Ten-en-chi-hou (天円地方)

Ten-en-chi-hou is an ancient Chinese view of the universe which considers the heaven as round and the earth as square. This idea has been used as a motif of buildings and ornaments of Chinese cultural sphere. The heaven has been expressed as round because the movement of stars are represented as circular motion.

Buildings which uses Ten-en-chi-hou as a motif
Tiantan
Ditan
Shanghai Museum

[Original Japanese]