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Imperial Ancestral Temple

Ancestral shrines in ChinaJongmyo shrinesMajor National Historical and Cultural Sites in BeijingReligious buildings and structures in Beijing
Imperial Ancestral Temple
Imperial Ancestral Temple

The Imperial Ancestral Temple, or Taimiao (simplified Chinese: 太庙; traditional Chinese: 太廟; pinyin: Tàimiào) of Beijing, is a historic site in the Imperial 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 temple, which resembles the Forbidden City's ground plan, is a cluster of buildings in three large courtyards separated by walls. The main hall inside the temple is the Hall for Worship of Ancestors, which is one of only four buildings in Beijing to stand on a three-tiered platform, a hint that it was the most sacred site in imperial Beijing. 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, the emperors would come here to participate. Flanking the courtyard in front of this hall are two long, narrow buildings. These were worship halls for various princes and courtiers. The Western Wing housed the spirit tablets of meritorious courtiers, while the Eastern Wing enshrined various princes of the Ming or Qing dynasty. Behind the Hall for Worship of Ancestors are two other main halls. The first was built in 1420 and used to store imperial spirit tablets. By the 1920s, the Imperial Ancestral Temple and its surrounding spaces had become a public park, and that public park today has been expanded from its original size and is now also known as the Working People's Cultural Palace (劳动人民文化宫; pinyin: Láodòng Rénmín Wénhuà Gōng). This park was extended based on the Imperial Ancestral Hall site, and the park is located east of Tiananmen, while the Zhongshan Park lies to the west. These two parks along with Beihai Park and Jingshan and several other parks have a deep historic tie with the Forbidden City.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Imperial Ancestral Temple (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Imperial Ancestral Temple
玉带桥, Dongcheng District Donghuamen (首都功能核心区)

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N 39.909963888889 ° E 116.39354166667 °
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太庙

玉带桥
100010 Dongcheng District, Donghuamen (首都功能核心区)
Beijing, China
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Imperial Ancestral Temple
Imperial Ancestral Temple
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Meridian Gate
Meridian Gate

The Meridian Gate or Wumen (simplified Chinese: 午门; traditional Chinese: 午門; pinyin: Wǔmén; Manchu: ᠵᡠᠯᡝᡵᡤᡳᡩᡠᠯᡳᠮᠪᠠᡳᡩᡠᡴᠠ; Möllendorff: julergi dulimbai duka) is the southern and largest gate of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. Unlike the other gates of the Forbidden City, the Meridian Gate has two protruding arms on either side, derived from ancient que towers traditionally used to decorate the main entrances of palaces, temples and tombs. The gate has five arches. The three central arches are close together in the main, central section; the two flanking arches are farther apart from the three central arches, and are located between the central section and the protruding arms. The centre arch was formerly reserved for the Emperor alone; the exceptions were the Empress, who could enter it once on the day of her wedding, and the top three scholars of the triennial civil service examinations, who left the exams through the central arch. All other officials and servants had to use the four side arches. A series of buildings form the superstructure of the gate. The central one is a pavilion of nine bays wide, with double eaves. On each of the protruding side, a 13 bays-long building with a single eave, connects the two pyramidal-roofed pavilions that represented the que towers. Its superstructure is also called the "Five Phoenix Turrets" because it is composed of five buildings. Imperial proclamations and almanacs were issued from the gate house. After successful campaigns, the Emperor received prisoners of war here, sometimes followed by mass decapitations.Although urban myth has it that senior officers were executed here in Imperial China; in reality only corporal punishment was actually carried out. Behind the viewer is Upright Gate, the principal entrance to the imperial palace grounds. When proceeding northward through the palace grounds, the next major gate encountered is the Gate of Supreme Harmony.

40th anniversary of the People's Republic of China

The 40th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China took place on 1 October 1989. The event was held at the Great Hall of the People and Tiananmen Square in Beijing, More than 10,000 party and state leaders and people from all professions in the capital attended the event. Due to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre that year, the planned National Day military parade was cancelled.At 3 p.m., Jiang Zemin, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Yang Shangkun, President of the PRC, Li Peng, Premier of the PRC, Wan Li, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Qiao Shi, Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Yao Yilin, Vice Premier of the PRC, Song Ping, Director of the CCP Organization Department, Li Ruihuan, Secretary of the CCP Secretariat, State Vice President Wang Zhen and other party and state leaders came to the Great Hall of the People. Yang Shangkun, President of the People's Republic of China, announced the start of the "Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China".Subsequently, Jiang Zemin delivered a speech. He pointed out that it is necessary to prevent and correct the problem of unfair social distribution. And it is proposed to strengthen the party building, so that the adherence to the four basic principles and the adherence to reform and opening up are unified.On the evening of 1 October 1989, people from all professions in the capital also held a "Gala Party for Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" in Tiananmen Square. In the front of the Gate, a large national flag with the year number "1949" and "1989" on both sides was appeared. The Military Band of the Chinese People's Liberation Army played the "National Anthem of the People's Republic of China".