Circular
Mound Altar,
also called Huanqiutan in Chinese, is the sacrificial altar for ceremonies
held on winter solstice. It was first built in 1530 and extended in
1740 by the Qing rulers. The altar is encircled by two walls, the inner
wall taking a round shape to resemble heaven while the outer one squared
to symbolize earth.
The three-tiered
marble altar rises from the ground as high as five meters. The topmost
layer of it is 30 meters in diameter, the middle one 50 meters, and
the bottom layer 70 meters. Paved with nine rings of fan-shaped marble
stone, each layer itself is a terrace with a flight of nine steps in
four directions. At the center of the upper terrace there lays a round
stone called Tianxingshi (Heaven's Heart Stone),
which is surrounded by nine concentric circles from the first ring to
the ninth, from nine pieces of stone sequentially to 81 pieces. The
second terrace shows another nine concentric circles from the tenth
ring to the 18th; and the third terrace consists of rings from the 19th
to the 27th to form the third group of concentric circles. In all, marble
slabs used on these three pavements add up to the total amount of 9
by 378, which equals 3402 pieces of stone slabs.
According
to traditional Chinese cosmology, the figure
of nine has been considered the supreme odd number. Even the carved
balustrade surrounding the terrace is upheld altogether by 360 balusters,
which embodies likewise the multiple of the figure of nine. What is
more, the number 360 is also equal to degrees of circumference of the
sky postulated by the ancients. The whole design of the altar makes
one feel much closer to heaven.
Circular
Mound Altar,
also called Huanqiutan in Chinese, is the sacrificial altar for ceremonies
held on winter solstice. It was first built in 1530 and extended in
1740 by the Qing rulers. The altar is encircled by two walls, the inner
wall taking a round shape to resemble heaven while the outer one squared
to symbolize earth.