The Beijing Shejitan (), also known as the Altar of Earth and Harvests or the Altar of Land and Grain, is a

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

altar located in 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 ...

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 ...

, China. Built in 1421 by the

Ming dynasty 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 ...

, it was where national

soil and grain __NOTOC__ Soil and grain was a common political term in the Sinosphere for the state. Shejitan, the altars of soil and grain, were constructed alongside ancestral altars. Chinese monarchs of the Ming and Qing dynasties performed ceremonies of soil ...

ceremonies were conducted during the Ming 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. The Shejitan is also located in the opposite geometric location to the

Imperial Ancestral Temple The Imperial Ancestral Temple, or Taimiao () of Beijing, is a historic site in the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City, just outside the Forbidden City, where during both the Ming Dynasty, Ming and Qing Dynasty, Qing Dynasties, sacrificial cere ...

. Along with the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the Temple of Agriculture, and the

Temple of Heaven The Temple of Heaven () is a complex of imperial religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperor of China, Emperors of the Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasties for ...

, it is one of Beijing's main imperial temples.

References

Confucianism in China Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Beijing Religious buildings and structures in Beijing {{china-struct-stub

See also

References