Heaven Worship Ceremony at the Temple of Heaven

Offering sacrifices to heaven is a reflection of the ancients' understanding of nature and human beings. It originated from life and was originally just a kind of worship behavior of people. "The Book of Rites: Li Yun" says: "At the beginning of rituals, it started with food and drink. They burned millet and ate pork, stained the wine vessel and drank, beat the drums with sticks, and beat the drums with earthenware,..." Sacrifice is also the result of the formation of human thinking. It was born with the emergence of human social ideology. It represents the initial awakening of mankind and is a symbol of mankind's departure from ignorance and moving towards civilization. The history of offering sacrifices to heaven in ancient China can be traced back to the legend of ancient times. There were already offering sacrifices to heaven during the Yellow Emperor period. In the early days, people chose natural highlands to hold activities to worship heaven. Later, they built high platforms specifically for offering sacrifices to heaven, called altars, to express people's respect and expectations for heaven. "The Book of Rites: Quli" has the saying that "the emperor offers sacrifices to heaven and earth." The "Da Dai Li Ji" which was written earlier than the "Book of Rites" also said: "The suburban sacrifices are limited to the emperor, the shrines are limited to the princes, and the road is extended to the literati and officials, so as to distinguish the noble and the humble. The noble serve the noble, and the humble serve the humble." In a class society, the rulers gave the sacrifice to heaven a unique meaning, incorporated it into the scope of feudal etiquette, and made it an important part of the country's political life. It is precisely because the sacrifice was given a special meaning and was closely related to the country's political life that it was practiced by monarchs of all dynasties in Chinese history for more than two thousand years, and the sacrifice to heaven was even more respected to an unprecedented height, becoming the "great sacrifice of the country."