Page 197 - DK Eyewitness Travel Guides - The World's Must-See Places

Golden Finial
Sitting atop the tempi e,
the finial is 125ft
(38m) high and prone
..._. ___ to lightning strikes.

~ Caisson Ceiling
The splendidly decorated,
circular caisson ceiling has a
b eauti fu I gilded dragon and
phoenix at its center.

A Dragon Well Pillars A Caisson Ceiling
The roofs of ltle hall are supported
on 2 8 highly decor a ted pillars. At
the center, the four colossal columns
known as Dragon Well Pillars represent
the seasons, while the outer 12 pillars
represent the months of the year. The
inner circle of 12 pillars represents the
12 two-hour periods into which the
Chinese divided ltl e day.

Blue represents The Hall of Prayer for
heaven Good Harvests was
built without the use "fll!"'ii!~•.-=~""'iil
of a single nail>

~ Dragon Well Pillars

A Marble Platform
Three tiers of marble form a circle 300 ft (90 m) in
diameter and 20ft (6 m) high. The balustrades on
the upper tier are carved with dragons to signify the
imperial nature of the structure.

EMPEROR YONGLE
This Ming emperor ruled from 1403
to 1424 and was responsible not only
for moving the capital from Nanjing
to Beijing, but also for starting work
- on the Forbidden City, the Temple of
Heaven, and the Ming Tombs.
Symbolic offerings

Central "Dragon and KEY DATES
Phoenix Stone"
1420 1530 1889 1918 1998
Qinian Dian is built. The Round A~ar is Qinian Dian burns The Temple of UNESCO inscribes
It is originally called constructed by down after a Heaven is opened the Temple of
the "Temple of Earth Emperor Sh izong. lightning strike. to the public. Heaven onto the
and Heaven." World Heritage List.