Temple of Agriculture
museum
Temple of Agriculture (simplified Chinese: 先农坛; traditional Chinese: 先農壇; pinyin: Xiānnóng Tán) or Altar of the God of Agriculture is a historic site in Xicheng District of Beijing, China, and located near the Temple of Heaven.
History
The Temple of Agriculture was built in the 15th century. It was used by Ming and Qing emperors to perform sacrifices to Xiannong (先农), the mythical Emperor Yandi (c. 2900 BC-2800 BC), who is said to have invented the plow, discovered the medicinal uses of plants, and created the first marketplaces.
The temple's Jufu Hall was included in the 1998 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund (WMF) when it was in danger of collapse, and again in 2000 along with the rest of the temple. In 1998, American Express provided funding through WMF for the restoration of the structure. Other structures on the site were subsequently restored, and the work included stabilization, wood treatment, repair and conservation of the tiles, and consolidation and preservation of the painted decoration. Today, the site has the status of Major Site Protected at the National Level of China.
In artwork
See also
Nine Altars and Eight Temples
Notes
References
External links
Erling Ho, ICON Magazine, "Rites of Spring: Beijing’s Xiannontang, an imperial altar complex honoring the gods of agriculture, gets a long-overdue facelift," Spring 2004, p. 28-33.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Temple of Agriculture” as museum. 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 museum. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q341718. Authority coordinates are 39.877, 116.386. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1998, 2000 and 2004.
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 “Temple of Agriculture”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Temple of Agriculture primary sources, Temple of Agriculture archive and Temple 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 “Temple of Agriculture”?
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- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
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This entry incorporates text from “Temple of Agriculture” 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.