The Firewood Burning Furnace

The Firewood Burning Furnace

The Firewood Burning Furnace is a massive circular brick furnace built with green-glazed tiles. At the beginning of the Heaven Worship Ceremony, a ritually cleansed calf was placed on the furnace and burned with pine branches and reed bundles to welcome the heavenly deities, a ritual called “Burning Firewood to Welcome the Imperial Deity.” Upon the completion of the ceremony, all offerings, prayer plaques, and silk scrolls displayed on the altar of the Heavenly Emperor were respectfully carried to the furnace and burned, while the emperor had to stand by and watch, a ritual known as “Gazing at the Burning.”

Temple of Heaven Park

Divine Music Administration

Hall of Imperial Zenith

Vermilion Steps Bridge

Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests

Hall of Abstinence

Imperial Vault of Heaven

Echo Wall of the Temple of Heaven

Lingxing Gate of the Temple of Heaven

Circular Mound Altar Ruins

Beacon Towers

Heart of Heaven Stone

Seventy-two Corridors

Gate of the Sixtieth Year