which are full of life. When you touch and feel the knars
and traces left on barks due to long years of weathering and erosion,
you will admire their tenacity of life.
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