Live Your Best Lives
The architectural layout of the Ming Dynasty imperial palace followed the "Five Gates and Three Courts" ritual of the Zhou Li. The Five Gates and Three Courts were all located in the center of the palace, but the Zhou Li also stipulated the facilities on the left and right, such as "the kitchen on the left and the bathhouse on the right." A kitchen is the chef, and a bathhouse is the bathhouse. A large kitchen well was dug east of the Wenhua Hall on the east side of the palace, and a Yude Hall was built west of the Wuying Hall on the west side. Furthermore, the Zhou Li also stipulated "the ancestral temple on the left and the community on the right." "Zu" refers to the ancestral temple, while the common people's homes are called ancestral halls. If you pay attention, you'll notice that the ancestral halls of large families that still exist are all on the left side of the family compound, such as the Chen Gong Temple at Chen Fang's former residence, next to the Meixi Archway in Zhuhai.
In ancient China, filial piety was paramount, and ancestor worship was a very important filial piety. Such a ancestral temple complex can be found at the ruins of the Shang Dynasty Yin Ruins, where the pattern of "the ancestral temple on the left and the community on the right" can already be seen. The custom of "left ancestral temple, right shrine" originated from the Zhou rituals that followed the Shang Dynasty. Zhou ancestral temples consisted of several separate temples, known as the Dugong Biedian (Dougong Biedian), with the founding ancestor in the center and the descendants of the ancestors on either side. King Wen was the Zhao, and King Wu was the Mu. The Qin Dynasty's ancestral temples, remnants of the Qin ancestral temple in Yongcheng, the capital of the Former Qin Dynasty, were already a custom. Unlike Zhou temples, Qin temples had a hall for offering sacrifices in the front and a chamber for the deities in the back. By the Eastern Han Dynasty, this structure had been fully established, known as "same hall, different rooms." During the Yuan Dynasty, when Beijing was established as Dadu, a shrine was also built. The Yuan Dynasty shrine was not located near the Yuan imperial palace, but within Dadu's Qihua Gate, near present-day Chaoyang Gate. Its layout followed Mongolian customs combined with Han rituals, with the west upper and east lower sections, and the same hall with different rooms. There was a hall for offering sacrifices in the front and a sleeping hall in the back. The sleeping hall had eight rooms, not seven or nine.
The Nanjing Ancestral Temple originally built by Ming Chengzu Zhu Yuanzhang was in the form of a "separate hall of the capital palace" and was called the Four Ancestors Temple. Later, in the half-broken Ming Zhongdu, ancestral temples with the same hall and different rooms were built, and the Nanjing Taimiao was also changed to the "same hall and different rooms" style. In the 18th year of Yongle (1420 AD), when Zhu Di built the imperial palace in Beijing, he also built the Royal Ancestral Temple. It was located on the left hand side outside the Meridian Gate of the imperial palace, which is now the Taimiao in the Workers' Cultural Palace.
Although the Taimiao was outside the imperial palace, it was still within the imperial city. To the east of the back gable of the East Guard House between Tiananmen Square and Duanmen and Meridian Gate; to the west of the city wall on the west side of Nanchizi Street; to the north of the city wall of Chang'an East Street; and to the south of the eastern section of Nantongzi River; this area is now the Workers' Cultural Palace, and its central building is the Taimiao.
Entering the Workers' Cultural Palace from the east side of Tiananmen Square, outside the Imperial Ancestral Temple are vast expanses of ancient cypress trees, most of which were planted in the early Ming Dynasty, making them six hundred years old.
The Imperial Ancestral Temple within the Workers' Cultural Palace also has a wall, this one the palace walls, constructed of blue bricks and plastered red on the outside. The wall has stepped eaves, yellow glazed tile caps and ridges, and ridge beasts at the ends. The Imperial Ancestral Temple faces south according to ritual, so its palace gate is naturally on the south side.
This is a three-door, five-story glazed arched gate with solid doors and nine rows and seven columns of sixty-three gilded door nails. You can see a white stone pedestal beneath it, so you could also call it a "four-pillar, five-story" glazed gate. The ancient saying "side doors and left paths" actually has a source. In addition to the main gate, every mansion had a side door. Remember the Taihe Gate (Taihemen) and the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the imperial palace? These were the front, middle, and back doors on the left and right. The left door was considered superior. When the main gate was not an option, the left side door was preferred, hence the term "side doors and left paths." The left side door in the palace was reserved for royal relatives and nobles, while other ministers could only use the right side door. The term "side doors and left paths" originally meant that while not as grand as the main gate, it was still a step above the right door. Later, it somehow evolved to mean "evil ways." The Imperial Ancestral Temple also had side doors on either side of the main gate. Take a look at its left side door. This is a "two-pillar, one-story" glazed wall-mounted door with a checkerboard pattern, much simpler than the main gate. Standing in the middle doorway of the south gate of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, you can see the main gate. The blue sky frames the petal-shaped outlines of the archway, while the curved archway frames the Taimiao main gate and the three white stone bridges in front of it. This visual effect, known as "overwhite," is a characteristic of Chinese architectural aesthetics. Overwhite uses the outlines of nearby buildings to frame distant views, leaving space between the sky and the earth. Especially in places like doorways, this creates a kaleidoscopic effect, creating contrasts of near and far, reality and illusion, complexity and simplicity, and light and dark. This layout embodies the Chinese artistic principle of "observing the situation from afar and the form from near" in the layout of architectural complexes. The main gate of the Forbidden City also uses this overwhite effect; just look at the effect of looking from the Meridian Gate towards the Gate of Supreme Harmony. After entering the Taimiao Palace Gate, the main gate is directly opposite. This is the gate of a royal palace, with five rooms and three openings. Below it stands a five-foot-high white stone platform, topped by a circle of white marble handrails. In front of the platform are three rows of white marble handrail steps, with the central one serving as the imperial path. The gate hall is five bays wide and two bays deep, with its doors tucked into the center pillar. It boasts a beamed roof with brackets and yellow glazed tiles, a single-eaved hip roof, and seven ridge beasts on the eaves. As the place where the ancestors of the current emperor were enshrined, this gate to the Imperial Ancestral Temple is of exceptional standard.
Take a look at the gate hall's base, the white stone Sumeru pedestal, the white marble Zen staff railings, and the balusters carved with cloud and dragon reliefs. The base also features dragon-headed water dispensers, those faucets.
Take a look at the imperial path's Danbi stone steps.
Below, the sea and cliffs are visible, and above them, two hollow lions are depicted rolling an embroidered ball. High in the sky, two flying dragons are seen playing with a precious pearl. The two lions, draped in ribbons, symbolize "continuous good fortune" in folklore. The pattern of two lions rolling an embroidered ball on the Danbi stone steps is extremely rare and seems unseen in the imperial palace.
Stand inside the gate hall and take a look. The main hall and the secondary hall have doors, while the side halls have solid walls. The doors are solid, with nine rows and nine columns of eighty-one gilded nails. The ceiling is decorated with a gilded dragon pattern, and the beams are covered with gilded double dragon and imperial seal paintings. The paintings have been heavily oiled in recent years, while the gilded double dragon and imperial seal paintings are relics from the Qing Dynasty and have faded. The gatehouse is very spacious, but because the side halls are not enclosed, it feels a bit empty, as if something is missing. You'll have to admit, this gatehouse is truly lacking something. Initially, the east and west side halls of this gatehouse were filled with numerous Qinglong halberds—halberds with a half-moon blade on one side. Those with half-moon blades on both sides are called Fangtian halberds. If the halberd's pole is decorated with colorful patterns, it is called a Fangtian Huaji, and Lü Bu wielded one. The side halls on each side of the Taimiao gate were lined with two rows of fifteen halberds, meaning thirty Qinglong halberds per side hall. There are thirty halberds on each side of the front hall and thirty on each side of the back hall, for a total of 120. This gate has no plaque, but it is called the "Jimen" (Jimen Gate) because of these halberds. During the Ming Dynasty, there were twenty-four halberds on each side of the front and back hall, for a total of ninety-six. This number was increased to thirty per side during the Qing Dynasty, for a total of one hundred and twenty. The Jimen Gate itself has a history. The Zhou Li states that emperors used halberds as gates at their campsites when traveling or camping. Starting in the Tang Dynasty, placing halberds at the front of gates became a custom. The number of halberds represented the rank of the occupant within the gate. Temples, shrines, and palaces were the highest, with twenty-four per side; the number of halberds decreased for lower ranks. For unknown reasons, the Jimen Gate at the Taimiao in the early Qing Dynasty had thirty halberds per side, more than in the Ming Dynasty. The imperial family's Qinglong halberds were gilded iron, while others used ordinary iron halberds. In the 26th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1900 AD), the 120 gilded, red-shafted iron halberds from the Taimiao's Jimen Gate were looted by the invading Eight-Nation Alliance.
