Danbi Bridge

Danbi Bridge

Danbi bridge, also known as Haipeng Avenue, is located in front of the new year praying Hall of the temple of Heaven Park in Beijing. It is a huge and long brick and stone platform with a length of 360 meters and a width of 30 meters. It was first built in 1420, the 18th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty.

It is called bridge because there are two culvert holes under it.

The south end of Danbi bridge is slightly higher than the surface, and the north end is more than 4.5 meters higher than the surface. It is connected with Chengzhen gate of Huanqiu in the South and brick gate of qigutan in the north, which forms the main axis of the temple of heaven.

brief introduction

Danbi bridge of the temple of heaven connects Qigu altar in the north, Yuanqiu altar in the south, low in the South and high in the north. Danbi bridge is flat and wide, with white stone in the center, and the stone surface is slightly raised upward in an arc shape. In the past, this road was the way for Shenyu to pass, which was called Shinto. The left and right sides of Shinto were decorated with bricks for emperors and ministers to walk

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There is a square brick platform in the east of Danbi bridge, which is called Jufu platform. There are carved stone railings on three sides. It is the place where the emperor washes and changes clothes during the sacrifice. Every year, when the ceremonial ceremony of praying for grain is held in the hall of praying for new year, a round tent is set up on this stage, which is called "Bi Ci", commonly known as "Xiaojin hall". It is a movable house. The emperor saluted in the hall of praying for new year from Zhai palace, and changed his dress in the "little golden hall" first. When the Ming emperor came here, he had to take off his shoes and salute in the hall of praying for new year. It means to be clean and not to bring dust to the altar. After taking off the shoes, the magic Road (i.e. Danbi bridge) is the corridor covered with brown carpet. This broad corridor leads directly to the hall of praying for new year.

Under the main road, there is an east-west hole called Jinxian gate. Every time the sacrificial ceremony is held, the animals are tied up with yellow wool, live fish are held in wooden pots, and music is played through the gate. Therefore, this hole is also called Guimen pass.

constitute

The temple of heaven is divided into inner and outer altars. The inner altars are composed of two parts: the Circular Mound and the grain praying altars. The northern part of the inner altars is the grain praying altars, and the southern part of the inner altars is the Circular Mound altars. A 360 meter long Danbi bridge connects the two altars. The main buildings of the two altars are concentrated at both ends of the Danbi bridge. Danbi bridge, also known as Haipeng Avenue, is a huge brick high platform commercial road and the main axis of the temple of heaven. On the east side of Danbi bridge, there are ancillary buildings which are suitable for the sacrificial function of the temple of heaven, such as the slaughter Pavilion, the God kitchen and the God storehouse. On the west side of Danbi bridge, there is Zhai palace, which is the place where the emperor fasted before the ceremony. Waitan is a forest area with many trees. In the southwest of Waitan, there is a music agency. It is a place for practicing sacrificial rites and music and training sacrificial musicians and dancers in Ming and Qing Dynasties

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There are three stone roads on the Danbi bridge, the middle one is Shinto, the East Royal Road, the West Royal Road, which is high in the north and low in the south. The north end is 4 meters high and the south end is 1 meter high.

origin

Danbi bridge, also known as Haipeng Avenue, is the main axis of the inner altar of the temple of heaven. It is a north-south Avenue connecting the hall of praying for new year and the imperial vault. It is a 360 meter long and 29.4 meter wide masonry platform. "Dan" means red, and "Bi" originally refers to the steps in front of the palace. The reason why a straight and broad road is also called "Danbi bridge" is that there is a ticket hole under the road, which just forms a three-dimensional intersection with the road above. The south end of Danbi bridge is about 1 meter high, while the north end is about 3 meters high. It rises gradually from south to north. First, it symbolizes the Emperor '. Because it is the way to heaven, the stone road on the center line of the bridge deck is called Shinto. On both sides of Shinto are "royal way" on the left and "royal way" on the right. The gods of heaven follow the way of God, the emperors follow the way of the emperor, and the princes and ministers follow the way of the king

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repair

140000 City bricks create the original appearance of Danbi bridge in the late Qing Dynasty

When the Danbi bridge was rebuilt in 1976, the city bricks on the bridge deck were removed and replaced by concrete square bricks. From June 8 to September 30, 2007, the Danbi bridge in the temple of heaven was restored to its original appearance. According to the old photos and historical documents, the renovation project adopts the traditional shape, materials and technology of the city brick sea plastering to restore its original historical appearance. The whole project covers an area of 24231 square meters and uses 140000 bricks

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function

The present ceremony is held every year from the 30th of the lunar new year to the fifth day of the first lunar month (February 6-11). A total of 288 people take part in this large-scale cultural performance, with a total performance time of 90 minutes.

Among them, the performance of "ritual to heaven" was held on Danbi bridge, the performance of "music and dance to heaven" was held in the hall of praying for new year, and the performance of "ancient music art of the temple of heaven" was held in Ningxi Hall of the National Conservatory of music. In terms of costumes, props and etiquette regulations, the performance activities follow the original appearance of the Qing Dynasty "heaven worship" ceremony as far as possible. In order to declare the event as an intangible cultural heritage, the park management office conducted further research on the sacrificial music, flags, ritual vessels and other contents.

The specific time of the activity is as follows: the performance of "ceremonial guard of worship to heaven" starts at 10:00 a.m. and 13:30 p.m.; the performance of "music and dance of worship to heaven" starts at 11:00 a.m. and 14:40 p.m.; the performance of "Temple of heaven ancient music art" starts at 9:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 13:30 p.m., 14:30 p.m., 15:30 p.m

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Address: Tiantan Park, No.7, Dongli, inner Tiantan, Dongcheng District, Beijing

Longitude: 116.41288

Latitude: 39.879979

Ticket information: no ticket required. Included in the admission ticket of the park in the park. In addition to the gate ticket of the temple of heaven, a joint ticket of 20 yuan is also required for the hall of praying for new year, Yuanqiu and huiyinbi. You can also buy a ticket for the whole temple of heaven, 35 yuan in peak season (April 1 - October 31), and 30 yuan in off season (November 1 - March 31).