China Travel Guide

The Imperial Ancestral Temple, Ancestral Hall, Working People's Cultural Palace or Taimiao (Chinese: 太庙) of Beijing, is a historic site in the heart of city, just outside the Forbidden City, where during both the Ming and Qing Dynasties, sacrificial ceremonies were held on the most important festival occasions in honor of the imperial family's ancestors.

The compound is laid out parallel to north-south axis of the Forbidden City. Its principle buildings consist of three main halls, two gates, two subsidiary shrines, and various accompanying buildings.

A visitor to the site first enters through the Glazed Gate at the south, then finds himself in a narrow courtyard with ponds covered by arched bridges. The next gate is called the Halberd gate and is an original Ming dynasty construction from 1420. In the courtyard beyond the gate is the two-tiered Hall for Worship of Ancestors. It was also built in 1420 but was frequently repaired. It contains seats and beds for the tablets of emperors and empresses, as well as incense burners and offerings. On the occasion of large-scale ceremonies for worship of ancestors, such as the "Shi Xiang" (held in the first months of the four seasons), the "Xia Ji" (end-of-year ceremony) and "Gao Ji" (national events ceremonies) the Qing emperor would come here to participate.

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Tiananmen Square( the Gate of Heavenly Peace), is located in the center of Beijing. It was first built in 1417 and named Chengtianmen( the Gate of Heavenly Succession). At the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was seriously damaged by war. When it was rebuilt under the Qing in 1651, it was renamed Tiananmen Square, and served as the main entrance to the Imperial City, the administrative and residential quarters for court officials and retainers. The southern sections of the Imperial City wall still stand on both sides of the Gate. The tower at the top of the gate is nine-room wide and five –room deep. According to the Book of Changes, the two numbers nine and five, when combined, symbolize the supreme status of a sovereign.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Tiananmen Square was the place where state ceremonies took place. The most important one of them was the issuing of imperial edicts, which followed these steps:
1) The Minister of Rites would receive the edict in Taihedian( Hall of Supreme Harmony), where the Emperor was holding his court. The minister would then carry the decree on a yunpan( tray of cloud), and withdraw from the hall via Taihemen( Gate of supreme Harmony)
2) The Minister would put the tray in a miniature longting( dragon pavilion). Beneath a yellow umbrella and carry it via Wumen( Meridian Gate), to Tiananmen Square Gate tower.
3) A courtier would be invested to proclaim the edict. The civil and military officials lining both sides of the gateway beneath the tower would prostrate themselves in the direction of the emperor in waiting for the decree to the proclaimed.

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