The central axis application has entered the sprint stage

Yesterday, Shan Jixiang, president of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics and director of the Academic Committee of the Palace Museum, Lu Zhou, director of the National Heritage Center and professor of Tsinghua University, and other guests made guests of the 2022 Beijing News Center's "City of The City of the Two Olympics" live broadcast room, revealing the story behind the protection of Beijing's central axis and applying for heritage for the audience, leading everyone to see through the development of the ancient city of Beijing through the central axis. The Beijing Youth Daily reporter learned from the scene that at present, the application for heritage on the central axis of Beijing has entered the sprint stage.

Through the application of the central axis, the historical context of Chinese civilization is presented

At present, there are already three World Heritage Sites on the central axis of Beijing, so why promote the overall application for heritage? Shan Jixiang introduced that there are already three world cultural heritage sites on the central axis: the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Grand Canal, which are unique in the world. But they are only part of the magnificent central axis, there are many cultural relics and cultural landscapes on the central axis, and the overall application for the central axis meets the requirements of the authenticity and integrity of the World Heritage. Lü Zhou introduced that Beijing is rich in history and culture, with a total of 7 World Heritage Sites, from prehistory to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the entire cultural context has been presented in Beijing, how to better present the historical development of Chinese civilization through the central axis, which is a major significance of the central axis application.

Shan Jixiang introduced that it has been 50 years since the birth of the World Heritage Convention, during which a total of 1154 heritage sites have been evaluated around the world, which shows that the evaluation process is very strict. According to the latest filing requirements, each country can only declare one place per year, and although China has extremely rich heritage resources, it can only pick one place to declare each year, so the competition is very fierce.

The cultural value of the central axis is fully in line with the criteria for heritage application

Lü Zhou introduced that the central axis is the carrier of Chinese civilization, reflecting the most important content in Chinese culture, such as the relationship between man and nature, and man's obedience to order. The best embodiment of China's "respect for the middle" ideology in urban construction is the central axis. The influence of the central axis on the entire city of Beijing is reflected in the fact that it is the core of the entire urban planning and is an outstanding example of urban planning. At the same time, the central axis is the birthplace of many important events, such as the founding of New China, and many major historical events such as the founding of New China have occurred on the central axis. From these points of view, the central axis fully meets the conditions for World Heritage nomination.

The Forbidden City on the central axis is the best embodiment of order. Shan Jixiang introduced that the three words of the central axis are themselves the embodiment of a sense of order. "Respecting the Middle", the balance, symmetry and sense of order of the large area of the Forbidden City architecture constitute a unique urban landscape in Beijing. The nine gates of the Forbidden City are all on a line, and this line is not just a road, the entire 7.8-kilometer central axis has residential buildings, bridges, sacrificial buildings, gardens and other three-dimensional buildings, which can be called a skyline that dominates the city.

According to Lü Zhou, when the Yuan Dynasty planned the city of Beijing, it first built a central platform and then set the outline of the four sides, which is unique in the world. From the Yuan Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, in fact, they are constantly strengthening the construction of the central axis, so the central axis of the inheritance of Chinese civilization is a very important carrier. In this regard, Shan Jixiang made a further explanation. He said that archaeology has proved that the central axis of the Ming Dynasty and the central axis of the Yuan Dynasty are in the same vein, and the central axis has changed from the original 3.8 kilometers to 4.8 kilometers, and later to 7.8 kilometers of the Ming Dynasty, which is a process of historical development. The most important buildings since the Yuan Dynasty are basically on the central axis, which reflects the highest concept of traditional Chinese aesthetics.

The application process is the process of promoting the protection of the central axis

Many years ago, the Forbidden City's Guanzi River was full of sewage, and after three years of rectification, Beijing restored the blue waves of the Guanzi River; the overall relocation of the Temple of Heaven Hospital helped restore a large area of green space in the Temple of Heaven Park; the Beijing Children's Palace moved away from the Shouhuang Palace, contributing to the overall protection of this historical building... Over the years, in order to promote the application for heritage of the central axis, Beijing has made great efforts, and the surrounding environment of the central axis has been greatly improved. "Today, the Grand Canal is back, and there are nearly 480 meters of canal water system within the central axis, which was unimaginable in the past." Shan Jixiang said, "The process of applying for heritage on the central axis is the process of promoting the protection of the central axis, which can promote people's further understanding of its value." ”

In this regard, Lü Zhou also expressed the same view. Lü Zhou said that in order to promote the successful application of the central axis, its protection status is very important, in recent years, Beijing has made great efforts in the central axis along the cultural relics and other aspects, the results achieved are obvious to all, "this is our most important work in the past two years." Lv Zhou introduced that the repair of related buildings on the central axis and the completion of environmental remediation are a key part of the application process of the central axis. Taking Xiannongtan as an example, as an important element of heritage on the central axis, whether its surrounding environment meets the conditions for applying for heritage is an important consideration factor in evaluating its rectification effect.

What is the progress of Beijing's central axis application? Lu Zhou revealed that the central axis application for heritage has entered the sprint stage. At present, the archaeology of Zhengyang Bridge is underway, which is an important part of the central axis and one of the important factors in the formation of the urban landscape. Lü Zhou said that the town water beast had been found in the archaeological excavation of Zhengyang Bridge before. According to historical records, there should be a part of the Zhengyang Bridge that has been preserved, and it is hoped that the original appearance of the Zhengyang Bridge can be further restored through archaeology.

Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Zhao Tingting

Editor/Cui Yifei