As the capital of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties of China with a 5,000-year civilization, Beijing continues to showcase its unique historical and cultural charm to the world. Among its features, the Beijing Central Axis is the central symbol of the ancient capital.
The Beijing Central Axis, first constructed in 1267, has a history of over 700 years. Starting from the Bell and Drum Towers in the north, it runs southward through Wanning Bridge, Jingshan Hill, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Zhengyang Gate, and ends at Yongding Gate, traversing the old city of Beijing from north to south with a total length of about 7.8 kilometers.
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and especially in the 1990s following Beijing’s successful Olympic bid, China further extended the Beijing Central Axis from its traditional 7.8 kilometers to 88.8 kilometers.
The Beijing Central Axis is a complete narrative system. With its successful inscription on the World Heritage List, the world gains another window to understand Chinese traditional philosophy, political culture, architecture, and aesthetics.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized the protection and inheritance of Chinese traditional culture, and has proposed the concept of “cultural confidence”. The successful World Heritage bid for the Beijing Central Axis is believed to be a concrete measure of the Chinese government’s “cultural confidence”.
At the recently concluded Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, the Communist Party of China clearly proposed to “establish a coordination mechanism for cultural heritage protection and inheritance” and “expand international cultural exchange and cooperation”. With the successful World Heritage inscription of the Beijing Central Axis as a sign, it is estimated that the Chinese government under CPC leadership will increasingly promote its traditional culture to the world, thereby expanding China’s cultural influence.
Competition in the cultural sphere is an important component of national competition. During the World Heritage application process for the Beijing Central Axis, there were also a few dissenting voices, and even some countries used the application to stir up sovereignty issues. This is an inevitable result of China’s growing global influence.
As the saying goes, “Mountains cannot hide the flowing river”. Despite some twists and turns, the Beijing Central Axis, the world’s longest existing urban central axis, has finally been successfully inscribed on the World Heritage List, once again proclaiming the charm of Eastern culture to the world.
