When talking about the Temple of Heaven, most people might still think of the one in Beijing. Surprise! There is one also in Xi'an! The Temple of Heaven was actually called the Circular Mound Altar in the early ancient times, then endowed with the name Temple of Heaven in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The one in Xi'an was originally built in 590 AD during the Sui Dynasty, nearly a thousand years earlier than the Temple of Heaven in the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing. This low-pitched historical site with over a thousand year history is located right in the campus of current Shaanxi Normal University (Yanta campus), and it was open to public just couple years ago.

         

The altar was all magically rammed with earth instead of bricks or tiles, then polished on the surface with the white plaster mud mixed with the wheat stalks. The altar is 8 meters high with the stairs extending out to total twelve directions, which was thus called the "Twelve Traditional Chinese Hours", representing the twelve directions of the Earthly Branches (Chinese system for reckoning time). The stairs towards south are the widest, upon which the ancient emperor ascended the altar. Clearly, Chinese people have done profound research towards this timing system since ancient times.

       

In the old times, altar was used for the emperor to worship the heaven. It is said that a total of 21 emperors ascended this altar in Xi'an to deliver the worshipping ritual. Nowadays, the altar that connected man with the nature has become the remaining proof for people to trace the past, also one of the historical landmarks of Xi'an, the capital of thirteen dynasties. It is literally the greatest altar in China.

During the Spring Festival in 2018, there was this heaven worshipping event in the form of Tang Dynasty, during which the actors performed the entire process for sacrificial ceremony, accompanied with ancient costumes, sacrificial dance and musical instrument. The actors and audiences prayed together and proposed the toast.  

Xi'an Temple of Heaven Site Park was built to enable the public to appreciate the view of the altar, and to demonstrate the original form of the altar to the fullest, with pedestrian area and plantations added. A 200-meter-long, 30-meter-wide green promenade centered on the circular altar just brings extra vibrancy to this solemn site.

Xi'an Temple of Heaven Site Park sits close to the modern commercial block, also located right across from the famous landmark in Xi'an —— Xi'an TV Tower. Here the past and now are bonded together.

       

Crossing over one thousand and four hundred years, the Temple of Heaven in Xi'an shines still, even with the city constantly shifting and the skyscrapers towering up behind its back. The site is no grand palace, yet its glory can never be replicated.

Pics see Redbook ID, partially from the Internet