The Imperial Ancestral Temple, or Taimiao () of
Beijing
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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 ...
, is a historic site in the
Imperial City, just outside the
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City () is a palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples including the Zhongshan Park, the sacrific ...
, 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 RénmÃn Wénhuà GÅng). 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 a palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples including the Zhongshan Park, the sacrific ...
.
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 Jongmyo may refer to:
* Jongmyo (shrine), a kind of shrine in the East Asian cultural sphere
* Jongmyo (Seoul)
Jongmyo (Hangul: 종묘; Hanja: 宗廟) is a Confucian shrine dedicated to the perpetuation of memorial services for the deceased ki ...
, Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...
*Ise Grand Shrine
The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and .
The Inne ...
* Thế Miếu, Huế
* Triệu Tổ miếu, Huế
References
External links
Official siteEncyclopædia Britannica
Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Beijing
Religious buildings and structures in Beijing
Ancestral shrines in China
Jongmyo shrines
{{Old Beijing