The Temple of Heaven was constructed in 1420 to pay homage to the gods. The temple grounds cover an area of 2.73 square km, entirely enclosed by a high wall. The emperors were the Sons of Heaven, so the grounds of the Temple of Heaven are significantly larger than the grounds of the Forbidden City, to signify their humility. According to ancient Chinese religious belief the sky was round and the earth square, so the north section of the wall is hemispherical and the south section is squared off to represent Heaven and Earth. Also, since the heavens are higher than the earth, the north section of the wall is higher than the south section.

The huge grounds have many buildings, but the most famous are concentrated along the Vermillion Steps Bridge, a 30-meter wide 360-meter long causeway that runs north to south along the center of the park.

In the south is the Circular Mound Altar, where the emperor worshipped heaven. Built in 1530 the altar is a three-level, round, white marble platform. The platform’s dimensions are centered on multiples of nine, five and three – the first level is 9 zhang across, the next 15, the next 21, for a total of 45 – symbolizing dragons and profitability. If you stand on the large round stone at the center of the altar, your voice will echo.

North of that is the Echo Wall. The circular wall is 61.5 meters across, and so well designed that anything spoken at one point on the wall can be heard at any other point. Three echo stones are inside the Echo Wall. If you stand on the first your voice will echo once, twice on the second and three times on the third.

Still further north is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, where the emperors would pray once a year for favorable weather and abundant harvests for the entire nation. The beautiful hall is a round, triple-eaved building 38 meters high and 32 meters in diameter with a beautiful blue-glazed tile roof. As with the Circular Mound altar, this building is also constructed around significant numbers, this time four – for the four seasons – and twelve – for the twelve months and signs of the zodiac.

There are many other buildings in the huge park, not to mention the extensive gardens. It’s well worth a half-day trip, if not more.

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