Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - The 24 Solar Terms - Beijing Commentary: Explanation of the geographical location of the four parks: Temple of Heaven, Ditan, Ritan and Yuetan.

Beijing Commentary: Explanation of the geographical location of the four parks: Temple of Heaven, Ditan, Ritan and Yuetan.

Beijing Tiantan Ditan Ritan Moon Altar is designed and built according to innate gossip principle.

Open the map of the ancient capital Beijing, and you can see the north, south, east and west directions inside and outside the ancient capital Beijing. There are four ancient altar buildings: Temple of Heaven, Ditan, Ritan and Yuetan.

The Temple of Heaven is the largest and most complete ancient royal building in China. It is located in the south of Beijing's inner and outer cities. It was built in 1420 by Judy, Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, and has a history of more than 500 years. The Temple of Heaven is the place where emperors of Ming and Qing Dynasties sacrificed to heaven on the solstice in winter, to heaven in Meng Chun and to rain on the solstice in summer. Ditan was built in A.D. 1530, Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty for 9 years, located in the northern part of Beijing. Because there is a square Qu Ze around the altar, it was originally named Fang Zetan, and was renamed Ditan in Jiajing 13. Ditan is the place where emperors of Ming and Qing Dynasties offered sacrifices to their ancestors, that is, the gods of the earth, and it is the most intact memorial building in China today. Both the Ritan and the Moon Altar were built by Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty in nine years from 65438 to 0530. Ritan is located in the east of Beijing, also known as Asahi altar, which is the place where emperors of Ming and Qing dynasties sacrificed their ancestors "Sun God" on the vernal equinox every year. The Moon Altar, also known as the Late Moon Altar, is located in the west of Beijing. It is the place where emperors of Ming and Qing dynasties worship their ancestors "luminous gods" and the gods of stars in the sky on the day of the autumnal equinox every year.

Sacrifice to heaven, earth, sun and moon is a long-standing custom in the history of China. According to historical records, as early as the Zhou Dynasty, the heaven, the earth, the sun and the moon offering sacrifices to ancestors had become a system. During the Warring States Period, Qin Shihuang once worshipped the sun in Weishan (the corner of Rongcheng, Shandong Province) and the moon in Laishan (Ye County, Shandong Province). During the reign of Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, the ancestor of heaven and earth was built in the southern suburb of Chang 'an, the capital city at that time, and "worshipping Dongjun" was built to worship the sun. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was a vernal equinox in the eastern suburbs to worship the god of heaven and earth, and its name still exists. The emperors of the Ming Dynasty built large-scale special buildings to worship the heavens, the earth, the sun and the moon. Up to now, the folk in some parts of China still keep the custom of offering sacrifices to their ancestors "God of Heaven and Earth" during the Spring Festival, which shows that the custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors, heaven and earth, the sun and the moon has a long history. Sacrifice to ancestors, heaven, earth, sun and moon is one of the grand ceremonies in ancient China, and it is an important event during the reign of emperors in past dynasties, which has always been highly valued.

1. The idea that ancient emperors and subjects worshipped heaven, earth, sun and moon came from Zhouyi.

"Zhouyi Shuo Gua" said: "Dry, heaven is also, so it is called father. Kun, the land is also, so it is called mother. " This means that the divination in the gossip represents heaven and is regarded as the father. Kungua represents the earth, and the earth is respected as the mother. Zhouyi said "cohesion": "Heaven and earth are in harmony, and everything is in harmony. Men and women construct essence, and all things are metaplasia. That is to say, "Yin and Yang blend between heaven and earth, everything can be changed, everything can be achieved, and everything can be changed by intercourse between Yin and Yang. "The preface to the Book of Changes says:" There is heaven and earth, and then everything is animistic. ..... There is heaven and earth followed by everything, everything followed by men and women, men and women followed by husband and wife, husband and wife followed by father and son, father and son followed by ministers, ministers followed by ups and downs, ups and downs followed by etiquette, all of which are wrong. "That is to say, the interaction of Yin and Yang of heaven and earth can produce everything, and everything can produce men and women, husband and wife, father and son, monarch and minister, up and down, and etiquette. Everything is inseparable from heaven and earth, which is the root of everything. Therefore, the ancients respected and worshipped heaven and earth very much, and formed a ritual system of offering sacrifices to ancestors regularly according to solar terms.

