What are the architectural layout features of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing?

The reconstructed Hall of Prayer for the New Year is a circular building with a diameter of 32.72 meters. Gold-plated, covered with blue tiles, pyramid-shaped roof with triple eaves, gathered layer by layer, with a total height of 38 meters.

The new year's prayer hall adopts the superstructure structure. The main hall is built on a three-story white marble platform, surrounded by a 6-meter-high white stone fence, which is an altar for praying for the valley. It's quite spectacular and magnificent.

The Hall of Prayer for the New Year is made of brick and wood, and the three-story double eaves shrink upward step by step into an umbrella shape. The building is unique, without long purlins and nails, surrounded by 28 giant nanmu columns, which support the weight of the temple roof.

The Hall of Praying for the New Year is designed according to the concept of "respecting heaven and respecting god". The hall is round, symbolizing the round sky. The tiles are blue, symbolizing the blue sky. The number of pillars in the temple is also said to be built according to the astronomical phenomena.

The Leigong column under the treasure dome symbolizes the emperor's "unification of the world". The algae well in the Hall of Prayer for the New Year consists of two floors and a ceiling with golden dragon and phoenix relief in the middle, which is exquisite in structure and rich and luxurious.

The internal structure of the Hall of Prayer for the New Year is quite unique, without girders and long purlins, and only nanmu columns and purlins are used to support the roof. There are 28 nanmu pillars in the temple, the number of which is consistent with the astronomical phenomena: the middle four dragon pillars are19.2m in height and1.2m in diameter, symbolizing the four seasons, the middle circle 12 gold pillars symbolizing one year 12 months, and the outer layer 12.

In the middle of the floor of the hall is a round marble with a natural dragon and phoenix pattern, which echoes the dragon algae well at the top of the hall and the dragon and phoenix and seal patterns drawn in gold around it, making the whole hall look very grand.

The Hall of Prayer for the New Year is located on a circular white marble pedestal, covering an area of more than 5,900 square meters, and is an altar for praying for the valley. The abutment is divided into three layers, 6 meters high, and each layer has a white marble carved railing, which is magnificent. This platform and the main hall are an inseparable artistic whole.

Looking south from the gate of the Hall of Prayer for the New Year, I saw a straight tunnel extending south. The porch is heavy all the way, farther and farther, boundless, and there is a feeling of falling from the sky.

In the Hall of Prayer for the New Year, the ceiling is an exquisite "Jiulong Algae Well", and the Longjing column is painted with gold. There is a flat round marble in the center of the temple, and the pattern on the stone surface is a natural dragon and phoenix pattern. Yi Long leads a phoenix, which is called "Dragon and Phoenix Stone", that is, "Dragon and Phoenix are auspicious".

According to legend, there is only a phoenix pattern on this stone, but there is only a carved dragon in the algae well at the top of the temple. With the growth of age, the dragon and the phoenix are inspired, and Jinlong often flies down to find the phoenix on the Phoenix Stone for fun.

Unexpectedly, one day, I met Emperor Jiajing and bowed down on the stone. Jinlong has no time to fly back. Together with the phoenix on the stone, it was crushed into the boulder by Emperor Jiajing and never came out again. Since then, it has become a deep and shallow dragon and phoenix stone.

When the Hall of Prayer for the New Year was first burned at 1889, this dragon and phoenix stone was smoked and burned for a day and a night. Although the stone was not burned, the dragon pattern was burned to light black and the phoenix pattern was blurred.

In front of the Hall of Prayer for the New Year, there are 9 east and 9 west affiliated halls, which are called East Gai and Xi Gai, and they are warehouses for collecting God cards. In the early Ming Dynasty, in addition to offering sacrifices to gods, there were also sacrifices to the ancestors of the royal family Zhu, as well as the gods and emperors of past dynasties, such as the sun, the moon, the five stars, the five mountains in East, West, North, South and Central China, the five small mountains and five towns, the four seas, storms, mountains and rivers, Tai Sui, Taoism and so on.

There is a wood stove, a mound, a burning stove and a serving table in the southeast corner of the altar. In the north of the altar, there is Huang Gan Hall, which is five rooms wide. Originally, the ancestral tablets were placed, but later they moved to the ancestral temple.

Next to the altar, there are ancillary buildings such as the door for praying for the new year, the god library, the god chef, the sacrificial pavilion, the sacrificial road and the promenade. There is a seven-star stone in the square to the south of the promenade, which was placed in Jiajing period.

Although the Hall of Prayer for the New Year has gone through 350 years, the hall is not inclined, and the wooden frame is immortal and stands tall, which is really the pride of the Chinese nation and an outstanding project in the history of world architecture!