Temple of Heaven

Temple of Heaven
Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the largest building in the Temple of Heaven
LocationDongcheng, Beijing, China
Coordinates39°52′56″N 116°24′24″E / 39.8822°N 116.4066°E / 39.8822; 116.4066 (Temple of Heaven)
Built1406–1420 (Ming dynasty)
Websitetiantanpark.com
Official nameTemple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing
TypeCultural
Criteriai, ii, iii
Designated1998 (22nd session)
Reference no.881
RegionAsia-Pacific
Temple of Heaven is located in Beijing
Temple of Heaven
Location of Temple of Heaven in Beijing
Temple of Heaven is located in China
Temple of Heaven
Temple of Heaven (China)
Temple of Heaven
"Temple of Heaven" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese天坛
Traditional Chinese天壇
Literal meaning"Altar of Heaven" Araceli
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinTiāntán
IPA[tʰjɛ́ntʰǎn]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationTīn-tàahn
JyutpingTin1-taan4
Southern Min
Tâi-lôThinn-tuânn

The Temple of Heaven (simplified Chinese: 天坛; traditional Chinese: 天壇; pinyin: Tiāntán) is a complex of imperial religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for a good harvest. The Temple of Heaven was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1998 and was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance for the evolution of one of the world's great civilizations..." as the "symbolic layout and design of the Temple of Heaven had a profound influence on architecture and planning in the Far East over many centuries."[1]

  1. ^ "Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing - UNESCO World Heritage Centre". Whc.unesco.org. 1998-12-02. Archived from the original on 2008-08-01. Retrieved 2016-10-31.