In addition to the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the Shouhuang Gate of the Shouhuang Hall in Jingshan Park is also a halberd-shaped gate. Located on Beijing's central axis, it was rebuilt during the 2016 renovation of the Shouhuang Hall. Seeing the halberd-shaped gatehouse at Shouhuang Gate offers a glimpse into the past of the Imperial Ancestral Temple's halberd-shaped gate.
In front of the Imperial Ancestral Temple's halberd-shaped gate is a river, a section of the Outer Jinshui River. In the early Ming Dynasty, there was no water in the river beneath this bridge; it was only during the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty that water from the Jinshui River was diverted.
Seven white stone bridges with white marble handrails span the river.
In front of the halberd-shaped gate are three white stone bridges, forming a set. Flanking the halberd-shaped gate are left and right side gates, each with a white stone bridge in front of it.
To the left and right of the left and right side gates stands a well pavilion, each with a white stone bridge in front of it. This adds up to a total of seven white stone bridges. Take a look at the left well pavilion and its accompanying white stone bridge. Most of the well pavilions in the palace have four-cornered gable roofs. The well pavilion in the Imperial Garden has a four-pillar, octagonal gable roof, and the large kitchen well has a four-pillar, hipped roof with a skylight. The well pavilion in the Imperial Ancestral Temple features yellow glazed tiles, six pillars, a hexagonal single-eaved gable roof, double-layered horizontal beams, and brackets. Both its scale and style are far more luxurious than those in the palace. The gable roofs of the well pavilions in the palace are all hollow and reach the sky. Let's take a look inside the gable roof of the Imperial Ancestral Temple well pavilion. This gable roof is enclosed, with a flat, colorful hexagonal chessboard ceiling. Logically, this gable roof should also be hollow. I wonder if it was enclosed in the early Ming Dynasty or later? The courtyard outside the Imperial Ancestral Temple is lined with cypress trees. Inside the south gate, the Jimen Square also features trees, all pine trees, also planted in the early Ming Dynasty. The Jimen Gate is usually closed, opening only when the Emperor offers personal sacrifices. Now that the Emperor has passed away and will never return, the Jimen Gate will never be open to us tourists. So how can we enter the Imperial Ancestral Temple? The only way is through the side gates. The left side gate used to be reserved for royal princes, but these were swept into the dustbin of history by the Xinhai Revolution. To prevent tourists from pretending to be holding large cloves of garlic or sticking scallions in their noses, officials have instructed all visitors to use the right side gate. The left and right side gates are identical, each with its own entrance, a one-and-a-half-foot-high platform, brackets and raised beams, a single-eaved hip roof with yellow glazed tiles, and five ridge beasts on the ridge. The lintels are decorated with a double dragon and a royal seal, and the doors are located on the center pillars.
Enter the right side door and look back.
Take another look behind the halberd gate.
Turning around, you can see the majestic Taimiao Main Hall.
Since it's an imperial ancestral hall, according to the rule of separate rooms within the same hall, it should have at least two halls facing north and south. The front one is called the Xian Hall, and the back one is called the Qin Hall. This is an extension of the concept of front-facing and rear-facing halls in palace architecture. Ancestors usually reside in separate sacrificial rooms within the Qin Hall in the form of memorial tablets. When descendants come to burn incense, kowtow, and offer sacrifices, the memorial tablets are first removed from the Qin Hall and brought to the Xian Hall, where they sit together and enjoy the offerings and fruit from their descendants. Wealthy ancestral halls in the private sector emulate this model, and almost all have two Xian Halls and a Qin Hall, such as the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall in Guangzhou. However, in Shanxi, many have only a single Qin Hall, such as the Shengmu Hall at the Jin Temple. The Holy Mother Hall doesn't hold tablets, but statues. Sacrifices were offered in a sacrificial hall in front of the sleeping hall. The Jin Temple resembles a branch hall in the imperial palace. The Hall of Worship in the Taimiao is enormous and of exceptional quality. It rests on a three-tiered white stone platform, each four feet high, each surrounded by a ring of white marble handrails. Under each of the railings are white marble dragon-headed damsels. Atop the platform is a spacious red-brick moon platform. In front of the platform are three rows of white marble handrails. The center row is the Red Steps Imperial Road, known as the "Shen Road." There are also handrails on the east and west sides of the platform for walking up and down. Look at the Red Steps Imperial Road. Look at the bluestone reliefs on the lower red steps. Above and below are the sea and cliffs, and in the center are six dragons and horses galloping on the waves. The Book of Documents states, "When Fuxi came to power, a dragon and horse carried a map out of the He River." This river is the Meng River, and the map on the dragon and horse's back is the Hetu. Hence the saying, "The dragon horse represents the essence of heaven and earth; its form is a horse's body with dragon scales, hence the name 'dragon horse'."
The outside of the platform is also covered in white marble dragon-headed sconces.
Go up to the platform and take a look.
This spacious platform should have been furnished with ornaments, but now there's no trace of things like tortoises, cranes, or furnaces. Only a copper vat sits in the corner, a place it shouldn't be; it was probably once beneath the platform.
The "Taimiao" plaque hangs beneath the eaves of this hall. The nine-dragon plaque, gilded with gold, appears to be the work of Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty. I wonder if it's always been there or if it was moved later.
This hall is eleven bays wide and four bays deep. It should actually be nine bays wide and four bays deep, surrounded by an enclosed veranda. Counting from the center outward, there are the main hall, the first hall, the second hall, the side hall, the last hall, and the enclosed eaves corridor. The main hall and the second hall have four-panel, six-panel doors, while the side hall, the last hall, and the enclosed eaves corridor have gray brick sill walls with four-panel windows. The partitions all have three-cross, six-panel lattices. The door lattices are carved with a ruyi pattern in wood. There are no gold locks or leaves on the doors or windows. The main hall is topped by a double-eaved hipped roof with yellow glazed tiles and brackets, and nine ridge beasts, similar to those in the Baohe Hall in the palace, second only to the Taihe Hall. Let's take a look at the chiwen on the main ridge. This is a Qing Dynasty-style chiwen. Notice the Xu Xun sword inserted on its back. It's taller and thinner in the Qing Dynasty; it's shorter and fatter in the Ming Dynasty, and tilted slightly inward. This indicates that this hall was renovated during the Qing Dynasty. Look at Xu Xun's sword again. It's bounded by a gilt-copper hook, then fastened with a lock and secured to the sloping tiles with a rope nail. This large gold chain was only found in the highest-ranking imperial halls.
