The Temple of Heaven is located in the southern distric of Beijing. It extands over and area of 270 hectares (667 acres), triple the total area of the Forbidden City.

Its main building s date back to 1420, when the third Ming emperor, Zhudi (1403 - 1424), ordered the construction of an altar for the worship of heaven and earth. Later, when the Altar of Land was constructed for the worship of the earth, here was reserved for the worship of heaven and prayer for good harvests.

Temple of Heaven is the largest graoup of temple building in China and took 14 years to complete. It is enclosed by a double wall. the northern half of which is circular, representing heaven, and the southern half square, representing earth; the combination of the two shpes indictes the original dual nature of this temple.

At the centre of the northern end is the main temple hall, the Hall of prayer for Good Harvest, which has a history of over 500 years. In 1889, it was destroyed by lightning and restored to its origianl condition the following year. It was here that the emperor proyed in person for good harvests in the first lunar month of every year.

The hall is a circular wooden structure, 38 metres high and 30 metres in diameter. It has a triple coical roof set with deep blue glazed tiles and topped with a large gold-plating knob. The building stands on a three-tiered circular terrace called the Altar for Grain Prayers. Each tier of the terrace is edged with a white marble balustrade. This superb temple on its marble terrace is a world-famous symbol of ancient Beijing.

The construction of the hall is a fine example of the unique methods of traditional Chinese architecture. Instead of iron nails, cement or reinforcing rods, the whole structure is supported by wooden mortise and tenon joints and wooden brackets on huge supporting pillars. There are altergether 28 pillars symbolizing the 28 costellations. The 4 central pillars are the thickest and are painted with gilded coiled dragons; they symbolize the four seaons of the year. Around them is an inner circle of 12 pillars, symbolizing the twelve months of the lunar calendar, and beyond is an outer circle of another twelve, symbolizing the twelve two-hour periods into which the cycle of day and night was traditionally divided. The 24 pillars taken together represent the 24 solar periodes of each year. (The solar year in the Chinese calendar war divided into 24 periods, named according to the typical weather and agricultural coditions of north China.)

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