"Guarding the Central Axis of Ping An Beijing" series of reports
It is home to the highest level of worship farms in the country and the "most beautiful ceiling".
The north gate of the first agricultural altar.
On the west side of the southern end of Beijing's central axis.
Echoing the Temple of Heaven.
It is located an important sacrificial complex.
It is the Xiannongtan Complex.
As after entering the city of Beijing from the south.
One of the first group of east-west symmetrical main buildings.
Xiannongtan was the emperor of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Personally cultivate the place of "one acre and three points".
At present, it is also the location of the Beijing Museum of Ancient Architecture.
Xiannong altar is located in the west side of Yongdingmen inner street, was built in the eighteenth year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1420), formerly known as "Shanchuan Altar", mainly includes Tai Sui Palace, Shen Kitchen, Shen Cang, Gufu Palace, Qingcheng Palace 5 groups of buildings, its general pattern was formed in the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty experienced a large-scale reconstruction, it is the place where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties sacrificed to the god of agriculture and held the pro-ploughing ceremony, and it is also the highest sacrifice level, the largest scale, the most complete ancient sacrificial farm in the country. In 2001, it was listed as a national key cultural relics protection unit.
History
Ming Dynasty
In the eighteenth year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1420), it was built in the southern suburbs outside the city, and was originally named "Shanchuan Altar". During the Jiajing period (1530-1532), the Tai Sui Temple was separated, and the altar of the gods and earths, the altar of the gods of Xiannong and the wooden viewing platform were built, and it was renamed "the altar of the gods and the earth". In the fourth year of Wanli (1576), it was renamed "Xiannongtan".
Qing Dynasty
During the Qianlong period (1753-1755), it was rebuilt on a large scale. In the thirty-second year of Guangxu (1906), the emperor's personal sacrifice ceremony was stopped.
China**
In 1915, the north side of the outer altar of Xiannongtan was officially opened to the public as a park, and in 1918 it was renamed Chengnan Park. In 1929, the north outer altar wall was basically demolished except for some sections, and a large number of residents and markets occupied the outer altar. From 1936 to 1937, the Xiannongtan Stadium was built in the southeast of Xiannongtan Outer Altar.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China
In 1952, Yucai School moved into the inner altar of Xiannongtan. In 1991, the Beijing Museum of Ancient Architecture was established and opened in Xiannongtan. In 2018, Xiannongtan Qingcheng Palace started to vacate the work. In 2001, Xiannongtan was announced as the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units. The following year, the emperor's own cultivated fields - "one acre and three points of land" resumed cultivation.
Introduction to the Xiannongtan building complex
Tai Sui Hall Complex
Tai Sui Palace. Tai Sui Palace, is the largest single building in the Xiannong Altar, also known as the Tai Sui Altar, by the east and west with the hall to connect the Tai Sui Hall and worship the hall to form a quadrangle courtyard. Before Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, the gods such as Tai Sui, wind and clouds, thunderstorms, mountains and seas were worshiped here, and then they were specially used to worship Tai Sui and December generals and other natural gods.
Worship the temple. Worship the hall, is the Tai Sui temple complex through the hall, seven rooms wide, three deep rooms, the front platform, the Ming and Qing dynasties, the sacrifices will worship the Tai Sui God here.
Incinerators. There is a brick imitation wood structure beamless building burning silk furnace on the southeast side of the worship hall, the mountain roof, the base of Sumeru, the black glazed tile green trimming, the front is equipped with three arch doors of different sizes, it is the place where the paper silk sacrifice is burned during the sacrifice.
Divine Kitchen Complex
Divine Kitchen Complex
The Shen Kitchen Complex is located on the west side of the Tai Sui Hall Complex, which is composed of the Shen Ban Library, the Shen Library, the Shen Kitchen and the Well Pavilion. The main hall is used to worship the tablet of the god of agriculture, the east side hall is used to store the sacrificial and pro-farming supplies, the west side hall is the god kitchen, which is used to prepare and make sacrificial food, and there is a well pavilion on both sides of the door, which is the place to take water when sacrificing sacrifices. The building complex now displays the "Xiannongtan History and Culture Exhibition".
Slaughtering Pavilion. Passing through the courtyard of the Divine Kitchen, the slaughtering pavilion stands quietly, which is the place where the sacrificial animals are slaughtered before the sacrifice. There is a washing pond in the center of the slaughtering pavilion, and there are drainage outlets up and down the pool, and the hair blood and other substances produced in the slaughtering process can flow into it. The roof of the slaughtering pavilion is shaped as "heavy eaves hanging on the top of the mountain", which is very rare in the existing Ming Dynasty official buildings in China, and is known as "the lone example in the Ming Dynasty official buildings".
Shencang complex
Shencang, originally the Ming Dynasty Qixu (dào) temple, Qing Dynasty Qianlong 18 years (1753) rebuilt as Shencang, Ming and Qing dynasties, used to store the emperor personally ploughed the field after the harvest of grain, these grains as sacrifices, for the sacrifice of the royal altar temple in the capital.
