中山公园五色土

社稷坛（五色土）

社稷坛是皇帝祭祀土神和谷神的地方，亦是皇权、国土与谷物收成的象征。社，是土神；稷，是谷神。明清两朝每年农历二、八月的第一天，皇帝都要把太社、太稷的神主牌位从拜殿中请出来，放在坛上，以面南背北行三跪九叩大礼，祈求风调雨顺、五谷丰登。社稷坛是用艾叶青石铺成的三层正方形平台，高0.96米。上层方15.95米，中层方16.90米，下层方17.85米。上方平台由南红、西白、北黑、东青、中黄五种颜色铺就而成。亦称五色土。据说这五色土是由全国各地纳贡来的，以表示“普天之下莫非王土”。清朝干隆皇帝有诗咏到，“物备九洲贡，土分五色方”说的就是这五色土。社稷坛四周的琉璃矮墙颜色也与五色土的颜色一致，五色土的分布与中国地理土壤分布是一致的，封建帝王取五色土集于一处，不仅体现了我国古代阴阳五行学说，同时也表示皇帝一统天下。在土中间有一突起的石堆称“社主石”或“江山石”，代表江山永固的意思。这里有一个小故事，在1997年香港回归时，曾把香港的土壤带到社稷坛并洒于中间黄土上，并用分隔线划分，代表了“一国两制”的制度。

Altar to the God of Land and Grain

Shejitan Altar was built in the 18th year of the reign of Emperor Yongle(1420).It is located to the west of Wumen gate of the Imperial Palace, based on the principle of “ancestors on the left and State on the right: by the ancient book Zhou Li. The alter is the only survived state-level alter by the emperors, The word She refers to the god of land

and Ji means the god of grain. The square-shaped alter consists of three levels, built with green white marble stone and with a height of 0.96 meter. On the top, there is the five-color soil, blue on the east, red on the south, white on the west, black on the north and yellow in the center, What the five-color soil indicates is that all the land under the sun belongs to the emperor. In the middle of the alter the “sovereign” stone si erected, sharp at the top and square at the bottom, meaning that the reign is firm and soild forever. Ceremony of sacrificing, with the theme pray for good harvest and well being of the country and her people, was held here every lunar February and August in the two dynasties of Ming and Qing.