Another point: If you look at the Xian Hall of the Ancestral Temple and the hipped roofs of the Ji Men from the front, you'll see a slight difference in the ratio of their ridge length to roof length. The Ji Men ridge appears slightly shorter, while the Xian Hall ridge appears slightly longer. This is because the Xian Hall roof has a ridged roof, while the Ji Men roof does not. In ancient times, the ridges of hipped roofs were even shorter. During the Qin and Han dynasties, they were typically less than one-third, or even only one-quarter, of the roof's length. The ridges of hipped roofs began to lengthen during the Song Dynasty, and by the Ming Dynasty, the standard was a hipped roof like the Ji Men. For larger roofs, a ridged roof structure was implemented to achieve more balanced proportions. A ridged roof pushes the roof's peak outward, lengthening the ridge. By the Qing Dynasty, the hipped roof with a push-mountain design had become standard, so the hipped roof of a Qing Dynasty roof appears to have a longer main ridge, often exceeding one-third of the roof's length. The eaves of a hipped roof with a push-mountain design are not straight in plan, but curved, and can only be seen from a high vantage point.
After viewing the exterior of the main hall, you can purchase a ticket to enter the main hall. Enter through the east main gate, but this time, use the left entrance. Take a look inside the main hall.
The floor of the hall is paved with golden bricks.
Look at that row of iron grates on the floor, resembling those on a gutter. This ditch isn't a gutter, but an ancient floor heating system. The original design was probably enclosed, allowing heat to pass through underneath, similar to the chimney of the earthen kang in his second uncle's home in Kaoshantun. This hall of worship in the Taimiao was used during a winter in the 1970s. During subsequent renovations, the golden bricks paved the floor, so the current iron grates were installed. The palace's main halls also have this kind of underfloor heating system. Since they haven't been used since the Qing dynasty, and the Ming-era gold brick factory reopened during recent renovations, the floors of the main halls are still pristine. The Xian Hall is four bays deep, with an enclosed veranda. It has only three rows of large pillars: the front and rear eaves pillars and the central pillar. Without the two rows of gold pillars, the veranda pillars have become wall pillars, giving the hall a very spacious interior. These pillars are plain. Why plain instead of red-lacquered gold pillars? Because the entire wood structure of this hall is made of golden nanmu, showcasing the wood's true qualities. Golden nanmu's value lies in the shimmering threads faintly visible within the wood's grain, resembling gold threads. These threads are likely crystallized resin, and new wood has a distinctive resinous aroma. The golden nanmu wood in the Xian Hall likely received a special surface treatment, a coating of wax. This was necessary to both highlight the grain of the gold threads and protect it from the ravages of time. Hundreds of years later, the gold threads are no longer visible, and the surface has faded considerably. Take a look at the main hall. The main hall has a very large span, and all the woodwork is plain: the beams, brackets, and chevron ceilings are all plain. The beams and ceilings were gilded during the Ming Dynasty, and traces of this can still be seen. From the secondary hall outward, the wooden structures are painted with Hexi seals, and the chevron ceilings are also painted with lotus flowers. These paintings date from the Qing Dynasty and are superfluous. The columns of the main halls of the imperial palace are all quilted with bases shaped like bows, giving them a solemn and imperial air. The Ancestral Temple also features bases shaped like bows. In this Hall of Respect, only the six pillars of the main hall have lotus-shaped bases. As I mentioned in the previous episode about the Ningshou Palace, there's a palace called Gyeongbokgung within the Ningshou Palace complex, and its eaves columns have lotus-shaped bases. Gyeongbokgung Palace is closed to the public, but examples of the royal lotus column bases can be seen in the Taimiao Xianjeon Hall. Inside the hall, a row of ritual drums and musical instruments are placed in front of the columns on the rear eaves. These instruments were used to play Shao music under the front eaves during sacrificial ceremonies. However, these artifacts aren't historical artifacts; they are modern replicas, including chime bells and stone tablets. Take a look at the inscription on the chime bells in the Ming Dynasty: "Zhonghua Hezhong," a replica of the chime bells unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng. Also hanging on the wall are four imitation bronze reliefs and bas-reliefs. These are also recent creations, depicting the Four Gods: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise. See the Vermilion Bird image below. The Xianjeon Hall is now empty. In the past, during sacrificial ceremonies, each room inside the hall had a gilded throne, upon which sat tablets for the emperor and empress. These tablets were called "Shenzhu." In the Ming Dynasty, each emperor had one empress, the first wife; in the Qing Dynasty, both the emperor's first and second wives could take the throne. In front of the throne sat an incense table, shared by the emperor and empress. On this table were bronze bowls (fu, pronounced "fu" or "rice bowl"), gui (gui, pronounced "gui" or "vegetable bowl"), dou (dou, pronounced "dou" or "meat bowl"), and dian (ban, pronounced "bian" or "fruit plate"), offerings of meat, vegetables, and fruits. Meat dishes included rat stomachs and chicken intestines, while vegetables included celery and leeks, with corn and sorghum as staples. Before these offerings, there had to be a tray for soups and broths to prevent the emperor and empress from choking while eating, thus becoming afraid to continue. Tableware was also necessary. In the Ming Dynasty, spoons and chopsticks were called "shaozhu," while knives and forks were added in the Qing Dynasty, all made of gold. Each emperor and empress also had a wine cup, as such delicacies could not be enjoyed without wine. In front of the table, a small bronze table called "zu" (representing the ancestors) was placed on it, upon which were placed the heads of cattle, sheep, and pigs, known as "tai lao." The pigs, cattle, and sheep used in sacrifices weren't bought from supermarkets; they were specially raised in prisons. They were then brought out, beheaded, and cooked, and the heads were placed here. The highest quality was called Tailao, featuring the heads of cattle, sheep, and pigs; the next highest was called Shaolao, featuring both sheep and pig heads; and the lowest was called Tezhu, consisting solely of pig heads. People who couldn't afford to slaughter a whole pig for ancestral worship would buy a roasted suckling pig from a store and offer it to their ancestors. This was a custom in Lingnan. Before these offerings stood an incense table, decorated with the usual incense burners, candlesticks, and vases—the five offerings. In front of the five offerings stood a bronze basket (pronounced "fei"), a silk basket containing a piece of gauze called "bo," made of heavy, pure silk. In heaven, the emperor and empress not only ate but also needed clothing to ensure they had ample food. These sacrificial ritual arrangements aren't my invention; they're documented in the Ming and Qing dynasties' "Veritable Records." There's certainly no place in Beijing where such a full display would be. Perhaps some local rituals for Confucius worship were held there, but I wonder if the Confucius Temple in Qufu ever did. However, even if the Confucius Temple in Qufu held such a ceremony, the cow, sheep, and pig heads were certainly not specially raised, and they couldn't be called Tailao. China still has three extant Ming Dynasty wooden halls: the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City, the Hall of the Ancestral Temple of Heaven, and the Hall of Engrave in the Changling Mausoleum. All are constructed entirely of golden nanmu wood. After the Hall of Supreme Harmony burned down in the late Ming Dynasty, it was rebuilt in red pine during the Qing Dynasty, and its scale was also smaller than the Ming Dynasty Hall of Supreme Ultimate. Of the three existing halls, the Hall of Supreme Harmony has the highest platform, the Hall of the Ancestral Temple of Heaven is the tallest, and the Hall of the Ancestral Temple of Heaven is the deepest and the Hall of the Ancestral Temple of Heaven is the widest. The Hall of the Engrave in the Changling Mausoleum is roughly the same size as the Hall of the Ancestral Temple of Heaven. If it hadn't been reduced in size during the Qing Dynasty reconstruction, the Hall of Supreme Harmony would have been the largest of the three. From the front, the Hall of the Ancestral Temple of Heaven appears larger than the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and this is indeed the case. From the square in front of the hall, the Hall of Supreme Harmony appears even more majestic. This is because its three-tiered platform is much larger than that of the Ancestral Temple, and its base is twice as high as that of the main hall.
The Hall of Enjoyment is flanked by side halls on its east and west sides. Look at the east side hall.
