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Zhongshan Park
Zhongshan Park is in honour of Sun Yat-sen, in Chinese as Sun Zhongshan, who is considered by many people to be the "Father of modern China". It is the site of the former Altar of Land and Grain. It is located at the west of Tian'anmen Rostrum in the heart of Beijing.
Originally part of an extended Forbidden City (Imperial City), for the emperor's personal use. Emperor YongLe requested the SheJi Tan altar to be built here around 1421 to be used for sacrifices to the God of Grain. The emperor would visit twice yearly - in the springtime to bring a good harvest and in the autumn for thanksgiving. Five different colours of earth are still kept at this altar, representing land from throughout the nation. The XiLi Ting Pavilion in the south of park once housed the ceremonial chamber.
Over 1,000 years ago the site of Zhongshan Park was the Temple of National Prosperity, which stood in the northeast suburbs of Yanjing, the Liao Dynasty capital. Under the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), the name of the temple was changed to the Temple of Longevity and National Prosperity. Although no traces of the old buildings remain, the ancient cypresses planted inside the temple serve as a reminder of those days. In 1421, the Ming Emperor Yongle built the Altar of Land and Grain symmetrically opposite the Imperial Ancestral (Taimiao) Temple, which stands to the east of Tian'anmen Rostrum. In 1914, the altar was renamed Central Park and opened to the public on October 10. In 1928, the park was renamed Zhongshan Park in tribute to the memory of Sun Yat-sen.
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