Here is some information on the origin of our LOGO:

　 社 稷 坛

She Ji Tan: The Altar of Land and Grain

The Altar （坛：Tan）of Land and Grain in Beijing Zhongshan Park was the site of imperial sacrifices to the gods of land (社：she) and grain (稷：ji) during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The altar is a three-tiered square platform built of white marble, its shape symbolizing the ancient notion that the earth is square. There are four stone stairways, one on each side, leading up to the 1.3-meter-high platform. The innermost wall, with a white marble gate set in each side, is the Altar Wall. The altar is surrounded on four sides by low red walls set with glazed bricks in four colors representing the four directions. Click here for an aerial view (at Google Maps, in new window).

The five kinds of colored earth spread over the surface of the altar (yellow in the center, blue in the east, red in the south, white in the west, black in the north -- the same color being displayed on the corresponding wall) were received by the emperor as gifts of tribute from subjects of his empire. The gifts, symbolizing that "under heaven, all belongs to the emperor," stood for the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire and earth) which constitute the origin of all things.

Ancient China was an agricultural society. The people felt great reverence for land and grain, and elevated them to the status of gods. In hope of obtaining good harvests, people originally offered prayers to the gods of land and grain. But when the feudal emperors assumed the "Mandate of Heaven" as their personal responsibility, sacrifices to the gods of land and grain came under the aegis of the imperial government. On the fifth day of the second and the eight's month of the lunar calendar, the emperor came here to offer sacrifices.

Between the Altar Wall and the northern outer wall is the Hall of Worship (Baidian), constructed entirely of wood and one of the finest examples of classical architecture in Beijing.

Built in the Ming Dynasty under Emperor Yongle (1403-1424), this hall originally served to shelter the emperors from wind and rain when they came to offer sacrifices. When Sun Yat-sen died in Beijing in 1925, his coffin was kept here temporarily, and in 1928, the name of the Hall of Worship was changed to Zhongshan Hall. (Zhongshan is Sun Yat-sen's name in Chinese pin-yin.)