Below the side halls is a four-foot-high platform, with steps in the center of the front and on both sides. It is fifteen bays wide and two bays deep, with a veranda in front. It has a bracket-arch roof with raised beams, a single-eaved hip roof with yellow glazed tiles, and five ridge beasts. Each room has four doors with four panels, plain latticework, and double-interlaced four-bowl lattices. Look at the double-interlaced four-bowl lattices.
Stand under the veranda and take a look.
The Hall of Enjoyment is flanked by side halls, and behind it is the sleeping hall, built on the same platform. Although the Xian Hall and the Bedroom Hall are built on the same platform, they are at different heights. The Bedroom Hall only has two levels. Therefore, to reach the Bedroom Hall, you need to walk down one level. Take a look behind the Xian Hall. The Xian Hall's main hall is very wide, but the door behind it is very small. The white marble railing on the third level of the Xian Hall's platform only reaches the back of the Xian Hall. Then, three sets of handrails lead to the Bedroom Hall platform, with a sacred path lined with red stone steps in the middle. Standing on the sacred path behind the Xian Hall, look back at the Bedroom Hall. The Bedroom Hall is nine bays wide and four bays deep, meaning it lacks an enclosed eaves corridor compared to the Xian Hall. It has a bracket-arch roof with raised beams and a single-eaved hipped roof with yellow glazed tiles and a push-mountain roof. The eaves also have nine ridge beasts. The main hall and the second bay of the sleeping hall have four doors with four panels, plain latticework and three-intersection, six-bowl lattice patterns. The secondary, side, and final bays have blue brick sill walls and floor-to-ceiling windows with three-intersection, six-bowl lattice patterns. Each bay in the sleeping hall is roughly the same width as the Xian Hall, but the doors and windows are smaller. This is because they feature three horizontal scrolls with three-intersection, six-bowl lattice patterns. The beams, rafters, and brackets are painted with Hexi patterns. The brackets retain the old painting, while the beams and column caps are newly painted, likely embellished with gilded dragons and phoenixes in the past. This sleeping hall is also a large nanmu hall. The sleeping hall also has side halls to the east and west, five bays wide and two bays deep, with a veranda in front. The brackets and beams are supported by yellow glazed tiles and a single-eaved hip roof with five ridge beasts. The veranda has sashes in front and on both sides. The roofs of these two side halls are very high, a typical example of a Qing Dynasty "big-headed house," a roof remodeled during the Qing Dynasty.
Descend from the sleeping hall's platform and walk to the side.
Hey! Why is this platform only one level? It turns out the sleeping hall's platform is a combination of the lower two levels of the Xian Hall's platform. Turn to the back of the sleeping hall.
The back of this sleeping hall is different from the Xian Hall in front, and also from the other halls in the palace. Its back is neither closed nor has a door. Instead, each room has a window, a three-cross, six-bowl lattice window with four horizontal panels. Look further back.
Here is a palace wall, and it has the same glazed palace gate as the southern palace gate. This is the north end of the Taimiao when Zhu Di first built it. Look at the door.
The solid door has nine rows and nine columns of gilded door nails. The gilding is very old, probably from the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. Because the main door is not open, you can see the back of the door leaf from inside.
Although this is a solid door, the bands behind the core board are exposed. This palace gate, like the South Palace Gate, also has side doors and left paths on both sides. We still have to go through the right side door. After passing the right side door, it was already dark everywhere, and only the jade steps were visible in front.
After my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I could see the mystery of this place.
If you look at it in the morning, it looks like this.
This is the ancestral hall built by Ming Xiaozong Zhu Youtang during the Hongzhi period. Its shape and scale are basically the same as the previous sleeping hall, except that the platform in front is smaller. The area behind the Ancestral Hall is quite cramped. I exited the north gate of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, which is behind the Ancestral Hall. There are two ancient cypress trees on either side of the temple, planted personally by Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di in the 18th year of the Yongle reign. I imagine these two trees made the northernmost end of the Ancestral Hall wall immovable. There must have been some buildings near the Ancestral Hall, which were later converted into the Ancestral Hall during the Hongzhi reign of the Ming Dynasty. The Ancestral Hall is the last building in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. The sun sets after you've seen the Ancestral Hall. Some people stand by the Ancestral Hall to take photos in the sunset; taking commemorative photos at other people's ancestral halls seems less appealing, after all, it's a place where the dead sleep. Black crows, the famous crows, often perch on the branches of the bald trees in the cemetery. They also perch on the roofs of the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
When a black crow stands on a branch, it usually means the sun is almost down. The same thing might be happening if it stands on the roof of the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Look, the sun has indeed already set behind the eaves of the Jimen Gate.
The Imperial Ancestral Temple at sunset.
Because there are no longer any tablets for royal ancestors here, the hall doesn't appear eerie, but rather majestic.
At sunset, walk out of the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Look back and take a look at the Jimen Gate, the sunset glow is brilliant.
Here's a photo of the Zun'en Hall in the Ming Changling Mausoleum mentioned earlier. This photo was taken from inside the Zun'en Gate in front of it.
This Zun'en Hall is roughly the same size as the Xian Hall in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, but slightly smaller, and its roof lacks a ridge. Because the square in front of the Zun'en Hall in Changling is much smaller than that of the Taimiao, it lacks the imposing grandeur of its Xian Hall, though the two are roughly the same size. Its sacrificial chamber still exists, hopefully an original Ming Dynasty installation. After conquering the empire, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang established a ancestral temple in Nanjing called the "Four Ancestors Temple." He began his ancestral worship with Zhu Yuanzhang's great-grandfather, Zhu Bailiu, a poor peasant from southern Jiangsu during the late Southern Song Dynasty. This temple houses halls for Zhu Yuanzhang's great-grandfather, great-grandfather, grandfather, and father. Zhu Yuanzhang bestowed upon them prestigious titles. Zhu Bailiu, the first of these, was given the temple name Dezu and the posthumous title Xuanhuangdi. In reality, Xuanhuangdi toiled tirelessly throughout his life, sweating under the earth. According to Chinese tradition, the founding emperor is called "Taizu" or "Gaozu," the second "Taizong" or "Gaozong," and the subsequent "Zong." Taizu and Taizong are considered the ancestors of the nation. The ancestors of founding emperors were all called "Zu," and Zhu Yuanzhang's ancestors were also called Zu. Zhu Di usurped the throne from his nephew Zhu Yunwen, and after his death, he was initially called Taizong. Later, the Jiajing Emperor changed his title to Chengzu, leaving the Ming Dynasty without a Taizong but with two Zu. In the eighth year of the Hongwu reign (1375 AD), Zhu Yuanzhang rebuilt the Four Ancestors Temple into the Nanjing Taimiao. Zhu Di copied and pasted the Nanjing Taimiao's design for the Beijing Taimiao. The most important parts of the Taimiao are the Sleeping Hall and the Ancestral Hall, both of which are now closed to the public. In the past, each bay within the Sleeping Hall and the Ancestral Hall, located between the rear golden pillars, served as a warming room called a "Sacrificial Chamber." Former emperors of the dynasty would reside in these rooms with their wives, hence the name "Sleeping Hall." Of course, the inhabitants here were tablets, not actual human beings. The Ancestral Hall housed the ancestors of the Taizu, hence the name "Ancestral Hall." After the restoration of the Shouhuang Hall in Jingshan, a Qing Dynasty sacrificial chamber was also rebuilt for illustration purposes, which we can use for a brief inspection. During the Ming Dynasty, each emperor and empress had their own bedroom. This sleeping hall had nine rooms, accommodating nine deceased emperors—this is known as "same hall, different rooms." The tablets of the deceased emperors slept in separate rooms in the sleeping hall on weekdays, but on special occasions, they would be seated together in the corresponding room of the ancestral hall in the front hall for worship. The tablet of Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen was not included in the Ming Dynasty Taimiao. By the time Emperor Chenghua Zhu Jianshen passed away and Emperor Hongzhi Zhu Youtang (pronounced Zhu Youcheng) ascended the throne, the nine rooms in the sleeping hall were full, leaving no room for Emperor Chenghua, the Ming Xianzong. The ministers immediately cried out, "How can our current emperor be without a bed?" Emperor Hongzhi Zhu Youtang then ordered the construction of a "Zhu Dian" (Twelve Hall) outside the Taimiao's rear gate as the sleeping quarters for the four ancestors of the Taizu family. This is the origin of the three main halls of the Taimiao in Beijing today.
