Located at the southwestern corner of the Temple of Heaven and next to the Palace of Abstinence, the Architectural Complex of Devine Music Administration used to be the place where musicians for the sacrificial ceremonies were trained and the music rehearsals were performed in ancient times. The Devine Music Administration, the main building of this area, is one of the five major buildings of the Temple of Heaven, facing east. A total of more than 600 persons stayed in it at the early time of its establishment in the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). During the reign of Emperor Jiajing (1522 - 1566), the number of the musicians in Devine Music Administration reached up to over 2,200, coming to its peak. They almost monopolized the sacrificial activities of all the altars and temples in Beijing at that time.
During the Ming Dynasty, the Devine Music Administration was named Devine Music Temple. It was not only an administration for imperial sacrifice, but also a place for citizens’ recreation. Officials who followed the emperor to make sacrifices in the Temple of Heaven would live in the rooms of the Devine Music Administration. On the other hand, the Xielü Lang (a low-level official in charge of music at the ministry of worship) and the musicians were administered by the Taoists who won great reputation among the citizens for their excellence in raising plants and compounding herbal medicines.
During the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911), the number of people to the Devine Music Temple increased dramatically, but the management was poor. Some people entered it through climbing over the wall. As a result, Emperor Qianlong renamed the temple as the Devine Music Administration, and replaced the Taoists with talented young men from the "eight banners". Temple fairs were canceled and plant growing was not allowed any more. However, thanks to the Taoists’ great reputation on preparing herbal medicine among the citizens, medicine shops were kept.
The Architectural Complex of Devine Music Administration also includes the Ningxi Hall, Xianyou Hall, Attached Halls and Gate of Devine Music Administration. Now, the attached halls have been made as exhibition rooms for ancient imperial music, displaying the history, tone-system, lyrics and musical instruments of the Devine Music Administration. Most of the exhibits are provided with commentary and can be played in the field.
The Ningxi Hall is the front hall and also the main hall of the Devine Music Administration. It was the place for storing the musical instruments and for music rehearsals. It is 5.6 meters (18.4 feet) high, 37 meters (40.5 yards) wide, 19 meter (20.8 yards) long and covers an area of 700 square meters (837.2 square yards). A horizontal board is hung in the hall, written with Chinese charactes ‘Yu Zhen Jin Sheng’ (perfect music) by Emperor Qianlong. Now, it is the exhibition hall of ‘Zhong He Shao Yue' (the most important ritual music of the imperial courts), especially for the performances of the ancient ritual music and for displaying the ancient musical instruments, such as bells and drums.
To the west of the Ningxi Hall is the Xianyou Hall which is the back hall of the Devine Music Administration. In the early Ming Dynasty, it used to be the place for the Taoists to worship the God of Northern Lunar Mansions (Xuan Wu Da Di), so it was then named Xuanwu Hall. God of Northern Lunar Mansions is also called True Warrior Grand Emperor (Zhen Wu Da Di). According to the theory of ‘Yin and Yang & Five Elements’ in China, this god can control and prevent water and fire. That’s why Xuanwu temples were constructed in many places of China. It was not until in the late Ming Dynasty that the hall was renamed Xianyou Hall. The hall is 5 meters (16.4 feet) high and 40 meters (43.7 yards) wide and 15 meters (16.4 yards) in depth, covering an area of 585 square meters (699.7 square yards). Its eaves of both inside and outside are of bright colors and delicate. In front of the Xianyou Hall stand two furnaces in north-south position, which was for burning incenses to worship the God of Northern Lunar Mansions. At the back of the hall was the clothing storeroom of musicians.
At present, the Xianyou Hall has already been developed as a memorial hall for the ancient Chinese musicians so as to promote the glorious achievements of the ancestors. Statues of eight ancient Chinese musicians and part of murals of the ancient musical stories are displayed inside the hall. The eight musicians are such as Ling Lun - the legendary founder of music in ancient China, Kui - the earliest musician recorded in Chinese history, He Chengtian - musician of Tone-system in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127 - 1279) and Zhu Zaiyu - musician, scientist, historian and mathematician during the Ming Dynasty, who is known as the “Founder of the Piano Theory".
Go to the Next Attraction: Attached Halls of Divine Music Administration
