Ritan (Beijing)
building in Chaoyang District, China
The Ritan is a public park located in Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. It is within the Jianguomen area. The nearest Beijing Subway station is Yong'anli on the Beijing subway Line 1. The park was initially home to the Temple of the Sun (simplified Chinese: 日坛; traditional Chinese: 日壇; pinyin: Rìtán), an altar built in 1530 during the late Ming Dynasty.
History
The altar was built in 1530 during the late Ming Dynasty for use in ritual sacrifice to the sun by the Emperor of China. The original Altar of the sun was a rectangular white-stone dais covered with red glaze, and four stairways (north, east, south and west) with nine steps measuring 18.3 yards (16.7 m) in width and length, and 7 feet (2.1 m) in height. The temple had been destroyed and restored to reopen in 1556 to the public.
Upon entering the premises, the emperors would pass through the Heavenly West Gate and along the Sacred Way that led to the sun altar.
The temple was abandoned in 1911. Its park was renamed Ritan (or Ri Tan) Park in 1949 and reopened in 1951.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Ritan (Beijing)” as building in Chaoyang District, China. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as building in Chaoyang District, China. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q964720. Authority coordinates are 39.914, 116.438. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1530, 1556, 1911 and 1949.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ritan (Beijing)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ritan (Beijing) primary sources, Ritan (Beijing) archive and Ritan research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ritan (Beijing)”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ritan (Beijing)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.