Ancient Chinese emperors had many names. They were born with the same name as us, such as Zhu Yuanzhang. After ascending the throne, the emperor's name could not be called directly, and he was often referred to by his reign title, such as Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. After the emperor's death, the court would evaluate his life's achievements and use a name to conclude his life, which was the posthumous title, such as Gaohuangdi Zhu Yuanzhang. When the emperor's tablet was sent to the Taimiao, he was also given a name for worship, which was the temple name. The temple name is "zu" and "zong", the ancestor in the temple, such as Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. In the Taimiao sleeping hall, Taizu Gaohuangdi Zhu Yuanzhang is in the middle, and his descendants are arranged on both sides according to the order of Zhao on the left and Mu on the right.
There was a major change to the Taimiao in the Ming Dynasty, which occurred during the Jiajing period. Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houcong (pronounced Zhu Houcong) was the younger brother who succeeded his elder brother, and a branch of the family succeeded to the throne. Upon ascending to power, he conferred the title of Ruizong Xian on his biological father, Zhu Youlang (pronounced Zhu Youyuan), and intended to enshrine his father in the Imperial Ancestral Temple as well. His plan was thwarted by opposition from his ministers. In a rage, he rebuilt the Imperial Ancestral Temple in Beijing, creating a structure with separate halls for the capital palace, housing eight temples for Taizu, Chengzu, the three Zhaos, and the three Mus. He built his father's temple, Ruizong, east of the main gate, effectively providing a dedicated temple for worship. Because of the Zhu Di cypress outside the north gate, the walls of the Imperial Ancestral Temple could not be moved, so the building had to be rebuilt within the walls. Simultaneously, Chongxian Hall was built west of Fengxian Hall within the imperial palace, giving his father a place of worship both inside and outside the palace, as had been done by his ancestors. This change, though a minor one, offended the heavens. Five years later, in the 20th year of the Jiajing reign (1541 AD), the new Imperial Ancestral Temple was struck by lightning, causing a fire that instantly destroyed all the buildings. After the fire, the Jiajing Emperor, reflecting on his mistakes, immediately restored the structure of one hall in each room during the reconstruction. After the palace was completed in the 24th year, he abandoned his arguments with his ministers and issued a direct decree: "There shall be no order of seniority or generation, only order of ethics. Taizu shall be in the center, the four on the left shall be Cheng, Xuan, Xian, and Rui, and the four on the right shall be Ren, Ying, Xiao, and Wu." This was the later ordering of the nine chambers in the Ming Dynasty's sleeping palace. Jiajing Emperor's father, Ruizong, was ranked before Wuzong Zhu Houzhao and after Xiaozong Zhu Youtang. Ultimately, the Jiajing Emperor enshrined his father in the Taimiao. At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang's four generations of ancestors were relocated to the rear Ancestral Hall. In the 26th year of the Jiajing Emperor's reign, a palace fire killed Empress Fang. In the 29th year, the Jiajing Emperor forged a precedent by having Empress Fang's tablet enshrined in the Taimiao, residing in the fourth west chamber of the sleeping palace. Renzong Zhu Gaochi, who had been in the first west chamber, was moved to the Ancestral Hall. Empress Fang was the only empress in history to be enshrined in the Taimiao while the emperor was still alive. The Jiajing Emperor thus secured a place for himself in the sleeping palace to prevent future generations from relocating his father, Ruizong, to the rear Ancestral Hall. The Jiajing Emperor was deeply concerned about his sideline's rise to power, fearing disdain, and so he sought to insinuate himself into the orthodox order. This process became known as "ritual." The reconstruction in the 24th year of the Jiajing reign marked the last major construction of the Taimiao. It is said that inscriptions inscribed on a beam on the roof of the sleeping hall read "April of the 24th year of the Jiajing reign," indicating that the temple's construction dates back over 470 years. The current layout of the Taimiao reflects this reconstruction and has remained unchanged since. In the first year of the Tianming reign (1616 AD), Nurhaci established the Later Jin Dynasty, and nine years later, he established his capital in Shenyang. The Manchus initially lacked ancestral temples; they instead arranged ancestral tablets in halls during shamanic rituals. After Huang Taiji ascended the throne, in the ninth year of the Tiancong reign (1635 AD), Dorgon, during his campaign against the Chahars, stumbled upon the imperial seal, the "Imperial Edict Seal," which had been taken from the palace by the Yuan Shun Emperor during his escape north. Huang Taiji, overjoyed at receiving the Yuan Dynasty's imperial seal, fainted. Upon waking, he believed this was a divinely appointed throne bestowed upon him. He decreed the change of "Jin" to "Da Qing," and inaugurated the first year of the Chongde reign. Holding the imperial seal, he ascended the throne, calling himself "Kuanwenrenshenghuangdi." At this time, Huang Taiji built the Imperial Ancestral Temple outside the east gate of Shengjing City. The Shengjing Imperial Ancestral Temple resembled a single hall with separate rooms. The front hall enshrined Nurhaci, the Taizu Wu Emperor, while the rear hall housed the tablets of Nurhaci's four ancestors: his great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather, grandfather, and father. After Shunzhi entered the Qing Dynasty, he took over the Ming Imperial Ancestral Temple and immediately moved the tablets of Nurhaci, the Taizu Wu Emperor, and Huang Taiji, the Taizong Wen Emperor, from the front hall of the Shengjing Imperial Ancestral Temple to the Beijing Imperial Ancestral Temple. Only the tablets of Nurhaci's four ancestors remained in the Shengjing Imperial Ancestral Temple, becoming known as the Temple of the Four Ancestors of the Early Qing Dynasty. In 1648, the Shunzhi Emperor undertook a brief renovation of the Imperial Ancestral Temple in Beijing and moved the tablets of the four ancestors from the Shengjing Imperial Ancestral Temple into the Ancestral Temple. The Shengjing Four Ancestors Temple was then vacated and used as a warehouse. During the Ming Dynasty, each emperor had a separate sleeping chamber, with one emperor and one empress. Later, as the number of emperors grew and there was no room for them, the tablets of the emperors following Emperor Renzong Zhao, Zhu Gaochi, were moved to the rear ancestral hall. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the Shengjing Imperial Ancestral Temple also followed the Ming system, with one emperor and one empress. Nurhaci's empress was the mother of Huang Taiji, posthumously named Empress Xiaoci Gao. After Shunzhi arrived in Beijing, he conferred the title of Empress Xiaoliewu on Dorgon's mother, who was also enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Later, Dorgon was punished and his ancestral temple title was removed. His mother's tablet was also removed from the Imperial Ancestral Temple, but the Imperial Ancestral Temple still contained one emperor and one empress, including the Shunzhi Emperor. After the death of the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, although she was only the west concubine of Huang Taiji, the grandson of Emperor Kangxi thought that his grandma was so great that he gave her the posthumous title of "Queen Xiaozhuang Wen" and insisted that she be placed in the dormitory of Emperor Taizong Wen and Huang Taiji in the Taimiao, next to Zhezhe, whose posthumous title was Empress Xiaoduanwen. In order to strike a balance, after the death of Emperor Kangxi's biological mother and Emperor Shunzhi's concubine, the memorial tablets of Emperor Kangxi's biological mother and Emperor Shunzhi's concubine were posthumously named Queen Xiaokangzhang, and the tablets of Emperor Shunzhi's second wife, Queen Xiaohuizhang, were placed in the Emperor Shunzhi's sacrificial chamber of Shizuzhang in the palace. From then on, there was one room for each emperor in the dormitory. After the emperor took office successively, even those who were granted posthumous titles were counted. The one with the most memorial tablets in the sacrificial room of the Qing Dynasty’s palace belonged to Emperor Shengzuren Kangxi, who brought three empresses and Emperor Yongzheng’s biological mother with a total of four tablets. Then there are the emperor Xuanzong, Daoguang, and his three empresses, as well as the adoptive mother of Emperor Xianfeng. There are also four tablets in total. When Guangxu came to power, Taizu Nurhachi was in the middle, Huang Taiji, Kangxi, Qianlong and Daoguang were in the east; Shunzhi, Yongzheng, Jiaqing and Xianfeng were in the west, Zhao was in the east and Mu in the west. As a result, the memorial tablet of Emperor Guangxu's Emperor Kao Mu Zongzai Chun (Tongzhi) had nowhere to place it. In the Qing Dynasty, instead of moving the memorial tablets of the late emperors to the temple at the back like the Ming Dynasty, they renovated the dormitory hall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple in the fourth year of Guangxu (1878 AD). In the middle of the night, there was no movement, and it was Nurhaci, the great emperor of Taizu. Each of the remaining rooms was converted into two rooms, so that a total of seventeen late emperors could be accommodated, plus one current emperor. The Qing Dynasty planned to pass down the family to eighteen generations. However, Qianlong placed twenty-five treasures in the Jiaotai Hall. He took the meaning of "the number of days from twenty to five" in the "Book of Changes" to pray for the Qing Dynasty for all generations, at least twenty-five generations. When Guangxu succeeded to the throne, Zaitian and the second queen mother decided not to pass on the inheritance for so many generations, but at most eighteen generations, symbolizing the eighteen levels of hell. These Qing emperors pretended to be the judges in each level of hell.
