This Saturday: Temple of Heaven by Night Walking Tour

On the day before the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the emperor left his palace and travelled to the Temple of Heaven. Drawn by elephants and with a 3000 man strong entourage, the son of heaven left his nest deep inside the Forbidden City at this exact time every year to perform the most important ritual of the empire, a ceremony that revitalized his powers and reconfirmed his status as the son of heaven. 

This yuan dynasty picture shows the elephant drawn Imperial carriage

After fasting and purifying himself, the next morning the emperor humbly walked some hundred meters to take his place in the middle of the white marble altar where heaven and earth meet. Here he reported to the sky what had ocurred the last year in the empire and outlined his grand plans for the future, an obedient servant of heaven’s superiority.

Yuan Shikai, the first president of China performed the winter solstice ritual at Temple of Heaven in 1914, when he habored ambitions of becoming emperor. This was the last time the altar was taken into use.

The final leader to perform this ritual was the first president of China Yuan Shikai. It is quite telling that when he was scheming to abandon democracy and the republic to become an emperor in his own right in 1914 he chose this ritual as a way of supporting his claim to the throne. But heaven did not grant the little fat man an empire - instead he died in misery only a few years later.

In 1873 the illustrated London News reported that the young Guangxu emperor: "had to perform the grand sacrificial rite of the winter solstice on December 21 , upon the occasion of his attaining the full age of manhood”

Join us to explore the Temple of Heaven after dark. Illuminated at night, the altars are enhanced by an almost otherworldly beauty. Using a handheld projector we will display the history of the Temple, charting its path from a closed off Imperial altar ground to the beating heart of the city that it is today. All participants will receive booster shots of mulled wine and hot chocolate to make it through the enticing but cold Beijing night. We promise that the Temple of Heaven will reveal itself to you in a way you have never seen before. 

 19:00-21:30 Saturday, May 20