Tiantan Legend
01 · Historical Records
The Temple of Heaven was first built in the eighteenth year of Yongle of the Ming, 1420; the emperors of the Ming and Qing offered sacrifice to heaven, prayed for grain and prayed for rain here. In the 1980s the Chongwen district cultural centre, now the second cultural centre of Dongcheng district, and the Temple of Heaven park management office recorded and edited the Selected Chongwen Folk Literature and The Scenery Legends of the Temple of Heaven.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The legends of the Temple of Heaven arose and developed from its buildings and the imperial sacrifice to heaven. The incorporation of the cosmology of the unity of heaven and man gave the Temple of Heaven complex a sacred and distinctive meaning, becoming an important driving factor in the emergence and flourishing of the related legends. The legends are widely current among the people of Beijing, especially in the areas around the Temple of Heaven such as Jinyuchi, Fata temple, Sikuaiyu and Tianqiao, where they are especially current without decline, a rare flower of Beijing's native culture. They fall roughly into the five parts of the legend of the Temple of Heaven's founding, scenery legends, custom legends, altar-root legends and legends of related figures, handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation for several hundred years. First, they embody such Chinese cosmologies as heaven being yang and earth yin, the round heaven and square earth, the unity of heaven and man and the interaction between heaven and man. Second, whether the legends concern the buildings and functions of the Temple of Heaven or the philosophical ideas of the mutual complement of yin and yang or the traces of emperors and ritual custom, they are all interpreted and elaborated from the standpoint of the common people. Third, the legends are transmitted in many ways and are wide and far-reaching in their transmission. They embody such Chinese cosmologies as the round heaven and square earth and the unity of heaven and man and are mostly interpreted and elaborated from the standpoint of the common people.
The Legend of the Temple of Heaven's Founding
One of the five parts of the Temple of Heaven legends.
Scenery Legends
One of the five parts of the Temple of Heaven legends.
Altar-Root Legends
One of the five parts of the Temple of Heaven legends, current among the people around the Temple of Heaven.
The Scenery Legends of the Temple of Heaven
The collection of Temple of Heaven legends recorded and edited in the 1980s.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Temple of Heaven legends take the Temple of Heaven area of Dongcheng district, Beijing, as their core area of circulation, and are especially current in the surrounding areas of Jinyuchi, Fata temple, Sikuaiyu and Tianqiao, a rare flower of Beijing's native culture. Their ways of transmission are many and varied, wide and far-reaching.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Temple of Heaven legends are transmitted in social groups by the mode peculiar to oral folk literature. Since the nationwide intangible cultural heritage survey of 2005 the Chongwen district intangible cultural heritage protection centre, now the Dongcheng district intangible cultural heritage protection centre, has organised forces to newly collect and record a number of Temple of Heaven legends. They have deep historical, cultural and literary value. The Temple of Heaven legends are a precious heritage of Beijing's native culture with important historical and cultural value.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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