There were two thrones in each room of the Taimiao dormitory in the Ming Dynasty, and behind the thrones was a shrine. The number of thrones in each room of the bedroom in the Qing Dynasty depended on how many queens the emperor had. At the end of each room is a shrine, with quilts in the shrine. Even if it is the emperor's bedroom, the tablets are placed in the shrine. There is a yellow curtain hanging on the door of the shrine, and outside the door is the throne. The throne in the sleeping hall is a chair without armrests. When the ceremony is held, the emperor's and empress' tablets are placed on the throne chair and brought to the enjoyment hall. This is called "enjoying sacrifices in the imperial hall", and the tablets are also very comfortable. The layout of the ancestral hall is the same as that of the dormitory hall. During the grand ceremony, the great ancestor of the four ancestors sits in the middle, and then is arranged on both sides going down. During the Guangxu period, all the nine rooms in the Xiangdian Hall had no seats during the grand ceremony, so they turned to the east and west sides. Under the east wall were Emperor Xuanzong Daoguang and Emperor Mu Zong Tongzhi, and under the west wall were Emperor Wenzong and Xianfeng.
There are also memorial tablets in the east and west auxiliary halls of the Imperial Ancestral Temple in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but they are not those of the emperor and queen. In the Ming Dynasty, the east and west auxiliary halls of the Imperial Ancestral Temple were occupied by the Eight Kings and Seven Dukes, including Zhu Yuanzhang who had contributed to the founding of the country and Zhu Di who had contributed to the disaster, such as Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Mu Ying and Hu Dahai. These were basically military officers, and there was only one civil servant, Yao Guangxiao, who was removed by Emperor Jiajing. It was an unwritten custom in the Ming Dynasty that military commanders were entitled to enjoy the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and civil servants were entitled to enjoy the Confucius Temple. In the east side hall of the Qing Dynasty, there were princes who were entitled to enjoy the Ancestral Temple. There were thirteen in total in the Qing Dynasty, including Daishan, Dorgon, Duoduo, Yunxiang and Yixin. Each of them occupied a room, together with the Fujin tablet, except for the eldest wife. There were thirteen non-royal heroes in the Western Wing Hall in the Qing Dynasty, including Tu Hai, Zhang Tingyu, A Gui, Fu Heng and Fukang'an.
During the renovation of the Imperial Ancestral Temple during the Shunzhi period, colored paintings were added to the beams and brackets in the second, second and final rooms of the Xiang Hall, leaving only the golden nanmu in the Ming and first rooms with gold and seals on them. The most serious overhaul of the Imperial Ancestral Temple in the Qing Dynasty was in the third year of Qianlong's reign (1738 AD) and was completed in four years. It is said that the words "Fourth Year of Qianlong's reign" were left on the roof beams of the Xiangdian Hall. During this overhaul, the decaying wooden components were dismantled and replaced, the glazed tiles on the roof were also replaced, and the building was repainted, but there were no changes to the building structure. Since then, there has been no major renovation of the Ancestral Temple, and the layout has been preserved to this day. Therefore, what we see now is the Ancestral Temple that was built during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty 470 years ago, and underwent major repairs during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty more than 280 years ago. Later, it was slightly repaired, which cannot be called a major repair.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were four major sacrificial ceremonies in the Imperial Ancestral Temple every year, which were called "Great Ancestral Temple Enjoyment". Great feasts are held in the first month of each quarter in spring, summer, autumn and winter. Because this month is also called "Meng Yue", this great feast is also called "Four Meng Shixiang". The emperor had to attend the feast in person, and he had to fast for three days before it. In the Ming Dynasty, it was held in Wuying Hall, and in the Qing Dynasty, it was held in Zhai Palace starting from Yongzheng. The day before the big feast, before dawn, there would be pigs, sheep and cattle crying loudly in the slaughtering place. Then the leaders of the Bureau of Rites, Taichang Temple, Ministry of Rites and Guanglu Temple would be called to watch the sacrifices being slaughtered and cooked. The slaughterhouse is located at the base of the imperial city opposite the south gate of the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
Look at the pair of stone lions at the intersection. I wonder if they are old objects from the past. Take a look at that well pavilion.
As the old saying goes, "If there is no butcher Zhang, pigs with hair will not be eaten." When killing pigs, they boil water to remove the hair and draw water from this well. Like the two well pavilions in the south gate of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, this is also a six-column and hexagonal pavilion with yellow glazed tiles, brackets and beams, and a single-eave roof with yellow glazed tiles. Look inside its crown.
The cover on the top of this awning is obviously of later date, and was probably put on after repairs a few years ago.
To the east of the well pavilion where the animals are slaughtered, the door opens to the west. It is equivalent to the current meat factory, which only handles slaughtering, hair removal and segmentation.
Fried and steamed is the magic chef at the west end of Jimen Square. Check out the magic chef.
The Divine Chef sits west and faces east. It is five rooms wide and three rooms deep. It has brackets and beams, and a single eaves of yellow glazed tiles hangs on the top of the mountain. The ceiling inside the house is black, not painted black, but blackened by the smoke from the stove where the meat is cooked.
The day before the feast, the emperor will sit in the Zhonghe Hall as usual to review the congratulatory board. After reading, the congratulatory board with the congratulations affixed will be sent to the Ancestral Temple for storage. Take a look at the sacred treasury at the east end of Jimen Square in Taimiao Temple.
The divine treasury sits east to west, with a width of five rooms and a depth of two rooms. It has brackets and beams, and a single eaves of yellow glazed tiles hangs over the top of the mountain.
