Ming Yongle years, in the east and west of Tiananmen Temple and the altar of the Gods of Jigji, is later the Palace of Culture of the Working People and Zhongshan Park. It was built according to the traditional system of "left ancestor, right community" of the ancient feudal imperial capital of China.
The Imperial Temple was the place where the emperor worshipped his ancestors, and the Altar of the Gods of Earth and Jigen represented power and land. The two were located on both sides of Tiananmen Square, thus emphasizing the importance of the Chengtianmen Gate on the central axis of the Imperial City.
The Imperial Temple on the left side of Chengtianmen, built in 1420, was the ancestral temple of the Ming and later Qing royal families. During the Ming Dynasty, the system of joint worship at the temple was changed to separate worship, with nine temples dedicated to successive generations of ancestors.
After eight of the nine temples were burned, only Rui Temple remained. Thereafter, after the reconstruction of the new temple, restored the "same hall, different rooms" system of joint worship. The rear hall and two hips of the temple were later expanded.
Tai Temple is rectangular in plan, covering an area of 139,000 square meters, with a length of 475 meters from north to south and a width of 249 meters from east to west. The temple complex *** there are three walls, are yellow glazed tile roof red wall body. Between the first and second walls are thick and ancient cypress trees.
In the first enclosure of the west into the original three gates, the southernmost known as the temple street door, *** 5, leading to the Tiananmen Square; the middle of the temple known as the door, also known as the God's Kitchen door, *** three, leading to the end of the door; the northernmost known as the northwest of the temple door, leading to the noon outside the Quezuo door. All three gates sit east to west.
The main building of the temple for the front, middle and back of the three halls, whenever the new emperor enthroned, pro-regime, supervisor, regent, wedding, on the honorary title, emblem, ten thousand birthday, enthronement, triumph and dedication of prisoners, etc., the emperor and the concubines are here to pay homage to the emperor.
The former hall and 11 broad, 4 deep, is the main three halls, for the emperor to hold a great sacrifice. Above the bright two-storey gable wood plaque book Manchu, Chinese vertical writing "temple", beams and columns outside the incense wood, other components are built for the golden elm, paved with "gold bricks", the entire hall built on the white jade Sumeru seat. The entire hall is built on a white jade Sumida seat. The front hall is the place where the ancestral tablets of the royal family are enshrined.
At the end of each year when the big festival, the Imperial Temple for the emperor and queen of God, the Lord of the wooden cards moved to this hall, held "triennial sacrifice. The two hips have their own halls, the east for meritorious royal family shrine, the west for meritorious ministers shrine.
The central hall, also known as the "bedchamber," is where the gods of the dead emperors are enshrined on weekdays. On both sides, there is a hall to store sacrificial vessels. The back of the hall into its own courtyard, in front of the hall with a red wall separated from the middle hall, known as the "ancestral temple", is dedicated to the emperor's distant ancestors of God's place, and later in the Qing Dynasty is dedicated to the emperor did not claim the title of emperor before the Zhaozu, Xingzu, Jingzu and Xianzu four posthumously awarded the first emperor.
In addition, there are halberd gate, sacred storehouse, sacred cabinet, Zaijia Pavilion, Well Pavilion and white jade stone bridge and other buildings. The emperor sacrificed to the temple when the door, generally from the noon gate to Chengtianmen Royal Road on the east side of the Quezuo door in and out of the main gate of the temple street. Emperor fasting in the Palace of fasting. At the time of the festival, the emperor's royal ceremonial dress, ride the ceremonial carriage out of the palace.
The right side of the Chengtianmen is symmetrical with the Imperial ancestral temple of the altar of the Jikji Temple, originally for the Liao, Jin Dynasty Xingguo Temple, Yuan Dynasty, the old site of the Wanshouxingguo Temple. 1421, according to the "left ancestor of the right social" system set up an altar in this place, and since then has been for the Ming and Qing emperors in spring and autumn sacrifices to the God of the land and the God of the grains of the place.
The altar of the Gods of Jik is located in the center of Zhongshan Park, facing north and south. The Altar of the Gods of the Jik is a three-tiered square platform made of white jade. Each level is surrounded by white stone railings. According to "under the old news under the sun" records: the altar of the Jikji in the Que right, north, altar system square, two into, four feet high, on into the square five feet, two into the square five feet three feet, by the out of the ah, all white stone, each four levels. On into building five-color soil, yellow, east green, south red, west white, north black.
The altar on the five-color soil, respectively, symbolizing the gold, wood, water, fire, earth, is the basis of all things, including "under the sky, is not the king's land" meaning. Altar foundation all with alabaster, altar surrounded by walls, covered with glazed tiles, tile color and altar on the earth color relative. In the center of the altar had a square stone pillar, called Jiangshan stone, meaning Jiangshan water solid.
The four sides of the altar each has a white jade latticework door, looks solemn. In the north of the flower bed there is a solemn and exquisite wooden structure of the hall, called the worship hall. This hall was built in the Ming Yongle years, the top of the single-eave hiatus yellow glazed tiles, the face of the 5, 3 deep, red doors and windows, white stone foundation, was set up for the emperor on the way to sacrifice to avoid the wind and rain.
In the north side of the Hall of Worship there is a door called the halberd door, 5 deep, the original door had displayed 72 halberds, each halberd is 1.1 zhang, known as the "silver emblem of the red rod of the golden dragon halberd". In addition, there are located in the inner altar wall outside the south side of the west door of the Zaijia Pavilion and located outside the altar of the God of the Jikji southwest of the cupboard, God library and other ancillary buildings.
The emperor came to the altar of the altar of sacrifices, from the right door of the Que into the altar of the altar of the northeast door to the altar of the door, under the carriage in the sedan chair into the right door, down the halberd door to the east to the worship of the temple of the east step off the sedan chair, in the sound of music and dance to the altar of the line of sacrifice.
