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　　China News Service, Beijing, February 2nd: How can the "three-quarters of an acre" on the central axis tell the story of "Farming China"?

　　——Exclusive interview with Xue Jian, Director of Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum

　　China News Service reporter Xu Jing and Du Yan

　　At the southern end of Beijing's central axis, there is an important ritual building complex, which is the Xiannong Altar. After more than 600 years of changes, from the former altar to the public park, to public venues, office spaces, and then to the Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum, the Xiannong Altar embodies the splendid culture of ancient Chinese architecture, calendars, agriculture, etiquette, etc. Its restoration and protection process It is an excellent example of the protection and inheritance of Chinese cultural heritage.

　　Xue Jian, director of the Beijing Museum of Ancient Architecture, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Service's "East-West Question", telling the story of Xiannongtan's "one-third-of-an-acre land" and analyzing how Xiannongtan has become a way for Chinese and foreign people to understand the long-standing farming civilization of the Chinese nation and the Chinese nation. A window for excellent traditional culture and a platform for international exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.

Video: [East-West Question] How to cultivate the "three-quarters of an acre" of the ancient emperor's land on the central axis of Beijing?

Source: China News Network

The interview transcript is summarized as follows:

China News Service reporter: When was the Xiannongtan in Beijing built? What position does it occupy in the central axis pattern of Beijing?

Xue Jian:

Many places in the world have gods of the origin of agriculture and corresponding myths. The origin of agriculture in China can be traced back to ancient times, and the latest physical evidence found by archaeologists is about 10,000 years old. According to legend, Shennong, Emperor Yan of ancient times, was one of the ancestors of the Chinese nation. Shennong distinguished grains and tasted herbs, and made outstanding contributions to the prosperity of the Chinese nation. Therefore, later generations worshiped him as the god of farming, because China Since ancient times, the country has been founded on agriculture, and the Shennong family has a very important position in people's minds. Since the Han Dynasty, worshiping ancestors has been included in national regulations and systems, and has been valued by rulers of all dynasties, reaching its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

　　The Xiannong Altar was built in the 18th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1420) to worship Shennong. It was designed and constructed at the same time as the city of Beijing in the Ming Dynasty. According to the "Records of the Ming Dynasty", the construction of Beijing City "imitated the old Nanjing system". In addition to the "palaces, gates, and regulations of the Forbidden City, which are all the same as those of the Ming Forbidden City in Nanjing, but even more magnificent in height," the national sacrificial and ceremonial buildings were also an important part of the construction of Beijing by Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, and the Xiannong Altar was one of them.

Xiannongtan viewing platform. Photo by Guan Xin

　　According to "Zhou Li Kao Gong Ji": "The craftsmen run the country with a square of nine miles and three gates on the side. There are nine warps and nine latitudes in the country, and nine tracks are painted. The ancestors on the left and the society on the right face the market, and the market faces one husband." Among them, "Zuozu" is the ancestral temple set up in the left front of the palace, where the emperors worshiped their ancestors, that is, the Taimiao; "Youshe" is the Sheji altar set up in the right front of the palace, where the emperors worshiped the God of Earth and the God of Grains. It is the embodiment of the importance of ancestors and respect for the land in ancient ritual thought.

　　At that time, Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty also built the "Tiandi Altar" for worshiping heaven and earth and the "Shanchuan Altar" for worshiping mountains and rivers in the south of Beijing. The two altars stood east and west. This "Mountain and River Altar" is now the Xiannong Altar. It was a place where the emperor worshiped various gods, such as "Xiannong", "Five Mountains", "Five Towns", "Four Seas", "Sidu", "Wind, Cloud, Thunder and Rain", etc. Every spring, the royal family would choose an auspicious day to hold sacrificial ceremonies and plowing ceremonies here to pray for good weather and a good harvest, and to express their desire to encourage farming and mulberry cultivation.

　　During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, two altars of gods and earth were built on the south side of the "Altar of Mountains and Rivers", and the "Altar of Mountains and Rivers" was renamed "Altar of Gods". During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, in order to highlight the important status of the Xiannong Altar, the "Altar of Gods" was renamed "The Altar of Xiannong", which is still used today.

　　Xiannong Altar has gone through more than 600 years of vicissitudes. It is the highest-level, largest-scale and best-preserved place for worshiping the God of Agriculture in ancient China. It and the Temple of Heaven are arranged on both sides of Beijing's central axis and are an indispensable and important part of the symmetrical pattern of Beijing.

Reporter from China News Service: Why does Xiannongtan have "three-quarters of an acre of land"? What kind of traditional Chinese cultural thoughts does it embody?

Xue Jian:

China has been a big farming country since ancient times. It has always attached great importance to farming and has a long history of farming culture. As early as the Zhou Dynasty, there were ritual systems for worshiping ancestors and cultivating farmers. "Book of Rites" records that the emperor of Zhou had a thousand acres of cultivated land and a hundred acres of princes. In order to show the importance of agriculture, Emperor Zhou held a symbolic or ceremonial plowing ceremony every March of the lunar calendar.

