Xiancantan

Xiancantan

Silkworm God is the God of sericulture in China. China is the first country to invent mulberry feeding silkworm. Sericulture played an important role in the agricultural social and economic structure in ancient times. Therefore, both the ancient ruling class and the ordinary Chinese working people have a high respect for the silkworm God.

There were many places in Beijing Xianchan altar. In the first month of the ninth year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1530), an altar was built outside Andingmen. Later, "the Ministry of rites said that it was inconvenient for the queen to go out to visit silkworms." emperor Jiajing summoned Zhang Fujing, a bachelor, and Li Shiyi, a secretary of state, to the former silkworm altar in Xiyuan, "saying:" I only care about agriculture and mulberry. I want to build a Tugu altar in front of the palace and a silkworm altar in the back of the palace So in October of the next year, the first silkworm altar was built in Xiyuan.

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geographical position

Xiancantan is located in the northeast corner of Beihai Park, covering an area of 17000 square meters. It is the place where the Empresses of the Qing Dynasty offered sacrifices to the silkworm God. It is one of the nine altar and Eight Temples in Beijing.

Architectural features

The altar is square, facing south, with one floor. In the East, West and North, there are three main gates. Entry is the first silkworm altar. The southeast of xiancantan is the mulberry watching platform. Guansang Taipei is a close silkworm gate with green glazed tiles on the top of the mountain. The gate is connected with a vermilion wall on the left and right, and the wall turns to the north to form a courtyard. The front hall of the courtyard is cocoon hall, with five bays, green glazed tile top, front and back porches, three steps, five levels each. East and west side hall each three, green glazed tile hard peak. The back hall is a weaving room with five bays, green glazed tiles hanging on the top of the mountain, five flower Gables, front and back porches, and Mingjian steps. There are three East and three West halls. The front and back halls are connected by corridors. There are three Xianchan temples in the southeast of guansang terrace. Sit east facing west, hard peak, front porch, three steps. The north and south of the hall are well Pavilion and slaughter Pavilion, with square green glazed tiles and sharp roofs. In the west of the hall, there are three shenku rooms in the north and three Shenchu rooms in the south, all of which are green glazed tile hard peaks. To the north of the temple are three silkworm departments. There are 27 sericulture rooms to the north of the Department. There is an independent courtyard in the southeast of the gate of xiancantan, which has five rooms for Princess Fujin and five rooms for life women, all facing west, and the top of the hill is hard with grey tiles.

Reasons for establishment

Xiancantan is the former site of thunder Hongying hall in Ming Dynasty. It was built in the northern suburb of Beijing. In 1531, he moved to Xiyuan. The pre silkworm altar was built in 1742, Qianlong 13, Daoguang 17, Tongzhi and Xuantong.

In the Qing Dynasty, every year on the second month of spring, the queen or she sent people here to worship the silkworm God.

Today's use

After 1949, xiancantan was used by Beihai experimental nursery (Beihai kindergarten). The nursery repaired and rebuilt the whole altar, demolished the silkworm altar and mulberry watching platform, filled the silkworm bath pool, and changed the old doors and windows into new glass doors and windows.

Historical records

According to Gao Shiqi's notes on returning food to jin'ao, "qincan hall is in the southwest of Wanshou Palace (Wanshou Palace is in the south of Xi'an gate). (note). There are Zhai palace, Jufu hall, silkworm room, silkworm hall, all as ancient. Silkworm altar can be two feet six feet, base two, two feet six inches high, four out, East and West North all trees to mulberry Zhe. The mulberry picking platform is one foot four inches high and one foot four feet wide. There are also five storehouses with walls of more than 80 meters. " In the Qing Dynasty, the place name was canchikou. Cai Shengyuan wrote a poem of Gong Ji, which is about moving to silkworm pond to raise disease. The couplet is: "divide the green willows equally, and the Taiye pond is still clear." From this we can infer its approximate position.

In the early Qing Dynasty, there was no sacrifice for silkworms. It was only during the reign of Kangxi that a silkworm house was set up in fengzeyuan, Zhongnanhai. Beihai Xianchan altar is a relic of the Ming Dynasty.

What it looks like today

There are many mulberry trees planted in the hospital, and there is a small river in the East, named "yucanhe". The main hall is the pro silkworm hall. In the hall, there is a plaque written by Emperor Qianlong: "Ge Qin's legacy" and a couplet: "the basic version of the six palaces is based on the shoes, and the emperor will be given the clothes of all nations.".

Address: Beihai Park, 1 Wenjin Street

Longitude: 116.391874

Latitude: 39.931779

Chinese PinYin : Xian Can Tan