Kamikura. In order to protect the grain from insects and prevent mold, the buildings of Shencang are painted with "realgar topaz" (trisulfur arsenic), which contains great poison and can repel insectsIn addition, in order to facilitate ventilation and prevent mold from growing grain, air windows are opened on the warehouses.
Gufuden complex
The Gufu Hall complex includes the Gufu Palace, the Guangong Platform and the Emperor's "One Acre and Three Points of Land". During the Ming and Qing dynasties, every mid-spring day, the emperor would lead hundreds of officials to the Xiannong Altar to hold a pro-ploughing ceremony (called the field ceremony).
Gufu Temple. With the service hall, the face is wide and five, nine rooms deep, it is a green glazed tile wooden structure building on the top of the single eaves resting mountain, ten steps are set up in the south, eight steps are set in the east and west, it is the place where the emperor worships the god of agriculture and changes clothes before ploughing.
Viewing platform. The viewing platform under the shade of ancient pines is the place where the emperor's ministers cultivated after ploughing, and the viewing platform is 16 meters, the platform plane is 19 square meters, the Sumeru seat is built with yellow-green glazed bricks, the glazed bricks are carved with flower and grass patterns, there are white marble steps on three sides, the platform is surrounded by white marble guardrails, and the decoration is exquisite.
Exquisite viewing platform Sumeru. Photo by reporter Chen Lukun.
In the south of the viewing platform, it is the place where the emperor personally ploughed and performed the field ceremony, that is, "one acre and three points of land". According to historical records, when ploughing, the emperor held the whip in his left hand, the right hand held the plow, and the two sides were the Hubu Shangshu and the Shuntianfu Yin, accompanied by music, the emperor went back and forth to support the plough three times, and the household servant sowed the seeds. The pro-farming activity is not only a symbol of the emperor's sympathy for the people's livelihood, but also the embodiment of his idea of emphasizing agriculture and farming. As the saying goes, "one acre and three points of land" is ** in the field in the first agricultural altar.
One acre and three points of land".
So, why is the size of the emperor's "pro-ploughed" field set as "one acre and three points"?
In ancient times, one, three, five, seven, and nine were regarded as yang numbers (odd numbers), and one and three were the two smallest of the yang numbers. The emperor had the identity of the Son of Heaven, and he had to plough but not be too tired, so he set a minimum land area as the farmland, which means "exemplary cultivation", so it is three points per acre.
Qingcheng Palace Complex
Qingcheng Palace. Qingcheng Palace complex is located on the east side of the outer altar of Xiannongtan, was built in the second year of Ming Shun (1458), formerly known as "Zhai Palace", is the place where the emperor sacrifices to plough before fasting. In the twentieth year of Qianlong (1755), it was renamed "Qingcheng Palace", and became the place where the emperor rewarded the entourage of hundreds of officials and celebrated the ceremony after the emperor's cultivation ceremony.
Xiannong altar
Located in the south of the Shen Kitchen building complex is the altar of Xiannong, the altar sits in the north and faces south, the construction area is 300 square meters, there are eight steps on each side, it is the altar of the emperor to come here or send officials to worship the god of agriculture.
Xiannong altarAltar of the Heavens and Earth
Walking west along the Gufu Hall, stone niches stand between the green areas, and the tablets of the gods of heaven and earth are enshrined in the stone niches. During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the altar of the gods of heaven and the altar of the earth were added outside the south gate of the inner altar, and the latter two altars were dismantled and moved here, at present, the original altar of the gods and the altar of the earth have no existence, but the shrine of the altar of the earth that still exists was moved into the inner altar for protection.
Altar of the Heavens and Earth
Museum of Ancient Architecture, Beijing
Model of the wooden tower in Yingxian County.
Founded and opened in September 1991, the Beijing Museum of Ancient Architecture is the first museum in China to collect, research and display the history of ancient Chinese architectural technology, art and its development. At present, the "Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Architecture" is displayed in the courtyard group of Tai Sui Palace, which introduces in detail the long process and brilliant achievements of ancient Chinese architecture.
Longfu Temple Wanshan Zhengjue Hall bright caisson well. Photo by reporter Chen Lukun.
Beijing Longfu Temple Wanshan Zhengjue Hall caisson - "Tiangong Caojing", it is treasured in the Tai Sui Palace. In 1976, the caisson was demolished in the main hall of Longfu Temple, and in 1989, the caisson was moved to the Beijing Museum of Ancient Architecture for collection and restoration. This caisson has a total of six layers, the outer circle is square inside, the shape is like an umbrella, the top is painted with a star map, more than 1400 stars, it is the Ming Dynasty to imitate the star map of the Tang Dynasty to draw, in the lower part of the star map, the Tiangong pavilion full of Qionglou Yuyu, the interior is painted with the travel map of the gods, there are four heavenly kings at the four corners to lift, its exquisite wooden construction skills create a beautiful picture of the heavenly palace.
600 years of rise and fall changes, from the former royal sacrificial altar temple, to the public park in the first period, to the school after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the ancient building museum, and then to the reappearance of historical relics, Xiannongtan condenses the historical and cultural connotation of the Chinese nation's heavy agriculture and consolidation, and is an important window to show China's agricultural civilization.