4/11/07 ~ Beijing: Temple of Heaven cont'd

On the Rio: Paul Simon ~ Slip Slidin' Away

Continuing along the walkway, I came across the Cypress Embracing Pagoda Tree, known as the "Brother Trees" of Beijing. This centuries old cypress has grown a 100+ year old pagoda tree. These 2 trees co-exist in a symbol of friendship. This phenomenon is possible due to birds accidentally dropping seeds into the hole of the cypress.

Here is the entranceway into the Temple of Heaven grounds.

The temple complex is built for the view of the gods. Seen from above, the temples themselves are round and their bases square, a pattern deriving from the ancient Chinese belief that heaven is round and earth is square.

The architecture of the Round Alter is based on the imperial number nine and multiples of nine.

This is the Imperial Hall of Heaven, where the tablets of the emporer's ancestors were displayed and worshipped and the emporer came to light incense the day before the winter solstice ceremony. This hall was first built in 1420 during the Ming Emporer Yongle's reign.