the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest

the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest

The hall of praying for new year was built in 1420, the 18th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty. It was originally named "Da Si Dian". It is a rectangular hall used to worship heaven and earth. In the 24th year of Jiajing reign (1545), it was changed into a round hall with triple eaves. The top of the hall was covered with green, medium yellow and green colored glass, implying heaven, earth and all things. It was renamed "Daxing hall". In the 16th year of Qianlong (1751) of the Qing Dynasty, the three color tile was changed into a unified blue tile and golden roof, named "the hall of praying for the new year", which is a special building for praying for the valley in mengchun (first month). With a height of 38.2 meters and a diameter of 24.2 meters, the hall of praying for new year also contains four seasons, December, twelve hours and the stars in the sky. It is the only remaining example of the Ming Tang style architecture in ancient times.

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Architectural history

The hall of prayer for good harvest, formerly known as "Daqi hall", was originally a rectangular hall for worshiping heaven and earth. It was built in 1420, the 18th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, and is the earliest building in the temple of heaven. It was demolished in the 19th year of Jiajing (1540).

In the 24th year of Jiajing reign (1545), the triple top round hall was built, named "Daxiang hall". The top of the hall is covered with green, medium yellow and green colored glass, which means heaven, earth and all things.

In 1751, the three color tile was changed into a unified blue tile and golden roof, and the name was changed to "Hall of praying for the new year". It is a special building for praying for the valley in mengchun (first month).

It was destroyed by thunder and fire in 1889 and rebuilt as it was a few years later.

building structure

The hall of praying for the new year is the main building of the temple of heaven, also known as the hall of praying for the valley. It is the place where the Ming and Qing emperors Meng Chun prayed for the valley. It is a gilded top, blue tiles and red pillars, resplendent painted three-story circular hall with double eaves. The structure of the hall of praying for new year is the house of the Lord. The main hall is built on a three-story white marble platform surrounded by a 6-meter-high white stone column, which is the praying altar. It is magnificent and magnificent. The hall is of brick and wood structure, 38 meters high and 32 meters in diameter, with three layers of double eaves shrinking upward to form an umbrella. The building is unique, without long purlin and nails. Twenty eight huge columns of Phoebe are arranged around it, supporting the weight of the top of the hall. The hall of praying for new year is designed according to the idea of "respecting heaven and God". The hall is round, symbolizing the round sky; the tile is blue, symbolizing the blue sky.

The internal structure of the hall is unique: instead of beams and purlins, only nanmu columns and fangjue are used to support the roof. It is said that the number of pillars in the hall was also built according to the celestial phenomena. The four "Longjing pillars" in the inner circle symbolize the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter; the twelve "golden pillars" in the middle circle symbolize the twelve months of the year; and the twelve "eaves pillars" in the outer circle symbolize the twelve hours of the day. The twenty-four roots in the middle and outer layers symbolize the twenty-four solar terms in a year. A total of 28 on the third floor symbolize the 28 stars in the sky. In addition, there are eight copper pillars at the top of the pillar, a total of 36, symbolizing 36 Tiangang. In the center of the floor of the hall is a round marble with natural dragon and phoenix patterns, which echo with the flat dragon caisson on the top of the hall and the dragon and Phoenix and seal patterns painted with gold around. The Lei Gong column under the six treasures symbolizes the emperor's "domination of the world". The caisson in the hall of praying for the new year is composed of two Dougong and one ceiling, with golden dragon and Phoenix reliefs in the middle. The structure is exquisite and magnificent, which makes the whole hall very magnificent.

The seat of the hall of praying for the new year is a round altar of praying for the valley, which is six meters high and majestic. There is a low wall around the altar, and a burnt firewood stove, a burying ridge, a burning stove and a clothing platform are set up in the southeast corner. There is Huangqian hall in the north of the altar, which is five rooms wide. Originally, the ancestral God card was placed, but later the card was moved to the Taimiao temple. Beside the altar are the gate for praying for new year, the God storehouse, the God kitchen, the slaughter Pavilion, the Zou Road, the corridor and other ancillary buildings. On the square to the south of the corridor is the seven star stone, which was placed in the Jiajing period.

Traffic information

From the south gate into the temple of Heaven Park, along the central axis to the north, after the round dome, huangqiongyu and Danbi bridge, is the hall of praying for new year.

Address: Tiantan Park, Tiantan Road, Dongcheng District, Beijing

Longitude: 116.412964

Latitude: 39.883347

Tel: 010-67028866

Official website: http://tiantanpark.com