On the morning of May 28th, a Saturday, I arrived in Beijing. Not visiting the Temple of Heaven left me with a nagging sense of unfinished business. Zhang Ming had already left with the crystal ball, finding nothing at the Temple of Heaven; I certainly didn’t consider myself smarter than him, and whether K had really “enlightened” there was still up for debate. This visit was just to resolve a personal knot. Deep down, there was still a small fantasy: what if I had a moment of enlightenment? Though the odds were one in a million, or less. I entered through the North Gate of the Temple of Heaven. I bought a combined ticket for thirty-five yuan and merged into the crowd of tourists heading inside. The outer wall of the North Gate is circular, while the South Gate is square, symbolizing the Chinese concept of “the heavens are round, the earth is square,” representing the entire world within this space. With these ancient Eastern philosophies in mind, I walked through the orderly gardens into the ancient city gate where smoking and fire were prohibited. Ahead was the most famous Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. Walking through the Temple of Heaven, my initial urgency to find answers faded even more. I decided to treat it as a chance encounter during my visit. Unfortunately, upon reaching the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, I was disappointed to see a small wooden sign and a closed gate; the hall was under renovation and wouldn’t reopen to visitors until 2006. I hoped K hadn’t gained his insight here. With that thought, I walked around the hall.
The wide Danbi Bridge, once only accessible to a select few at specific times, was now crowded with people, diminishing the intended reverence for heaven. At the Echo Wall in the Imperial Vault of Heaven, people were lining up to shout and hear the echo, while the divine tablets inside were largely ignored. I peered inside the hall for a long time; it was an impressive structure, but no inspiration for unlocking the divine code came to me. I circled the courtyard a few times, not in the mood to queue for the Echo Wall. I pondered how much connection there could be between the Echo Wall and the solar system, concluding the likelihood was too small, and left the Imperial Vault of Heaven.
