The Imperial Ancestral Temple is the temple for the ancient Chinese emperors.
During the Xia Dynasty, the Imperial Ancestral Temple was called “Shiwu(pedigree house)”; during the Yin and Shang Period, it was called “Zhongwu(important room)”; in the Zhou Dynasty it was called “MingTang( enlightening hall)”; and during the Qin and Han Dynasties it was called “Taimiao(Imperial Ancestral Temple)”.
At first, the Imperial Ancestral Temple was only a place dedicated to the ancestors of the emperor.
Later, the spirit tablets of empresses and heroes could also be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple with the approval of the emperor.
The plane of the temple is rectangular, 475 m (from north to south) by 294 m (from east to west), with three walls, and a three-story enclosed courtyard composed of three halls: the front, middle and rear halls.
Source: Mybrytnewsroom.com/Kwabena Nyarko Abronoma
