Ritual and Ceremonious Buildings

Innumerable sacrificial altars and ancestral temples bear witness to the role of Confucianism, which was the dominant ideology in China for over 2000 years. Many of these elegant ritual and ceremonial buildings are devoted exclusively to the remains of illustrious forebears, emperors and kings. The scale and form adopted by the various buildings was dictated by the strict codes of Confucian rites which were often also dedicated to the moon, the sun, the universe and the rivers. Among the most elegant examples are the Temple of Heaven, The Temple of Confucius, The Ancestral Temple, The Temple of State and the Dai Temple.