The Drum Tower, one of the 15 major heritage components along the Beijing Central Axis Photo: TUCHONG

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In July 2024, the “Beijing Central Axis: A Building Ensemble Exhibiting the Ideal Order of the Chinese Capital” was inscribed on the World Heritage List. First established in the 13th century and refined in the 16th, the Beijing Central Axis runs north to south through the historic core of the city. With over 750 years of continuous evolution, it is often described as the “spine and soul of Beijing.” At 7.8 kilometers in length, it is the longest and most complete surviving central axis of any historic city worldwide.

A rich composition of capital axis features

In traditional Chinese urban planning, a capital’s central axis is a straight line linking palaces, main roads, and city gates, forming the backbone of the city’s layout. Three core elements define such an axis: palatial architecture, thoroughfares, and gates. The key characteristic of this layout is that the primary buildings—typically grand palaces—are aligned directly on the axis, while secondary structures such as gates, markets, workshops, and roads are laid out symmetrically on either side. These buildings are connected to the city’s main gate via a structured road system.

The Beijing Central Axis comprises 15 major heritage components. Starting at the Bell and Drum towers in the north, it extends south through Wanning Bridge and Jingshan Park, continues through the Forbidden City, Duanmen Gate, Tiananmen Gate, the Outer Golden Water Bridge, Tiananmen Square and its architectural ensemble, and proceeds to Zhengyangmen Gate before terminating at Yongdingmen Gate in the south. Flanking the axis are important ritual and religious structures: the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the Temple of Heaven lie to the east, while the Altar of Land and Grain and the Altar of Agriculture are positioned to the west. Together, these elements represent a wide spectrum of historical urban functions—including ancient palace complexes, imperial ritual architecture, transport infrastructure, military defenses, urban administrative facilities, and modern ceremonial and public buildings.

The Bell and Drum towers, the tallest structures along the axis, served as the city’s official timekeeping center. They were incorporated into the capital axis during the Ming Dynasty, positioned at its northernmost point. To suppress lingering imperial associations with the preceding Yuan Dynasty, the Ming court constructed the artificial Wansui Hill—now Jingshan Hill—just north of the palace complex, on the former site of the Yuan-era Yanchun Pavilion. Jingshan Hill features five peaks, with the central peak rising highest and the others descending symmetrically to the east and west. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, a Buddhist pavilion was erected atop each peak, further enhancing the symmetrical design.

Following the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Tiananmen Square underwent significant expansion and renovation. The Monument to the People’s Heroes was the first major addition, followed by the National Museum of China and the Great Hall of the People, constructed to the east and west of the square, respectively. Later, the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall was added. Both the monument and the memorial hall stand directly on the axis, while the museum and the hall are symmetrically arranged on either side—continuing the tradition of axial balance in a modern civic context.

Ideal capital planning model

The ideal model for planning ancient Chinese capitals is recorded in the Kaogong Ji (Treaties on Crafts), which states: “The capital city covers a square area of nine li [a traditional Chinese unit of distance] on each side, with three gates on each side. It has nine north–south and nine east–west avenues. The north–south avenues are each nine carriage tracks wide. The ancestral temple is located to the east, the altar of land and grain to the west. The royal court and palaces are in the front, while the marketplace and residential areas are at the rear.”

While the term “central axis” does not explicitly appear in ancient texts, passages such as “The ancestral temple is located to the east, the altar of land and grain to the west,” and “court in the front and market at the rear” imply an awareness of axial planning, with axial symmetry at its core. This layout reflects the logic of urban order and the expression of political hierarchy.

The Kaogong Ji exerted a profound influence on capital construction. The Beijing Central Axis, built upon the rich experience of successive dynasties, is a deep embodiment of the planning principles outlined in this ancient text.

The Yuan capital of Dadu (present-day Beijing) was built on flat terrain with relatively few natural topographical or structural constraints, allowing for maximum implementation of urban planning concepts. Liu Bingzhong, a Yuan court official and the city’s chief planner, adhered closely to traditional capital planning principles. The Imperial Ancestral Temple and the Altar of Land and Grain were placed outside the imperial city, to the east and west respectively. The northeast bank of Jishuitan [once the main terminal for canal transportation and a site for washing imperial elephants], located north of the imperial palace, developed into the city’s most prosperous commercial district, fulfilling the envisioned configuration of “The ancestral temple is located to the east, the altar of land and grain to the west,” and “court in the front and market at the rear.”