The altar is not a god, Taishe is located in the right, Taiji is located in the left, are facing north. Every year, the emperor to sacrifice, is to show that "non-earth is not established, non-cereal is not food, the king to the earth as the importance of the world to seek blessings to reward the work".
Ming Yongle years, the Ming Dynasty in the planning and creation of the Palace City, in addition to building the left and right of the community, but also built the Palace Square, to show the supremacy of its imperial style. Palace Square built during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, is the earliest Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
According to historical records, during the Liao and Jin dynasties, there was a famous ancient temple Xingguo Temple in the northeastern suburb of Yanjing City, which was located in the northwest corner of Tiananmen Square, and the Ming Dynasty's Palace Square was created on top of the site of Xingguo Temple.
During the Yuan Dynasty, the palace square was moved from the front of the palace to the front of the Imperial City, and developed from unenclosed and semi-enclosed to completely closed. After the Ming Dynasty inherited the Yuan Dynasty Palace Square system.
Chengtianmen was built, the front of the large open area with a red wall, forming a more closed "T"-shaped forecourt, is the Imperial City of the Palace Square. So far, the Palace Square has become only the emperor, the clan and officials in and out of the forbidden land.
The Palace Square in the Ming Dynasty was originally surrounded by the Daming Gate, Chang'an Left Gate and Chang'an Right Gate, as well as the Thousand Steps Gallery. In the south of the Chengtian Gate, north of the Zhengyangmen, the original three queues of the Daqingmen, the north side of the left and right each east-west corridors 110, known as the Thousand Steps Corridor, and the east and west folded to the north of the corridors of the room 34, east of Chang'an left door, west of the right door of Chang'an, are connected to the eaves through the ridge. Face north for the Tianjie, that is, later Chang'an Street, where the civil and military White House to this to dismount from the sedan chair and walk.
In ancient times, the center of Beijing is the Forbidden City, and the Palace Square is located in the scope of the Forbidden City, which happens to be covered within the center. As a symmetry, in the Chengtianmen gate building, pay attention to the "left ancestral right community"; in the layout of the Palace Square, pay attention to the "civil and military west", the state institutions are divided into two sides of the square. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty first built the Ministry of Rites after the five government six centralized on both sides of the palace square.
Thousand steps on the east side of the corridor is in charge of the national rituals, sacrifices, banquets, tributes and other affairs of the Ministry of Rites and in charge of the national officials selected, the examination of the course, Hoon Seong of the Ministry of mandarins, is responsible for the national household, land, taxes, finance and expenditure and other affairs of the Ministry of the Household, as well as Zongrenfu, the Ministry of War, Ministry of Public Works, the Honglu Temple and the Chintian Supervision and so on, the building of the Yamamen are sitting in the east to the west.
Thousand steps west of the corridor has the highest military institutions left, right, right, before and after the five military governor's office and in charge of rituals and ceremonies of the Taishang Temple and acceptance of internal and external chapters and receives the subjects sealed complaints of the body of the General Administration Department and in charge of the guards, arrests, the criminal prison of the Jinyiwei and other Yamen buildings are sitting in the west towards the east.
During the Ming Dynasty, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of War often selected officials in the east side of the Thousand Steps Gallery, which was called "Monthly Selection" and "Official Chain", and the Ministry of Rites examined the examination papers of the township examinations and the Congressional Examinations, which was called "Grinding and Survey"; while the west side of the Thousand Steps Gallery was the place where the Ministry of Criminal Justice tried the criminals, which was called the "Dynasty Trial" and the "Autumn Trial".
The whole palace square in the strict, deep, mysterious layout, become the court rituals and laws of the place, is the centralized embodiment of the idea of the supremacy of the feudal emperors and emperors.
Then, due to the implementation of the imperial examination system, so every three years in Kyoto, held in March of the spring lunar calendar. All local provincial officials were allowed to take the examination in Kyoto.
But into the Beijing exam candidates, it is necessary to first focus on the east side of the Qing dynasty gate in the thousand steps of the corridor, to be the court by the Ministry of Rites of the test as a tribute after the test, and then by the tribute by the temple test test, only to be given by the emperor as a jinshi. Where by the temple examination, the scholar, on the golden list, collectively referred to as the "Dragon Gate". Therefore, the people of Chang'an left door commonly known as the "Dragon Gate".
However, the west side of the Qing dynasty gate in the thousand steps of the corridor and the right door of Chang'an, its use and the east side of the thousand steps of the corridor and the left door of Chang'an is very different. The court stipulated that every year, before the fall, each province must report to the Ministry of Justice in the court in Kyoto any cases in which the death penalty was normally imposed and not immediately executed.
The cases reported by the provinces must first be gathered at the Thousand Steps Corridor on the west side of the Daqing Gate, where the Ministry of Justice, together with the Da Lisi, the official office in charge of reviewing the cases, examines them before asking the emperor to make a ruling.
Then, by the court will be the emperor's ruling, but also through the Tiananmen Gate sent out of Chang'an right door, announced to the public, called the "Autumn Trial", will dare to violate the "king's law" of the felon will be escorted out of Chang'an right door "law". Obviously, once a person is escorted into the tiger's mouth, it will be difficult for him or her to survive. Therefore, the people nicknamed the right gate of Chang'an as "Tiger Gate".
The left and right gates of Chang'an were also named Dragon and Tiger Gates because of the "East Green Dragon and West White Tiger". Outside the two gates is the place where the royal list is posted, the list in the Dragon Gate outside, the list of martial arts in the Tiger Gate outside, the two gates because there are three holes, so it is also commonly known as the "three doors".