On the eve of the feast, the three main halls of the Imperial Ancestral Temple must be decorated, with incense tables, sacrificial tables, and musical instruments in place. The royal honor guard moved all the books from Duanmen, and arranged them from Taihe Gate to the south gate of Taimiao. Before sunrise, the minister of Taichang Temple went to Qianqingmen to invite the emperor. The emperor went out and got into a sedan chair. The sedan chair was very high-end and was called "Li Yu" (pronounced "carp"). The emperor took a sedan chair and walked along the royal road through the first three halls to the Gate of Supreme Harmony. He got off the sedan chair and got into a carriage. The carriage was also very high-end and was called "Golden Chase". Jin Chu has six chariots. According to the Zhou rites, "the emperor drives six, the princes drive five, the ministers drive four, the officials three, the officials two, and the common people one." Luoyang once unearthed the "Emperor driving six" in the tomb of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. It was a real chariot and the bones of six dead horses. Unearthed from Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum in Xi'an is a bronze four-horse carriage called "Si Ma An Chai". During the feast, the emperor drove out of the Meridian Gate with gold. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty first entered by car to the right gate of the Taimiao Temple, and later passed through the Duan Gate and entered through the newly opened Taimiao Street Gate; the emperor of the Qing Dynasty entered through the northwest gate of the Taimiao Temple. The right gate of the Imperial Ancestral Temple is between Duanmen and Quezuomen. Look outside the right gate of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, which is on the Duanmen side. The gate hall is only three rooms wide.
Inside the right gate of the Imperial Ancestral Temple is the other side of the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
Taimiao Street Gate is between Tiananmen and Duanmen. Look outside Taimiao Street, this side of Tiananmen. This time, the entrance hall is five rooms wide, which is much larger.
Inside the Taimiao Street Gate is the Taimiao side.
The northwest gate of the Taimiao Temple is opposite the Quezuo Gate on the east side of Meridian Gate Square. Look outside the northwest gate of the Taimiao Temple, which is opposite the Quezuo Gate.
During the feast, no matter which gate Jin Chu enters from, the emperor must enter the gate and then transfer to the sedan chair to get off the sedan chair on the sacred road in front of the south gate. It is called "Jiang Yu", pronounced as Jiang Yu. The Taichang Temple Minister who had been following him at a trot appeared immediately. He guided the emperor to enter the Taimiao Palace through the left door of the glazed gate. When he reached the Jimen, the emperor refused to leave. There was a small house on the east side outside the Jimen called "億CI", also called "Little Golden Hall". The emperor sat down in this hut and drank a pot of tea. At this time, a ceremonial officer went to the sacred treasury to pick up the blessing boards that the Emperor had reviewed, and placed them on the incense tables at corresponding locations in the three main halls of the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Then an accompanying priest brought people to the dormitory hall, offered incense and saluted each ancestor, and then moved the tablets of the emperor and the emperor from the shrine to the throne outside the shrine, which are the chairs. After that, a prince entered the dormitory hall with a representative of the clan, and carried the thrones of the former emperor and the queen to the enjoyment hall. This is where the former emperor and the queen sat on the thrones to enjoy the sacrifice in the front hall, which is called the God Lord Feng'an. The gods and masters of the first emperor and later the emperor are all in place, and everything is ready.
The Minister of Taichang Temple, who was standing outside the unit, listened to the report that each step was OK. Once everything was ready, he entered the unit and invited the emperor to salute. The emperor went out, washed his hands and disinfected, entered the left door of the three doors of Jimen, went up the left steps to the Hall of Enjoyment, and entered the hall through the left door of the Hall of Enjoyment. The emperor always took the left step and the left door along the way, so why can't he take the middle step and the middle door? That is the divine road, the path that the late Emperor God took when he entered the Ancestral Temple.
During the feast, the emperor’s place of worship was in front of the Ming Dynasty. In addition to the waiters, there are also some clan members and core leadership group members who are expected to come in the hall. In the Ming Dynasty, there were cabinet officials, and in the Qing Dynasty, there were bachelors. Other attendants stood on the platform and square outside the hall. All the emperors and queens sat facing south in the hall, and all living people stood facing north. After everyone took their places, the minister of Taichang Temple ordered the band to play mournful music, and the ceremony began. First, the emperor must offer incense to the late emperors and concubines, starting from Taizu and proceeding in order of Zhao and Mu. Because the hall was full of late emperors and concubines, this process would take an hour during the Guangxu period. After the emperor finished offering the incense, he returned to his place of worship and stood there secretly taking ten deep breaths to catch his breath. Taichang Temple Minister saw that the emperor's face was rosy again, and then he dared to start the next program. "Kneel down - kowtow - kowtow again - kowtow again - stand up - dust the soil." These three times are the famous "three kneels and nine bows". Everyone inside and outside the palace must follow this command, including the eunuchs, maids, sedan bearers, and butchers.
To offer incense is to set off smoke. When the emperor and his queen saw the smoke rising in the sky, they knew that their grandchildren were coming to make offerings, so they all came to the Xiang Hall in clouds, found their own tablets, and placed them on the chair. The emperor led everyone to kneel down and bow nine times to welcome the late emperor and his queen, and then the offerings began. Different deacons brought meat and vegetarian dishes, rice and steamed buns, dried and fresh fruits, Shao Portuguese beer, pig, sheep and cow heads, and silk and satin. When the emperor and his queen enjoyed the sacrifice, there was music and dancing to accompany the meal. The music is "The Ping Ping Chapter", not a sad music, but similar to a requiem, very soothing. "扉" read rice. The dance is "Dance of Qian Qi", Qian is the shield and Qi is the axe. This is a military dance. The actor holds a shield in one hand and an ax in the other.
After the dishes were all served, the official who read the congratulations came, even the royal spokesperson. The spokesman first knelt down beside the blessing table and kowtowed three times. Then everyone knelt down and the music and dancing stopped. The spokesman sang and read the congratulations posted on the congratulatory board. The congratulations were full of uncommon words and typos. Coupled with the speaker's southern Fujian accent, no one knew what he was reading, and no one dared to ask. The emperor and his queen didn't understand and wanted to ask, but they couldn't ask. They were afraid that as soon as they opened their mouths, all the people in the palace would run away and all the offerings would be taken away. After the spokesman finished reading the congratulations, he walked to the Taizu Shrine, kowtowed three more times, and presented the congratulatory board. After the congratulations, the music and dance started again. The music was still the same song, but this time the martial dance in the front was replaced by a literary dance. The literary dance is called Bayi, which is read as Bayi, and there are a total of sixty-four people in eight rows and eight columns dancing with long sleeves. Zhou Rites stipulates that the emperor has eight yi, and the princes have six yi. During the Spring and Autumn Period, when rituals and music collapsed, Confucius scolded Ji Sun, the minister of Lu State, for his arrogant behavior. He famously said, "Eight hundred people dancing in the court are tolerable, but they are intolerable if they are mature." The "forbearance" that Confucius said is the forbearance of the heart, not the forbearance of the patient.
After the cultural dance, the late emperor and his queen were given a round of wine. At this time, the music of "Fu Ping Zhang" is played, the "Dance of Yu Diao" is danced, and " Diao " is read. The Shikihira Chapter is still a requiem, but it has been changed to a different tune and is considered the second movement; the Yu Diao Dance is a literary dance with feathers in hand. After that, there will be more wine and music and dancing. The three rounds of offering wine and offering are the three offerings, and the last offering after the three rounds of wine is called "drinking blessings and receiving blessings". "Fu" refers to blessing wine, which was packed in jue and offered to the ancestors by the emperor in front of Taizu's throne. "虙" means pork belly, which is a large piece of boiled pork. The first three offerings are to make offerings to the ancestors, and the last one is to pray for the blessings of the ancestors. First, the ancestors are given food and wine, and then the ancestors are asked to do things. In Chinese custom, people are invited to do things at the dinner table. This is also the reason why noble people are invited to drink and receive blessings.
