Architectural characteristics of ancient Ming Dynasty -- Ritual and Religion

    The ritual architecture refers to the altar and temple architecture built under the control of the concept of ritual rule and patriarchal system, which is used to hold sacrifices and worship, to prove that they are ordered by the holy rule of heaven.Looking at the records of the Ming Dynasty, it seems that the emperors in the middle and later periods only had one thing to do, which was to offer sacrifices to their ancestors, heaven and earth, mountains and rivers. If they did not offer sacrifices on time, they would be criticized by officials.Ritual architecture and sacrificial activities are both the "work" of strengthening ideological propaganda and the production of power discourse that puts imperial power symbolized and pressure on the whole people.Symbolism has also become a special vocabulary and prominent feature of ritual architecture.Only by reaching the realm of symbolism can it spread the majesty of imperial power in the hearts of the whole people and create the myth of divine power and monarchy.

    In the Ming Dynasty, military architecture and ritual architecture were spared no expense.Military buildings include the Great Wall, haiwei castle, and various types of ceremonial buildings on an unprecedented scale.In the Ming Dynasty, vassals were required to build an altar of Sheji, which was half the size of Kyoto.This standard uniform "promotion" is the dissemination of Chinese characteristics.

    Secondly, according to the ritual system of "suburb sacrifice", there are various "altars" built in the capital city. The architectural art of the Temple of Heaven not only conforms to the strict ideological requirements of "unity of heaven and man", but also has perfect aesthetic effect, which is achieved by using Chinese-style symbolic techniques.

    The third category is the worship of cultural celebrities temple, such as Confucius Temple, Meng Temple, Guandi Temple, Wu Hou Temple, Du Fu Thatched Cottage and so on. This is a direct propaganda and image project.

    Taoist and Islamic architecture was also very lively, especially the latter reached its heyday. Many famous mosques were founded in the Ming Dynasty, concentrated along the Grand Canal, the northwestern provinces, yunnan province.