　　The Xiannong Altar was set up to encourage farmers. Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties came to the Xiannong Altar to worship the ancestors and cultivate their fields. The cultivated fields cultivated by the emperor were called emperor's cultivated fields, covering an area of ​​about 800 square meters. The emperor's farming area was 11 feet long and 4 feet wide. When plowing, the emperor held the plow in his right hand and held a whip in his left hand. On both sides were the Minister of Hubu and the Yin of Shuntian. With the music playing, the emperor pushed the plow three times and returned it three times, and the minister of Hubu sown the seeds.

Parents take their children to visit Jingxi Rice in Xiannongtan. Photo by Yi Haifei

　　People often say that they should manage their own "one-third of an acre of land" and perform their duties well. This "one-third of an acre of land" means that the emperor cultivates the land himself, and the area is one-third of an acre. The ritual of cultivating fields is a very important part of Chinese farming culture. The ceremony of sacrificing farmers at the Xiannong Altar and the ceremony of the emperor plowing in person lasted until the end of the Qing Dynasty. Especially during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, the farming ritual was pushed to the extreme and became a national system from the central to local governments. The "Picture of Emperor Yongzheng's Sacrifice at the Xiannong Altar" created by the Qing Dynasty painter Lang Shining records the grand ceremony in which Emperor Yongzheng led his princes and ministers to the Xiannong Altar to worship the God of Xiannong in the spring, as well as the grand ceremony of cultivating farmland in "one-third of an acre". scene.

　　The "three-quarters of an acre of land" not only embodies the etiquette system of ancient China, but also reflects the ancient emperors' philosophy of governing the country by focusing on farming. Emperor Yongzheng was the emperor with the highest attendance rate for plowing. He came here to do plowing in 12 of the 13 years he reigned. Emperor Qianlong had the highest number of plowing ceremonies among all emperors. In his 60 years in power, he visited the plowing site 28 times in total. Farming.

　　In 2019, Xiannongtan restored its "one-acre three-quarter land" style and tried to grow rice, millet, millet, wheat, and bean sprouts. In addition to exhibitions, a variety of offline activities are held during spring plowing, autumn harvest and other seasons, allowing the public to increase their knowledge of grains and experience the difficulty of farming. Nowadays, the "three-quarters of an acre" with unique historical and cultural value is the core display area of ​​Xiannongtan's farming culture. It has become an internet celebrity check-in place to showcase Chinese farming civilization to the world.

Reporter from China News Service: Why did the Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum choose Xiannongtan as its location? How to inherit and develop the splendid cultural heritage in ancient architecture, calendar, agriculture, etiquette, etc.?

Xue Jian:

Xiannongtan not only tells about Chinese farming civilization, ancient Chinese national etiquette system, and governance strategies, but also attracts much attention because of its unique and high-level construction of ancient buildings.

　　The Xiannong Altar is surrounded by an altar wall with a circumference of three kilometers. The altar is divided into two layers: an inner and an inner altar. The inner altar is the main body for worshiping Xiannong. The outer altar has the God Altar and the Earth Altar outside the south gate of the inner altar, and the Qingcheng Palace is built outside the east gate. These buildings basically preserve the artistic style and characteristics of ancient architecture in the early Ming Dynasty, and are similar to the Forbidden City and the Forbidden City built in the Ming Dynasty. The Imperial Ancestral Temple, Temple of Heaven, Ming Tombs, etc. jointly show the beauty of the royal architecture of the Ming Dynasty.

Xiannongtan Shengcang. Photo by Niu Yungang

　　As an important relic of royal temple architecture in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the architectural structure of Xiannongtan is changeable and flexible. It is different from the traditional layout of "protruding central axis and symmetrical wings". It is more like a layout based on the actual needs of emperors for sacrifices and agricultural farming. Main layout. Due to the architectural groups of different shapes, sizes and gorgeous colors, the Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum was located here and opened to the public in 1991.

　　Different from Western ancient buildings, Chinese ancient buildings have their own uniqueness and are an important part of human cultural heritage. It can be seen from the building complex of Xiannongtan that most of the buildings here adopt the form of raised beams, which is different from the Western dome shape; the building materials here are mostly wood, which is different from the stone materials in the West... The Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum is the first in the country The architectural thematic museum should, on the one hand, better protect the important cultural heritage and cultural relics in Xiannongtan, and on the other hand, better display its unique cultural value to the country and even the world.