The city was laid out in a regular, concentric pattern, with the Imperial Palace, the Imperial City, and the Outer City forming successive rings. Each of the eastern, southern, and western walls had three gates. Inside, the streets followed a strict north-south and east-west grid. Among all the feudal capitals of later imperial China, Yuan Dadu most closely realized the ideal city described in the Kaogong Ji.

One of the major innovations in the construction of Dadu during the Yuan Dynasty was the determination of the city’s central point before surveying and building the four city walls. The “water-centered layout” of the Imperial City was also highly distinctive. Instead of being centered around the palace, the Imperial City was arranged around the Taiye Pool, with the palace situated on the eastern shore. On the western shore, the Longfu Palace and Xingsheng Palace were built to the south and north respectively, forming a tripod-like configuration centered on the water. This layout reflected the nomadic lifestyle of “dwelling by water and pasture.”

Another pioneering feature was the placement of the Drum Tower at the city’s geometric center, emphasizing its symbolic importance. The Bell Tower was positioned to its north, aligned along the north-south axis. These layout decisions illustrate that Dadu’s planners did not simply replicate traditional models, but rather combined reverence for ancient systems with innovative adaptation.

The layout of Beijing during the Ming and Qing dynasties inherited Dadu’s planning model. The city maintained its concentric layout, with the Palace City, Imperial City, and Inner City forming three tiers. Although an Outer City was originally planned for all four directions, financial constraints limited its construction. Nevertheless, this effort reflected a persistent pursuit of the ideal capital design. 

Oriented around the central axis, Beijing was conceived as a city of clear hierarchical order and symmetrical form, exemplifying the principles of traditional Chinese urbanism. For this reason, the World Heritage Committee has recognized the Beijing Central Axis as an outstanding embodiment of traditional Chinese capital planning principles and philosophical ideals—especially the concept of “Zhong” (centrality) and “He” (harmony)—making it a major contribution to the history of urban planning worldwide (in accordance with World Heritage Selection Criteria iii).

Manifestation of centrality in capital construction

The concept of “revering centrality” (shang zhong) and the pursuit of centrality (qiu zhong) were core principles in the construction of ancient Chinese capitals. This idea emerged as early as the Xia and Shang periods—for example, in the city of Yanshi Shangcheng, the palace city was located at the central-southern part of the inner city—and became more mature and widespread during the Western and Eastern Zhou dynasties.

As stated in the Lyushi Chunqiu (The Annals of Lyu Buwei): “The sage kings of antiquity chose the center of the world to establish their state, the center of the state to build their palace, and the center of the palace to place their ancestral temple.” This text was completed on the eve of Qin’s unification of China, and its reference to “antiquity” likely points to the Western Zhou period. Archaeological evidence confirms this concept. At the Zhouyuan site, once the capital area of the Western Zhou dynasty, three newly discovered walled compounds show that the palace city occupied the central-northern part of the smaller inner city, while a major palace complex stood at the center of the palace city itself.

Throughout China’s dynastic history, the city-building principle of “honoring the center” was carried to its fullest extent. In Chang’an, the Western Han capital, the main and front halls were located at the center of Weiyang Palace. In Ye City (present-day Handan, Hebei Province), the capital of the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi dynasties, the palace city stood at the exact center. In Dongjing (present-day Kaifeng), the Sui and Tang capitals of Chang’an, the palace city was situated at the northern center of the capital, with the Taiji Palace itself located at the center of the palace city. The Northern Song capital of Dongjing (present-day Kaifeng, Henan) continued this tradition, situating the palace city in the central-northern portion of the outer city, reinforcing the symbolic importance of placing political power at the spatial core.

In the Ming and Qing capital of Beijing, the Palace City was located in the south-central part of the Inner City, slightly east of the midpoint. The renowned Three Great Halls [Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Central Harmony, and Hall of Preserving Harmony] were situated at the center of the Palace City, and the city’s central axis ran vertically through its entirety, positioned in the central (slightly eastern) part of Beijing. Moreover, symmetry was reflected not only in the spatial distribution of buildings and city gates, but also in their paired names, often incorporating elements like “civil and military,” “east and west,” or “left and right.” Symmetry, a fundamental pattern in nature, was consciously employed to convey balance and stability. This powerfully highlighted the central axis’s role as the organizing spine of the city, while also embodying the ancient Chinese aesthetic ideal of symmetry.

Xu Tuanhui is an associate professor from the School of History and Culture at Qufu Normal University.

Edited by REN GUANHONG