Divine Music Administration

Divine Music Administration

The Divine Music Administration is located slightly south inside the west gate of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. Facing east, it is one of the five major architectural complexes at the Temple of Heaven and was the institution dedicated to performing music and dance during the imperial heaven-worship ceremonies of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was built in the 18th year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty. Also known as the Divine Music Observatory, it was called the Divine Music Office in the 8th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, and was given its current name in the 19th year of Qianlong. The Divine Music Administration was the agency that managed the performance of ancient music during heaven worship and was specifically used to train personnel for ritual music and dance performances.

The Divine Music Administration is located northwest outside the west gate of the Circular Mound Altar. It was first built in the 18th year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty. The administration was responsible for managing the playing of ancient music during heaven worship. During the Ming Dynasty, it was called the Divine Music Observatory, and its musicians and dancers were all Taoist priests at the time. When the capital was moved to Beijing in the 18th year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty, 300 music and dance performers came to Beijing with the court. Afterward, the Ming Dynasty’s Divine Music Observatory usually maintained around 600 such performers. By the time of the Jiajing Emperor, the total number of performers reached 2,200.

In the 8th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, the Divine Music Observatory was renamed the Divine Music Office, and then in the 20th year of Qianlong, it was again renamed the Divine Music Administration. The office included one chief officer with the official rank of sixth grade, two assistant officers of eighth grade (left and right), and five coordinators of music with the rank of eighth grade. There were also nearly 500 music and dance performers under them, whose orchestra was exclusively responsible for performing during rituals. In peacetime, they also studied music. The performers of the Divine Music Administration—referred to by Beijing residents as “fake Taoists”—had no fixed social status. Within the Divine Music Administration, they were Qing officials wearing official hats with flower plumes; when they left the Temple of Heaven and returned to their Taoist temples, they became Taoist priests in flowing robes; and when staying overnight in their private homes, they changed into casual clothes, becoming wealthy gentry surrounded by wives, concubines, children, and grandchildren.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony within the courtyard of the Divine Music Administration was renamed the Hall of Ningsi in the 12th year of the Kangxi reign. Behind the five-bay main hall are seven smaller bays. In addition, the administration included a Hall of Worship, a Music Control Hall, a Harmony Regulation Hall, teachers’ quarters, a Hall of Linglun, a Hall of Mu Yi, and 23 storage rooms for costumes of the performers—facilities that were comprehensive, making it essentially a school for training palace music and dance performers.

The overall layout of the Divine Music Administration complex is rectangular, longer from east to west and shorter from north to south. It consists of three courtyards with two layers of halls. The main gate faces east, and the front hall has five bays. Known as the Hall of Supreme Harmony during the Ming Dynasty, it was renamed the Hall of Ningsi during the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty and used for rehearsing ceremonies. The rear hall has seven bays, originally called the Hall of Xuanwu, but renamed the Hall of Xianyou in the late Ming Dynasty, used for enshrining the God Xuanwu and various music deities. Behind the halls are structures such as the costume storage, ceremony office, and Hall of Worship. The east courtyard includes the Hall of Tongzan, the Hall of Ke Gong, the Hall of Zheng Lun, the Hall of Hou Gong, and the Hall of Mu Yi, while the west courtyard contains the Music Control Hall, Harmony Regulation Hall, teachers’ quarters, the Hall of Linglun, and the Hall of Zhao Yi. Historical records indicate that besides the above buildings, the Temple of Heaven’s Divine Music Administration also had numerous tea houses, restaurants, and medicine shops, and even a Guan Yu Temple within its walls.

After more than a hundred years of destruction since 1900, the Divine Music Administration of the Temple of Heaven had fallen into disrepair, with few structures remaining—only some of the main buildings preserved.

In 2002, the Beijing municipal government launched the “330 Million Cultural Relics Emergency Restoration Plan,” which included the Divine Music Administration of the Temple of Heaven. All residents were relocated from the site, and reconstruction work on the Divine Music Administration began. By September 20, 2004, the reconstruction project was officially completed.

Currently, the Divine Music Administration of the Temple of Heaven is open to the public as an Ancient Music Museum. The museum displays the history of the Divine Music Administration, musical theory, lyrics and songs, instruments such as qin, se, drums, xun, and sheng, the music of the Central Harmony Ritual, and ceremonial dance costumes. Many of the exhibits can be played, and Braille descriptions are also provided.

Location

Inside Tiantan Park, Tiantan Road

Temple of Heaven Park

Hall of Imperial Zenith

Danbi 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

Brazier Pavilion

Lantern Viewing Platform

Heart of Heaven Stone

Seventy-two Corridor

Gate of the Sixtieth Birthday