Yesterday we had the day off, so I decided to travel to the Temple of Heaven in the southern part of Beijing. The Temple of Heaven is China's largest existing complex of ancient sacrificial buildings. Occupying an area of 273 hectares, it is three times the area of the 
Forbidden City. It was built in 1420 for emperors to worship Heaven. The principle buildings include the Altar of Prayer for Good Harvests, Imperial Vault of Heaven and Circular Mound Altar. It was incredible to see this spiritual place of worship firsthand; however, I couldn’t help but wonder what the people of China think, having the Temple of Heaven no longer a place of worship, but a tourist attraction. I’m going to ask one of our Chinese grad students their opinion on this topic the first chance I get.
Forbidden City. It was built in 1420 for emperors to worship Heaven. The principle buildings include the Altar of Prayer for Good Harvests, Imperial Vault of Heaven and Circular Mound Altar. It was incredible to see this spiritual place of worship firsthand; however, I couldn’t help but wonder what the people of China think, having the Temple of Heaven no longer a place of worship, but a tourist attraction. I’m going to ask one of our Chinese grad students their opinion on this topic the first chance I get.
No comments:
Post a Comment