The Temple of Heaven lies to the east outside the Zhengyang Gate. It was the place where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties worshipped Heaven and prayed for bumper crops. The northern part of the outer surrounding wall is semi-circular in shape while the southern part is square, a pattern symbolic of the ancient belief that Heaven was round and the earth square. The double surrounding walls separate the temple into two parts—the inner and outer temples with the main structures in the inner one, covering a space of 273 hectares.
The inner temple is also partitioned by a wall into two groups of buildings. The north structure is the Altar of Praying for Bumper Crops with the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests as the principal building used to pray in spring for a bumper harvest in the year. The south structure is the Circular Mound Altar used to worship Heaven at the winter solstice where the principal construction is a large round marble terrace named the Circular Mound. The two altars, connected by a 360-metre-long raised walk called the Danbi Bridge（Red Stairway Bridge）, are arranged in a line forming a north-south axis of 1,200 metres, and flanked by large areas of century-old cypresses.
To the south inside the West Heavenly Gate is the Hall for Abstinence, where the emperors observed abstinence before the rituals. In the western part of the outer temple is located the Divine Music Administration, which was in charge of the teaching and performance of the ritual music. In the Temple of Heaven are situated such main buildings as the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Hall of Imperial Zenith, the Circular Mound, the Imperial Vault of Heaven, the Hall for Abstinence, the Beamless Hall, the Long Corridor, the Double-Ring Longevity Pavilion as well as the Echo Wall, the Three Echo Stone, and the Seven-Star Stones. Constructed in the 18th year of Emperor Yongle’s reign (1420) and then expanded and reconstructed during Emperor Jiajing’s reign and Emperor Qianlong’s reign, the Temple of Heaven is a grand and magnificent masterpiece of architecture with a formal and solemn environment. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the government has allotted a great sum of money to protect and restore the cultural monuments there. The Temple of Heaven, with its long history, deep cultural content, and magnificent architectural style, mirrors the ancient Eastern civilization.
As a masterpiece of the Ming and Qing architectural art and a precious example of China’s ancient architecture, the Temple of Heaven is the largest architectural complex for worshipping Heaven in the world. In 1961, it was listed by the State Council as Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. In 1998, it was recognized by UNESCO as one of the World Heritages.