Temple of Heaven - Beijing

We are on our way to the Temple of Heaven after lunch. We were going by beautiful plantings of colorful flowerbeds and what appeared to be a new wall - this was everywhere we went once we noticed. After closer inspection, we found that these are the walls that have been built to hide-away all the old hutongs, many of which are crumbling down or filled with trash on their roofs and alleys. These are part of the beautification of Beijing before the Olympics. I just read an article in the Shanghai Daily talking about how many of these old homes in the hutongs were torn down, some homes right in half depending on far in the wall was being built, and the people relocated to modern dwellings. Many say they miss the community of the hutong (Beijing word for alley living like our lane house living only more rustic), but enjoy the private bathrooms, kitchens, etc.
In order to get to the Temple of Heaven, you can walk in gardens or pass through a building of long, covered porches, seen above, that is a gathering place for people. It is a hit to the senses - a wonderful hit. Groups of people are scattered, in varying sizes, singing patriotic songs en masse, opera solo, playing old musical instruments, and so much more. They are set up in these corridors and outside if the weather permits, some having their 15 minutes of fame, others just there for the comradeship. We heard some exquisite singers and just loved moving among the groups.


The actual Temple of Heaven where the Son of Heaven (emperor) would come twice a year to pray and make sacrifices for good harvests and rain - depending on the time of year. Lu and Storey opted out of this trek (all the historic sites are very large with what seems like miles of space inbetween) and stayed in the car with the driver.
There are three tiers going up to the temple, as at the Forbidden City, going progressively higher and holier. There is a long promenade connecting the temple to the sacrificial area. This promenade is elevated, and below is a courtyard with what is called the animal ghost gate. Once the animal (whichever is being sacrificed) goes through the gate, not even its ghost can go back through. It is in the courtyard, and its whole being is given up for the harvest or rain.
Among many multi-nouanced things in China, numbers are very important. The 3 tiers for heaven, 9 as the empirical perfect number, 8 is a lucky number, 4 is an unlucky number (it sounds like the word for death and some buildings don't have the 4th floor, similar to the western aversion to 13), etc., etc. Thus the 3 tiers, and as we will soon see, the number 9 in operation again.
Three gates entering the sacrificial area, only the emperor may use the middle one (same in the F. C.), the 3 tiered area to the right, and the large pole on the left is where another dead animal would be skewered so that carions would go for that meat and not the holy meat of the animal being sacrificed. Incredible diversionary tactics in place here, to protect the holy animal for the right moment.
The sacrificial area is perfectly round, and at the very center is a stone where the emperor would call up to be heard. It is supposedly the highest and closest place to the gods to have your voice heard. While we were there, people continually stepped onto the middle stone and put their head back and shouted their children's names up into the skies for their protection. On the third level, we were standing in the center, and from that center stone, the first ring of stones had 9 stone pavers. The second ring had 18, the third 27 and so on, all increments of nine in perfect order, even down the two lower tiers. It was awing to see the perfection of the placement of each stone. No variation was visible to the eye. Stunning.
These are the large insense burners trying to mask the smell of. . . .
the meat being burned in this oven. Beautiful oven then, maybe felt a little different centuries ago.

The colors and symmetry and beauty of everything was very moving. There is a great balance and harmony in all the proportions we see. This IS a great civilization.

I think this is finally the end of day 1 in Beijing! Everyone crashed back at the hutong hotel, with mom and Nancy ordering in food for themselves and the girls. Ridley and I went out adventuring and found a fun, and of course delicious, restaurant in the neighborhood. We returned, a couple hours later, to the gals having just received their ordered food, getting whole fish, head and all, which they did not order, and thinking none of it was any too good. Adventuring paid off.