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Imperial Ancestral Temple
The Imperial Ancestral Temple is located in the southeast of the Forbidden City, and is symmetrically arranged with the Altar of Land and Grain along the central axis of Beijing. This layout emphasizes the importance of ritual traditions in the planning of the capital and strengthens the orderly urban landscape. The Imperial Ancestral Temple complex faces south and is in a regular rectangular courtyard, surrounded by the inner wall and the outer wall to form a double-ring courtyard. The main sacrificial buildings are all located in the inner wall, symmetrically distributed in the center. The sacrifice site is set up in the southeast of the outer wall. There are ancient cypresses planted in the outer wall, with 714 existing trees, creating a solemn atmosphere. The core sacrificial buildings of the Imperial Ancestral Temple are distributed in the inner wall area, from south to north, they are the Glazed Gate, the Golden Water Bridge, the Ji Gate, the Imperial Ancestral Temple Hall, the Sleeping Hall and the Peach Temple. The east and west side halls, the well pavilion, the kitchen and the storehouse are symmetrically arranged on both sides. The Hall of Sacrifice, located on a three-story Xumi pedestal, is particularly majestic and grand. As a place for the royal family of the Ming and Qing dynasties to worship their ancestors, the Imperial Ancestral Temple not only reflects the cultural tradition of "ruling the world with filial piety", but also symbolizes the legitimacy of the dynasty's ruling power being passed on within the family. It became the highest-level ancestral temple sacrificial building in China during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The construction of the three core buildings of the Imperial Ancestral Temple is closely related to the ancestral temple system. The Hall of Enjoyment is the place where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties held ancestral worship ceremonies. The side halls on the east side are used to enshrine the tablets of the meritorious royal family, and the side halls on the west side are used to enshrine the tablets of meritorious officials. The Sleeping Hall is where the tablets of ancestors are placed on weekdays; the Tao Temple is the place where the tablets of the emperor's distant ancestors are enshrined. Today, the Imperial Ancestral Temple is open to the public as the Cultural Palace of the Working People, and cultural activities such as garden tours, performances, training, and exhibitions are held for the public. The Imperial Ancestral Temple was first built in the 18th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1420). When it was first built, the Hall of Enjoyment and the Sleeping Hall were built in the inner wall. In the fourth year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty (1491), the Tao Temple was built to the north of the Sleeping Hall. Later, due to the change of the national sacrificial system during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the Imperial Ancestral Temple was newly built on the east and west sides of the inner wall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple in the 15th year of Jiajing (1536). It was later burned down by thunder and fire, and rebuilt in the 24th year of Jiajing (1545), restoring the original "same hall, different rooms" system. The planning pattern of the Imperial Ancestral Temple of the Ming Dynasty was used in the Qing Dynasty. After 1925, the Imperial Ancestral Temple was managed by the Forbidden City Museum. After the 1950s, the Imperial Ancestral Temple was opened to the public as the Beijing Working People's Cultural Palace, and cultural activities such as garden tours, performances, training, and exhibitions were held for the public and have been used to this day.
Panjiakou Underwater Great Wall
Here, you can appreciate the ruggedness of the northern mountains and the beauty of the southern water towns. The Great Wall, which reflects the wisdom of the ancient working people, and the Luan River diversion project, which showcases the achievements of modern civilization, organically integrate history and reality. The ups and downs of the "underwater Great Wall" have become a barometer of rainfall in North China. It has appeared above the water and then disappeared underwater many times in history.