The Book of Changes also said: "Therefore, rigidity and softness grind, gossip swings, drums are Lei Huo, moistens them with wind and rain, and the sun and the moon run, one cold and one summer." "Every day, every month, the cold and summer are pushing each other, and the year is getting embarrassing." The ancients believed that the sun came, the moon left, and the sun and the moon pushed each other, resulting in day and night, light and darkness in the universe. It is the movement of the sun and the moon that produces Leng Xia heat in winter, from cold to hot in summer, from hot in summer to cold, and the mutual promotion of cold and heat produces the annual changes of four seasons, namely, spring, summer, autumn and winter, resulting in year after year. The ancients believed that the sun and the moon were inseparable from the astronomical phenomena formed by years, which led to the custom of offering sacrifices to the sun and the moon.

2. The Temple of Heaven, Ditan, Ritan and Moon Altar were all built according to the orientation of Zhouyi in innate gossip.

Why did the ancient emperors build the Temple of Heaven in the south of the inner city of Beijing, the Ditan in the north, the Ritan in the east and the Moon Altar in the west? Its theoretical basis is innate gossip in Zhouyi.

Zhouyi Shuo Gua said: "Heaven and earth are positioned, mountains and rivers are ventilated, lightning is thin, fire and water are incompatible, and gossip is right and wrong." "Dry, masculine, Kun, feminine." According to this passage, the ancients put forward innate gossip Theory. According to the direction of innate gossip, it is divided into Gannan, Kunbei, Lidong, Kanxi, Dui Southeast, Gen Northwest, Zhenbei and Xunsouthwest.

The Book of Changes says: "Doing things for the sky is your father ... Kun is your mother", "Leaving the fire is your sky ... Talking about your water is your moon ..." It means that doing things is due south, Kun is your land is due north, leaving the sky is due east, and Kan is your moon is due west. The ancients believed that innate gossip's position was the original position of heaven, earth, sun and moon. In order to correspond the Temple of Heaven, Ditan, Ritan and Moon Altar with the orientation of innate gossip, the ancients built the Temple of Heaven in the south, Ditan in the north, Ritan in the east and Moon Altar in the west according to the orientation of innate gossip. In the middle of the four altars is the Imperial Capital. It can be seen that the divinatory symbols represented by the altar of heaven, earth, sun and moon, together with the inner city of the old capital Beijing, constitute innate gossip City.

3. The architectural image characteristics of the Temple of Heaven, Ditan, Ritan and Yuetan are also based on Zhouyi.

The architectural image of the Temple of Heaven is round, the altar is square, the altar is mainly round and the moon altar is square. Why is the Temple of Heaven round, Ditan Square round, Ritan Square round and Yuetan Square round? It turns out that this is also based on Zhouyi.

Zhouyi Shuo Gua says: "Dry Gua means the sky is round ... Kun means the earth ..." Zhouyi says in classical Chinese: "Kun is soft and firm, and he is quiet and virtuous ..." In other words, dry Gua means the sky is round, while Kun Gua means square. Accordingly, the ancients thought that the sky was round and the earth was square, and the sky seemed to be buckled on the earth like a cauldron. This is the origin of the ancient saying that the sky is round. According to the principle of Zhouyi, the ancient emperors built the Temple of Heaven into a circle and the altar into a square, in order to better communicate with heaven and earth and obtain the protection of the gods of heaven and earth. The main building of the Temple of Heaven is a three-story circular platform, with a round Taiji stone in the center of the table, nine round stones around the Taiji stone, and the wall under the dome is also round. The royal tombs where the tablets of gods and emperors' ancestors were stored were also round. The inner surface of the imperial vault is also round, and its center is a round stone surface. The first circle outside it is surrounded by fire blocks and round stones according to the eight diagrams, and the outer wall of the imperial vault is round. This is the famous echo wall. The top of the Hall of Prayer for the Year used by the emperor is a three-story circular building, and the ground in the Hall of Prayer for the Year is also a circular ground, with a round stone in the middle and fan-shaped stones arranged around it according to the gossip law. The base of the Hall of Prayer for the Year is also a three-story circular platform, and the outer wall of the Hall of Prayer for the Year is also round, and the northern part of the entire outer wall of the Temple of Heaven is also round. Therefore, the circle is a remarkable feature of the Temple of Heaven.

The altar in the Ditan is a two-story square building with square stones on the altar surface, square ditches around the stage and square two-story walls around the altar. It can be seen that the square is a prominent feature of Ditan architectural modeling.

"Zhouyi Shuo Gua" said: "If you leave, you will be clear. Everything meets, and southern divination is also ... water is also water, and divination is also north. " It's a day to stay away from the fire ... for divination. According to the orientation of the acquired gossip, the hexagrams are south and north, which are in the same position as the two hexagrams of Gankun in innate gossip. So the altar is round like the Temple of Heaven, and the altar is square like the Ditan. Now the shape of the altar is not what it used to be. According to the existing design scheme of Ming Zhongjing (Fengyang, Anhui) designed in the early Ming Dynasty, the altar is square, but the wall closely surrounding the altar is round.