　　Take the treasure of the museum, the "Tiangong caisson" as an example. It is the finest of the existing caissons in the Ming Dynasty. There is a square well in the round well. There are four statues of Hercules at the four corners of the caisson, which seem to hold up the entire caisson. There are currently 5 floors in the Yuanjing, 4 of which are built with Tiangong pavilions. Counting from bottom to top, the number of pavilions decreases and the volume increases as you go up. There are 32 pavilions on the first floor, 16 pavilions on the second floor, 8 pavilions on the third floor, and the square well floor on the fourth floor. How many pavilions are there? This floor only has one pavilion on each side of the structure, with a total of 4 pavilions. The fifth layer is the top layer, which is the well cover layer. On the well cover layer, there are twenty-eight constellations and more than 1,400 stars. The entire caisson is extremely exquisite in craftsmanship, and it still looks beautiful today.

The treasure of the town hall is "Tiangong caisson". Photo by Zhang Yu

　　Today, the Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum disseminates and popularizes knowledge of traditional Chinese architectural culture through various forms of exhibitions and popular science interactive activities, and communicates with cultural and museum institutions in France, Germany, Spain, Greece and other places, becoming a platform for Chinese and foreign people to understand the gorgeous and colorful traditions of ancient China. An important window into architecture and its cultural connotations.

China News Service reporter: What kind of protection process has Xiannongtan gone through? What implications does it have for the protection of cultural relics in China?

Xue Jian:

The cultural relics protection of Xiannongtan can be seen as an epitome of Chinese cultural relics protection. With the development of the economy and society, the government and the public have gradually deepened their understanding of the protection of cultural relics: from the past rescue protection to the current comprehensive protection, not only the protection of the cultural relics themselves, but also the systematic protection of the cultural relics style and cultural relics .

　　As a place of worship that once reflected the emperor's emphasis on agriculture, the Xiannong Altar gradually declined after the Republic of China. By 1916, Xiannongtan was turned into a park and open to the public. In 1936, a public stadium was built at the southeast corner of the original site and was later renamed Xiannongtan Stadium. In 1949, North China Yucai Primary School, the predecessor of Beijing Yucai School, settled in Xiannongtan.

　　Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the ancient architecture of Xiannongtan has been attracting the attention of people from all walks of life. In the early 1980s, Xiannongtan was listed as a municipal cultural relic protection unit by the Beijing Municipal Government. Later, under the call of famous cultural relics and ancient architecture experts Shan Shiyuan, Zheng Xiaoxie, Ma Xuchu and others, the Beijing Municipal Government approved the establishment of the Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum Preparatory Office in 1988. In 1991, Xiannongtan was officially opened to the public as a museum. .

Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum (Xiannongtan). Photo by Du Jianpo

　　With the establishment of the Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum, Beijing Yucai School and other institutions have gradually retreated outside the ancient building area, and the government has allocated funds year by year to repair the ancient buildings. In 2011, the Beijing Municipal Government proposed a three-year action plan for the protection of the Beijing Central Axis. As an important historical building group on the Beijing Central Axis, Xiannongtan has become the focus of cultural relics restoration and protection.

　　In recent years, a number of ancient temples and temples on the central axis, such as the Xiannong Altar, have received a “rejuvenation” plan, and the ancient building renovation plan has received strong support from society and government cultural relics departments. The ancient building area of ​​Xiannongtan has restored its historical appearance, the Sacrifice Pavilion courtyard has been unveiled for the first time, and the Shencang building complex has been restored, revealing its true appearance to the audience after being isolated from the world for more than 200 years.

The courtyard of the slaughtering pavilion. Photo by Du Jianpo

　　In my opinion, Xiannongtan has realized the overall retreat of the ancient building complex, which not only protected the cultural relics themselves, but also completely restored the historical style of the ancient buildings. In accordance with the principle of minimum cost, some of the missing accessory components were restored for display purposes rather than rebuilt. At the same time, some non-cultural relics buildings that affected the historical features were demolished to restore the original features of the ancient buildings and ensure the authenticity and integrity of the heritage.

　　Xiannongtan, which is more than 600 years old, has transformed from a temple in the past into a venue for popular cultural activities. It not only maintains the true appearance of history, but also activates the vivid expression of history. As a pearl on the central axis of Beijing, it displays the excellent traditional Chinese culture and exudes lasting cultural charm. It is a window for Chinese and international friends to understand the excellent traditional Chinese culture, and a platform for international exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. (over)

Interviewee profile:

　　Xue Jian is the director of the Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum. He was the director of the Beijing Museum of Cultural Exchange (Beijing Zhihua Temple Management Office) and the Dazhong Temple Ancient Bell Museum. He organized and completed the renovation of many cultural relics and ancient buildings, organized and planned a number of exhibitions and cultural activities, planned and held the 9th Zhihua Temple Music and Culture Festival, and led the music team to perform at the British Museum and the Esplanade in Singapore twice. Participated in the first national census of movable cultural relics and assisted in completing the census of movable cultural relics of state-owned units in the Beijing area. For the first time, the Dazhong Temple Ancient Bell Museum broadcast the New Year blessing bells of the Yongle Bell of the Ming Dynasty to China and abroad through online live broadcast. For the first time, the Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum conducted live broadcasts of spring plowing and autumn harvest farming experience activities on "one-third of an acre".