China, Beijing.

Imperial Ancestral Temple The Imperial Ancestral Temple in Beijing is located in Dongcheng District, Beijing, on the east side of Tiananmen Square. It was built in the 18th year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty (1420) and was the place where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties worshiped their ancestors. On May 1, 1950, it was renamed the "Beijing Working People's Cultural Palace" and officially opened to the public. However, Beijingers still habitually call it the Working People's Cultural Palace. The Imperial Ancestral Temple is the ancestral temple of ancient Chinese emperors and has a long history. It was called "Shishi" in the Xia Dynasty, "Chongwu" in the Yin and Shang Dynasties, "Mingtang" in the Zhou Dynasty, and "Imperial Ancestral Temple" in the Qin and Han Dynasties. The Imperial Ancestral Temple is an important symbol of the integration of Yuan Dynasty into Chinese culture. The Yuan Dynasty built the Imperial Ancestral Temple twice on the left side of the imperial city, forming the Imperial Ancestral Temple in Beijing in the true sense. The Imperial Ancestral Temple is the largest and most complete royal ancestor worship building complex in China. It was built at the same time as the Forbidden City and the Altar of Land and Grain and is an important part of the Forbidden City. The Imperial Ancestral Temple not only carries the belief of respecting heaven and ancestors but also carries the inheritance and development of traditional Chinese culture. The Imperial Ancestral Temple is rectangular in shape, covering an area of 197,000 square meters, with a length of 475 meters from north to south and a width of 294 meters from east to west, and has three walls. The main buildings are the Hall of Worship (front hall), the Hall of Sleeping (middle hall), and the Ancestral Temple (rear hall), with a rigorous and solemn architectural layout. The Hall of Worship is the place where the emperor held grand sacrificial activities, the Hall of Sleeping is dedicated to the gods of the emperor and empress, and the Ancestral Temple is dedicated to the tablets of distant ancestors.