Temple of Heaven (3): The Temple Grounds

Surrounding the Imperial Vault are smaller, but equally beautiful buildings housing symbolic offerings and prayers. Knowing that nearly everything about this type of architecture is symbolic, its easy to begin reading into the meaning and purpose of everything.

The colors, quantities, shapes, directions and, of course animals or symbols depicted, all have specific meanings.  For instance, Earth is represented by a square and Heaven by a circle.  The number nine refers to the Emperor and the number twelve refers to the hours of the day and the months of the year.

The colors that seem to prevail over most of this type of architecture are also significant.  All of the buildings in the Temple of Heaven have dark blue roof tiles, which symbolize Heaven.  Red, generally considered a good luck color, also represents a fire element, which can chase out evil spirits.  Gold, or golden yellow, represents Earth, wealth and happiness.














 
Also on the Temple grounds are these precious protected trees which are hundreds of years old and also believed to hold special spiritual qualities.

Here is the "Nine Dragon Juniper", so called because of the spiral grooves encircling the trunk like "dragon writhing up to the sky".  Or, as the translation below says "wreathing" up to the sky ;).

More to come...