canopied with Heaven itself, the Emperor of China, “Son of Heaven,” glorifies the Invisible Deity and sacrifices for the prosperity of “the Great, Pure Kingdom” and his people. This worship of the Invisible Deity has no Priestly Hierarchy. The Emperor of China is its one High Priest. He alone is worthy, as the Son of Heaven, to perform its unique ceremonies, on its one great Altar, in its single great Temple of China.
The Emperor prepares himself for the great ceremony of the semiannual celebration on this altar by a rigorous fast of three days, spending the final night before the celebration in a vigil in the Great Park of the Nature Temples, where there is a Purifying Palace set aside for his use. This glorification of the Invisible Deity at the summer and winter solstices is the most solemn act performed by the Emperor in his quality of Son of Heaven.
Temple of Heaven—Peking
The Emperor is not only the one High Priest worthy to sacrifice on the great altars to the Invisible Deity, the Priestly Hierarchy of the whole of this Cult of Nature is vested in his Sacred Person. He alone offers sacrifices in the Temples of Heaven and the other Great Temples, at times set aside in the Book of Rites, and on special occasions. When famine devastates the land, when drought or any other National Calamity is visited upon the Empire, the Emperor prays in these Temples for its cessation, for he is not only the High Priest, but as “Son of Heaven” is the expiator for the afflictions visited upon his people by Heaven, and he publicly holds himself responsible for the misfortunes of the Empire. According to the Book of Rites, he says in time of trouble, “I will purify myself by sacrifice that these calamities may be lifted from the Empire and the people. I alone am responsible.”
The great semiannual celebration to the Invisible Deity is not only the most solemn of the religious rites the Emperor performs; it is at the same