4. The number in the sense of Temple of Heaven and Ditan accords with the principle of Zhouyi.

I ching said, "the first day, the second day, the third day, the fourth day, the fifth day, the sixth day, the seventh day, the eighth day and the ninth day. Five days, five places. Thrones have their own combinations. Five in twenty days, thirty in places and fifty in places. " According to this statement, one, three, five, seven and nine are odd and positive numbers, and two, four, six, eight and ten are even and negative numbers. The maximum number of positive numbers is 9, and the maximum number of negative numbers is 10, followed by 8. The Temple of Heaven is the sun, so the number of its connotation is the singular of the sun. For example, the Temple of Heaven Hill is built in three floors, with the top floor diameter of 9, the second floor diameter of 15 and the third floor diameter of 2 1 3. The top layer of altar surface is round, and there is a round stone in the center, which is called Taiji Stone. The first circle around Taiji Stone is surrounded by nine fan-shaped round stones, and the second circle is 1 m. The circular mound has 9 circles on the top floor, 9 circles on the second floor and 9 circles on the third floor. The steps between the three mounds are all Grade 9. The base of the Hall of Prayer for the New Year is three floors, and the top of the Hall of Prayer for the New Year is three floors. The Hall of Prayer for the New Year has 9 floors from the base to the top, which means the ninth heaven. The floor of the Hall of Prayer for the New Year is round, and its center is a round stone called the center stone. The first circle around it is composed of eight stones according to the eight diagrams, and the second circle is 16, which is arranged according to the mathematical law of fn=8n and has * * 9 circles. The ground of the palace is also round, with a round stone in the center. Eight fan-shaped stones are arranged in the first circle around it according to the general direction, and arranged into ***9 circles according to the mathematical law of fn=8n. Ditan is underground, and the number of Ditan buildings is even. For example, the altar in the central building of the Ditan is a square two-story building, with the upper altar surface size of 6x6 and the lower altar surface size of l0x 10, and the steps between the two floors are even 8 steps. The altar surface of the Ditan is composed of square stones. The center of the upper altar surface is 6x6=36 cube, and its outer orientation is (8x8)x8=5 12 smaller cube, while the lower altar surface is (8x8)x 16= 1024 cube. The outer wall of the Ditan is twice as heavy. The number of altars is odd. For example, the size of the altar on the first floor is 5x5, the height is 5 feet 9 inches, there are 9 steps, and there is a circular wall outside. The number of buildings in the Moon Altar is even, such as the size of the altar surface is 4x4, the height is 4 feet 6 inches and the steps are 6 steps. As can be seen from the above, the figures used in the architecture of the heaven, earth, sun and moon altar are in line with the Zhouyi principle.

5. Name the altar gate according to "Yuan, Heng, Reason and Truth" in Zhouyi.

There are four gates around the dome of the main building of the Temple of Heaven. The east gate is called Taiyuan Gate, the south gate is called Zhao Hengmen, the west gate is called Guanglimen, and the north gate is called Cheng Zhen Gate. The second word of these four names constitutes Yuan, Heng, Li and Zhen. Yuan Henry's chastity is the four virtues of divination in Zhouyi, and Zhouyi Classical Chinese says: "Yuan people are kind; Balance, the home will also; Those who benefit, the sum of righteousness; Chastity, it's done. A gentleman's benevolence is enough to grow people, a good society is enough to be polite, good things are enough to be harmonious and upright, and a solid character is enough to do things. A gentleman who practices these four virtues, so he says, "Fuck, Yuan Henry is true". The four doors around the Temple of Heaven are named after the word "Yuan Henry Zhen", which further shows that the Temple of Heaven was designed and built according to the principle of Zhouyi.

The Temple of Heaven covers an area of 273 hectares and the Ditan covers an area of 37 hectares. The Temple of Heaven is eight times bigger than the Ditan, which means that the Temple of Heaven is big and the Ditan is small. The hexagrams in the Book of Changes say "from small to large, it is auspicious and prosperous", while the negative hexagrams say "from large to small". According to the Book of Changes, the upper hexagram is Kun, the lower hexagram is dry, the lower hexagram is dry, and the lower hexagram is Kun. Doing things for the sun is as big as the sky, and Kun is as small as the earth. So the area of the Temple of Heaven is larger than the Ditan.

Tags: Sinology, Yijing, Feng Shui, Beijing Zhouyi