Nick Nitta

Chapter seven in the textbook touches on deities and places of worship. I found the section on the Buddhist temples interesting and learned that they were built with many influences in mind. The Altar of Heaven was built between the fifteenth and sixteenth century and is located in Beijing. It contains structures built around Chinese beliefs and was used by the emperor to officiate religious and political events. The Temple of Heaven (pictured below) faces south because it was believed the north contained evil influences. As you can see in the picture below, everything in the temple was built to be symmetrical. The blue roof is representation of the heavens and the four main pillars supporting the structure (pictured right) represent the number of seasons in a year. At first glance, the temple may not seem very big, but it is 125 feet tall and almost 100 feet across. The temple was not open to the public until 1918 when it was turned into a park. Due to it's design and symbolic layout, the temple became an influence for future structures over the following centuries.