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1、,Unit 4 The Temple of Heaven: Reverence with Awe and Gratitude,Lead-in,Text study,Exercises,Content,Lead-in,Watch a video clip of The Temple of Heaven, and try to take down some words that used to describe it,.,Answer: a slice of heaven, mysterious, interesting, stone-and-wood, wonderful,Introductio
2、n,Ceremonial Offerings of the Emperor,Holding Nature in Awe,Humanity and Heaven in Communion,Text study,Introduction,The Temple of Heaven was constructed during the reign of Emperor Yongle (r.1403-1424) of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and completed in 1420, about the same time as the Forbidden City
3、.,When Emperor Yongle moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing in 1420, it was at the Temple of Heaven that he performed the important ritual of paying tribute to Heaven and Earth.,Emperor Yongle,Introduction,Nearly 600 years later, the Temple of Heaven still stands intact in the south of Beijing.,
4、It not only presents a beautiful spectacle, but also represents the Chinese pursuit of harmony between Heaven and mortals.,Introduction,Ceremonial Offerings of the Emperor,The emperor used to offer oblations (祭献) to Heaven here twice a year, in the spring and winter.,The Hall of Prayer for Good Harv
5、ests (祈年殿) was the site of the spring rituals, where the emperor and the ministers would gather for the ceremony signified by the name of the hall.,Ceremonial Offerings of the Emperor,Ceremonial Offerings of the Emperor,Note: 祈年殿是皇帝每年正月上辛日举行祈谷礼的地方，据说设计时以圆形平面象征天，以四龙井柱象征四季，以十二根金柱和檐柱分别象征十二月和十二时辰。,On th
6、e Winter Solstice (冬至), they would make offerings at the Circular Mound Altar (圜丘坛), to show their gratitude for the great compassion (同情) of Heaven toward the human world.,Ceremonial Offerings of the Emperor,圜丘坛全景 A birds-eye view of the Circular Mound Altar,Note: 圜丘坛为每年冬至日祭天处，为汉白玉石砌的三层露天圆坛，围绕着石雕栏杆
7、。,Ceremonial Offerings of the Emperor,In times of drought or flood, the emperor would come the Circular Mound Altar with civil and military officials to pray for assistance from Heaven.,Ceremonial Offerings of the Emperor,Only the emperor could pray at the Temple of Heaven. Ordinary people were not
8、allowed access. Yet the idea of showing awe and respect to Heaven was not reserved for the emperor alone, but was shared by the people as well. The worship of Heaven among the Chinese dates back to over 3,000 years ago.,Ceremonial Offerings of the Emperor,Traditional Chinese view on heaven,Our ances
9、tors believed that Heaven, also known as the “Heavenly Deity (天神)” or “Heavenly Emperor (天帝)“, was the mysterious force that directed all things on Earth, such as natural harvests and personal fate.,Ceremonial Offerings of the Emperor,Natural disasters on Earth were regarded as warnings to people fo
10、r wrongdoings of one kind or another. And calamity (灾害) was taken as the punishment from Heaven.,In the second year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu (r. 1875-1908), the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests was burned down in a big fire. The emperor lost his composure (镇静) at the news and all the minister
11、s turned ashen, believing the disaster to be a bad omen (预兆) from Heaven.,Ceremonial Offerings of the Emperor,To the ancient Chinese, however, Heaven was more inclined toward love and tolerance, punishing people only occasionally. Thus, our forebears were always grateful to Heaven.,Ceremonial Offeri
12、ngs of the Emperor,Holding Nature in Awe,The color,While blue is the thematic color, the three main structures of the Temple of Heaven all stand on triple-terraced white foundations. The colors used invoke a strong sense of purity and sublimity (祟高)qualities the Chinese attribute to Heaven.,The layo
13、ut,Careful visitors will notice the centripetal (向心的) structures of the two main buildings: the Circular Mound Altar and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. This type of architecture gives one a sense of reaching up to Heaven while ascending the steps.,Holding Nature in Awe,Humanity and Heaven in
14、Communion,Ancient Chinese believed that people could communicate with Heaven, and the Temple of Heaven was built to enable this.,The echo of sound at the Circular Mound Altar and the Imperial Vault of Heaven (皇穹宇) are evidence of what our forebears believed to be communicating with Heaven.,Humanity
15、and Heaven in Communion,皇穹宇：祭天所用“皇天上帝”牌位平时即贮于此，是座圆形单檐攒尖蓝琉璃瓦顶建筑，殿有八根内柱，上部挑出镏金斗拱，承圆形天花，宛如伞盖。,If you stand on the Heavenly Heart Stone on the Circular Mound Altar, you can hear your voice rise from underneath your feet and echo back from the wall around the Altar. The resounding echo, according to the
16、designers, represents Heavens reply to whatever the speaker asks for.,Humanity and Heaven in Communion,When you stand inside the outer wall of the Imperial Vault of Heaven, and speak into the wall, a friend at a point farther away along the wall can hear your voice; it resembles making a phone call to someone.,Humanity and Heaven in Communion,Echo wall,Humanity and Heaven in Communion,This phenomenon, due to the much shorter length of the sound waves compared to the radius of the
