Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven, literally the Altar of Heaven (Traditional Chinese: 天壇; Simplified Chinese: 天坛; Pinyin: Tiān Tán) is situated in the south of Beijing, in Xuanwu District.

In ancient China, the emperor was regarded as the "Son of Heaven", who administered matters on the earth on behalf of the heavenly authority. To show respect to the heaven, ceremonies for sacrifices to heaven were extremely important to the emperor. The temple was built for the worship of heaven and prayers for good harvests.

Each winter solstice the emperor and all his retinue would move through the city to encamp at the southern gate of the complex, there to await word from the priests that the sacrifice ceremony had been perfectly completed. It was widely held that the smallest of mistakes would constitute a bad omen for the whole nation in the coming year.

The Altar of Heaven is one of the four grandest temples located in Beijing. The other prominent temples include The Temple of Sun (日坛), The Temple of Earth (地坛), and The Temple of Moon (月坛).

The Temple of Heaven was registered on the UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1998.