This is the end. The minister of Taichang Temple came forward and knelt down to tell the god that the sacrifice was over. Don’t forget to say, “We’ll take what you have left to eat.” After that, you can take down the offerings left by the ancestors. It turned out that the ancestors didn’t enjoy the offerings, and they were all left untouched. After removing the offerings, the emperor would lead all the people to kneel down and worship again to say "goodbye" to the ancestors. The tablets of the ancestors were placed on the throne and carried back to the back palace in turn, and they sat in their respective shrines, which was called returning to the palace by the god. Other minions came up and took away the blessing boards, gauze (silk) and incense heads, and sent them to the large furnace in front of the East Side Hall to be burned into ashes. This glazed furnace was originally located in front of the east side hall, but it is no longer there.
Now, a gray brick furnace can be seen at the south end of the West Side Hall. This furnace was used to burn sacrifices in the Peking Hall.
Let’s talk about the end of the feast. Before the fire in the furnace was extinguished, the minister of Taichang Temple trotted all the way into the hall and shouted loudly, "The feast was completed in such-and-such month of such-and-such a year." This was the last sound of the ceremony. The emperor went out of the left door of Xiangdian, went down the left steps, went out of the left door of Jimen, and the left door opening of the south door. Get into the Li Yu waiting there, transfer to the Jinhu, then transfer to the Li Yu, and return to Taihe Gate via the original route. The accompanying princes watched the emperor return to the palace at the Jinshui Bridge inside the Meridian Gate. After the emperor entered the Gate of Supreme Harmony, the officials accompanying the sacrifices returned to the gate of the Imperial Ancestral Temple to line up to receive free pork belly. Then they tied them up with ropes and carried them home to fry the twice-cooked pork for their wives and children.
The entire grand ceremony is divided into three parts: welcoming the gods, offering three blessings and sending off the gods. Daxiang is the highest-level sacrificial ceremony, and the equivalent of Daxiang four times a year is the Zou Festival (Nianxia Festival, not a blind sacrifice) on New Year's Eve. The original Qi sacrifice was a single sacrifice to the four ancestors Gao, Zeng, Zu and Ni in the temple. After the fourth year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1647 AD), all the gods in the dormitory hall also attended the Qi sacrifice to enjoy the sacrifice, just like Dajian.
In addition to these big sacrifices, the emperor would occasionally come to the Ancestral Temple to make memorial sacrifices, also called jigao. "Zi" read it, and "Zi Gao" means to respectfully let the ancestors know. When the emperor ascends the throne, marries a wife and has children, and celebrates his birthday, he comes to pay tribute. Marrying a wife not only included the canonization of the queen, but also the canonization of the concubine. In addition, before setting off for the expedition and after the victory, sacrifices must also be made. After being defeated and returning to the palace, he will definitely not come in person, just send an official to take his place. If there are other things that need to be told to the ancestors, officials will be sent to report them. When it was time to offer sacrifices, the emperor only went to the sleeping hall to perform sacrifices and sent officials to the ancestral hall to perform sacrifices.
The Qing Dynasty was the last feudal dynasty in China, and the Ancestral Temple was the last royal ancestral temple in Chinese history. The sacrificial norms of the Imperial Ancestral Temple in the Qing Dynasty inherited the rituals of worshiping ancestors in traditional Chinese filial piety, and also had some humanistic reforms. In ancient times, princes built temples to worship their ancestors, and it is said that the emperor even killed pigs and slaughtered sheep himself with a knife. Moreover, before the king went to war, he sued the temple and actually put the ancestral tablets on the chariot and took them out to fight in order to seek the blessings of the ancestral gods. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, these were gone. In the Qing Dynasty, the emperor and his queens were worshiped together in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, which was considered to be open, fair and just. Moreover, in the Qing Dynasty, relocation was no longer practiced. When the dormitory hall could no longer be accommodated, it was rebuilt. Seniors were no longer moved to the ancestral hall. Only the four ancestors remained in the ancestral hall.
The Imperial Ancestral Temple embodies the two meanings of "treating ancestors in a divine way" and "treating them in a human way". They not only regard ancestors as gods and enjoy sacrifices in the hall of enjoyment; they also treat ancestors as strangers and often go to the sleeping hall to pray.
The annual New Year's Eve Festival is a time to get rid of the old and welcome the new, and it is also the arrival of spring. If there is an auspicious snow, it is a sign of good fortune in the coming year. Zu Yourui snow flies,
The green pine is tired by snow.
The vermilion on the jade steps is beautiful,
The frozen clouds are intoxicating.
Red, orange, yellow and green match wealth, while poplar and goose feathers comfort the cold.
This is exactly what it is:
The jade steps of the golden palace are covered with auspicious snow, but there are no plum blossoms in the corners of the red walls. On New Year's Eve, pear blossoms are floating, and the joy disappears in the distance.
Thousand-year-old emperor N is gone, and his descendants will not come to accompany him. The weather is cold and snowy, and the young and old are tired from playing.
The poem "Bodhisattva Man" can be regarded as "walking to the Imperial Temple to watch the snow at the beginning of the year".
The Taimiao Temple is the highest-level ancestral temple in China and the royal ancestral temple of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. As part of the Ming and Qing imperial palaces, it was listed as a World Cultural Heritage in 1987.
The last large-scale official event in the Forbidden City was the surrender ceremony of the Japanese troops in the North China Theater on October 10, 1945, which I mentioned in the previous episode of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The last official activity of the Imperial Ancestral Temple was in the 1970s. On January 8, 1976, Premier Zhou Enlai passed away. On January 11, Premier Zhou's body was cremated, and hundreds of thousands of people in the capital marched ten miles to see the Prime Minister off. Subsequently, Premier Zhou Enlai’s ashes were set up in a mourning hall in the front hall of the Ancestral Temple. Within three days from January 12 to 14, people from all walks of life in the capital, representatives from all over the country, and envoys from various countries to China came to express their condolences. The United Nations Headquarters lowered the flag at half-mast to pay tribute to Zhou Enlai. Look at the scene.
The Working People's Cultural Palace is an activity venue belonging to the Beijing Federation of Trade Unions. Before the reform and opening up, the Working People's Cultural Palace held garden activities every May Day. Now, every year during May Day, the Municipal Federation of Trade Unions also holds some exhibitions here. They are exhibitions of Beijing workers’ literary and artistic activities, including calligraphy, painting, photography, etc. I have also been fortunate enough to participate in several of these photography exhibitions. In addition, all previous model workers in Beijing will be announced here, and there is a special gallery outside the Imperial Ancestral Temple to display pictures and deeds of model workers.
It is said that the Ancestral Temple will start a major renovation this year (2022), and it is planned to restore it to its original state in the Qing Dynasty. I estimate that it will be restored to the glory of Huangji Palace in Jingshan Park, but it will definitely lose its sense of vicissitudes of life. Moreover, the major renovation of the Imperial Ancestral Temple will take a long time and may not be completed in three to five years. After the overhaul is completed, I don’t know if I can still visit the Xiangdian Hall in front. Therefore, if you want to see the royal golden nanmu hall of the Ming Dynasty, you should hurry up. If tourists are not allowed to visit the palace after major renovations in the future, they will have to go to the Changling Tomb of the Ming Dynasty in Changping to see the golden nanmu hall. It is as big as the Xiangdian Hall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and the hall is full of vicissitudes of life.
By the way, although the Imperial Ancestral Temple is part of the Ming and Qing imperial palace buildings, you need to purchase a separate ticket to visit it, and it is not closed on Mondays. There are many tourists every weekend, and there are also many tourists on Mondays. Those who can't get in to the Forbidden City on Monday will turn around to see the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
The temple of Emperor Ming and Qing Dynasty,
Kuandian Xiang Nan.
I have been on a leisurely journey,
I haven’t heard any ghosts cry.
In short, as the "left ancestor and right society" of the ancient royal family, the Taimiao Temple has a magnificent architecture and a long history, and is worth a closer look.
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