Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests

　　   Originally named the "Great Prayer Hall," it was initially a rectangular building used for the joint worship of heaven and earth. In the 24th year of the Jiajing reign (1545), it was changed to a triple-eaved circular hall, with the roof covered in three colors of glazed tiles—blue on top, yellow in the middle, and green at the bottom—symbolizing heaven, earth, and all things.

　　   The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is located in the northern part of the Temple of Heaven, also known as the Altar of Prayer for Good Harvests. It was first built in the 18th year of the Yongle reign during the Ming Dynasty (1420) and is the earliest structure in the Temple of Heaven. After renovations in the 16th year of the Qianlong reign (1751), it was renamed the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. It was destroyed by lightning in the 15th year of the Guangxu reign (1889) and rebuilt to its original design several years later. The current Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is a circular building with a diameter of 32.72 meters, featuring a three-tiered, upward-curving roof covered in blue tiles and topped with a gilded finial. The entire structure stands 38 meters tall.

　　   The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is the main building of the Temple of Heaven, also called the Hall of Prayer for Grain. It served as the site where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties prayed for good harvests in early spring. It is a magnificent three-tiered, circular hall with a gilded finial, blue tiles, red pillars, and resplendent painted decorations. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests adopts a construction form with the upper hall and lower base. The main hall is built atop a three-tiered white marble circular platform surrounded by a six-meter-high carved white marble balustrade, giving it an imposing and towering presence. The hall is a brick-and-wood structure with three tiers of eaves that taper upwards like an umbrella. Its architecture is unique, with no large beams, long rafters, or iron nails. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests was designed based on the concept of "revering heaven and worshipping the divine." The circular shape of the hall symbolizes the roundness of heaven; the blue tiles symbolize the blue sky. The number of pillars inside the hall is said to be based on celestial phenomena. The four inner "Dragon Well Pillars" symbolize the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter; the twelve middle "Golden Pillars" represent the twelve months of the year; and the twelve outer "Eave Pillars" stand for the twelve two-hour periods of the day. The combined twenty-four pillars of the middle and outer layers represent the twenty-four solar terms of the year. The total of twenty-eight pillars across all three levels symbolizes the twenty-eight lunar mansions in the sky. Including the eight additional pillar tops known as Tong Pillars, the total comes to thirty-six, representing the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals. The thunder pillar beneath the finial symbolizes the emperor’s "unification of the world." The caisson ceiling of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is composed of two layers of brackets and one layer of inverted brackets. The central part features a coiled dragon design, and the overall structure is intricate yet not oppressive.

　　   The internal structure of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is quite unique, using neither large beams nor long rafters, but relying solely on nanmu wood pillars and brackets to support the roof. There are twenty-eight nanmu wood pillars inside the hall, their number and arrangement corresponding to celestial phenomena: the four central Dragon Pillars are 19.2 meters high and 1.2 meters in diameter. At the center of the hall’s floor is a round marble slab featuring natural dragon and phoenix patterns, which echo the coiled dragon caisson ceiling and the surrounding gilded paintings of dragons and phoenixes, giving the entire hall an extremely splendid and majestic appearance.

　　   The base of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is the circular Altar of Prayer for Good Harvests, three tiers high with each level six meters tall, creating an imposing sight. The altar is surrounded by a low wall, with a fire pit, burial pit, incineration furnace, and dressing platform located in the southeast corner. To the north of the altar is the Imperial Vault of Heaven, a five-bay-wide structure that originally held ancestral spirit tablets before they were moved to the Imperial Ancestral Temple. The altar area also includes auxiliary structures such as the Gate of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Divine Music Office, the Divine Kitchen, the Slaughter Pavilion, the animal procession path, and a long corridor. On the square south of the corridor lies the Seven-Star Stones, placed there during the Jiajing reign as protective talismans.

Temple of Heaven Park

The Circular Mound Altar

The Divine Music Administration

The Imperial Vault of Heaven

The Imperial Way

The Echo Wall

The Circular Mound Altar Echo Wall