Photography View From the Second Terrace of Yuanqiu Altar Towards the North

A black-and-white photograph showing the northern approach to the Yuanqiu Altar (Yuanqiutan 圜丘壇), which literally means “Circular Hill Temple”. The altar stands on a fenced area of several hectares in the southern part of the Temple of Heaven complex (Tiantan 天壇). It was built in 1420 by the Yongle Emperor (reigned 1402–1424). Here the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties performed the rites of heaven worship twice a year. At the site of the Yuanqiu Altar, on the day of the winter solstice, the emperor performed rituals of thanking heaven for its favours in the past year.

In the foreground we see balustrades of white marble hanbai yushi 漢白玉石. Behind it, we first see the circular wall of echo huyin bi 回音壁 with a triple stone passage lingxing men 櫺星門 in the upper right part of the photo. The round wall is followed by a square wall. Parallel to the first tripartite structure of the Lingxing Gates, this wall also contains its own tripartite structure. In the distance, we first see the roof of the next hall on the north-south axis, the Huangqiongyu Hall 皇穹宇, and then the roof of the northern hall – the Qinian Hall (Qiniandian 祈年殿), the oldest and most iconic part of the Temple of Heaven complex.

The entire area around the Yuanqiu Altar is only a few hectares in size and is part of the 273-hectare Temple of Heaven complex, now located in southeastern Beijing. The winter ritual for worshipping heaven was different from the summer ritual. The end of the period of abstinence in the Hall of Fasting (Zhaigong 齋宮) and the beginning of the sacrificial ceremony at the Yuanqiu altar was heralded by the ringing of the Gulou Bell Tower 鼓樓 at this site. The nine-part ritual included the rites of reporting and bowing to heaven, libation, sacrifice, and ritual music of zhonghe shaoyue 中和韶樂 with dance. The last emperor to bow to heaven in the Temple of Heaven was Yuan Shikai 袁世凱 (reigned 1915–1916), who for several months tried in vain to revive the monarchy. This marked the end of a centuries-old tradition. Today, the Temple of Heaven is on the UNESCO World Heritage List, as it is the largest religious complex in the world.

The photograph is the 182nd of 449 photographs of Beijing and its surroundings in the album of Ivan Skušek Jr., purchased during his stay in Beijing (1914–1920). In the handwritten inventory of the album, the photograph is referred to as Himmels-Tempel: Hauptaltar: Blick von der 2. Terasse gegen Haupttempel. (DZ, MV)