Imperial Ancestral Temple

The Imperial Ancestral Temple, also known as the Emperors' Temple, is a former imperial temple where emperors and meritorious officials of successive dynasties were worshipped during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Located at 131 Fuchengmen Inner Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, it was originally built in 1531 during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. Its original site was the Baoan Temple, which was rebuilt in 1530, the ninth year of the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, and renovated in 1729, the seventh year of the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty. It covers an area of 22,000 square meters, with a building area of about 4,000 square meters. The Imperial Ancestral Temple, facing south, is grand in scale. The layout of the buildings in the temple is divided into three routes: middle, east, and west. Along the central axis from south to north are the glazed screen wall, wooden archway (demolished), main gate, bell tower, Jingde Gate, and Jingde Chongsheng Hall, etc. Side halls are built on both sides. The Jingde Chongsheng Hall is the main building of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, second only to the Taihe Hall in the Forbidden City. There were originally eleven shrines in the hall for the memorial tablets of emperors of successive dynasties. There is a stele pavilion on each side of the platform. In the two stele pavilions on both sides of the main hall, there are imperial steles erected by Emperor Yongzheng and Emperor Qianlong. The east route includes the Divine Kitchen, Divine Treasury, Slaughtering Pavilion, and Well Pavilion. The west route mainly consists of the rooms where the officiating officials prepared for the ceremonies. The Imperial Ancestral Temple is the only existing temple in China dedicated to the emperors of past dynasties. It not only reflects the long history of the Chinese nation but also embodies the continuous historical characteristics of China as a unified multi-ethnic country. In addition, it has high historical and cultural value for the study of ancient architecture and feudal rituals and institutions. The east and west side halls of the Jingde Chongsheng Hall are black glazed tile double-eaved hip-and-gable roof buildings, each with seven bays. The memorial tablets of meritorious officials and famous generals of past dynasties are enshrined in the east and west side halls, respectively, according to the arrangement of "civil officials in the east and military officials in the west." Among the famous ministers, there are Limu and Cangjie from the Yellow Emperor era, and famous ministers and generals from past dynasties such as Xiao He, Zhuge Liang, Fang Xuanling, Fan Zhongyan, Yue Fei, and Wen Tianxiang. The last ones are Liu Ji and Yu Qian from the Ming Dynasty, totaling 79 people. All the memorial tablets of meritorious officials and famous generals are inscribed in black ink on a red background. There is a brazier to the south of each of the east and west side halls, both of which are hip-and-gable roof buildings imitating wooden structures. The west side is made of gray bricks, and the east side is made of glazed tiles. They are places where eulogies and offerings are burned during sacrifices. In 1979, the Imperial Ancestral Temple was announced as a second batch of municipal-level cultural relics protection units by the Beijing Municipal People's Government. In 1996, the Imperial Ancestral Temple was announced as a fourth batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of the People's Republic of China.