National Conference for World Cultural Heritage held in Beijing
Beijing Central Axis and its ancient buidings around
Recently, at the National Conference for World Cultural Heritage held in Beijing, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage announced the “Updated List of Tentative Cultural Heritage Sites in China”, which included, among the 45 sites listed, Beijing’s Central Axis.
As one of the world’s largest and oldest cities, Beijing most reflects its intricate and meticulously ordered layout and rich cultural heritage in the edifices of its Central Axis. While international academia has almost unanimously concurred on the city’s illustriousness, there has been perpetual controversy since Beijing’s announcement of its initiation of the application process for the Central Axis to become a UNESCO World Heritage site last year. Now, with a commanding majority voting to include the Central Axis on the list of tentative cultural heritage sites at the national conference, it has rekindled this attention.
“Currently, there are 6 world cultural heritage sites in Beijing, but only two are in the Old City: the Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the Temple of Heaven. This is not compatible with the urban development in Beijing. Conservation experts note that the layout of the Old City has been well-preserved, and that there are many individual structures which are important cultural heritage sites in the Imperial City area. Beijing should have a world cultural heritage site which reflects its urban culture, its characteristics and its architectural style. The Central Axis is the best choice," said Li Jianping, the deputy director of the Beijing Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Science. The application for Beijing’s Central Axis to become a world heritage site coincides with UNESCO’s proposal of the concept of “linear” or “serial world heritage sites”—larger areas comprised of an aggregate of related individual sites, such as passages of the silk road, or longer sites, such as stretches of canals or railroads—and the Central Axis would fit this category perfectly. A member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites praised it as unique among urban centers.
Some experts note that the criterion for being recognized as a site of cultural heritage is the presence of authentic historical remains. They suggest that the “Central Axis” is a term from the Ming and Qing dynasties that is now represented by the line of historical relics; however, its status as a potential world heritage site is complicated by the new structures which are also on the axis. Wang Shiren, a researcher at the Beijing Institute of Ancient Architecture, expressed that “the core value of cultural heritage is the culture which it carries on. It is quite superficial if we merely stare at ancient architecture without taking in its cultural value, especially in the case of these buildings with a particular purpose during a particular time.”
According to Li Jianping, the remaining central axis of Beijing’s Old City is based on that of Dadu in the Yuan Dynasty. During the Yuan Dynasty, urban planning and layout directly determined the position of the central axis. Later, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the city experienced the development and expansion and reached the highest levels of its ancient city axis. Thereafter, Beijing’s Central Axis blended with cultural elements of the period of Republic of China and the modern urban construction of new China. There remains some disagreement among scholars and experts about which structures to the east and west of the 7.8 kilometer line from Yongdingmen to the Bell Tower should be considered part of the central axis. Furthermore, there are conflicting opinions about whether to repair—and if so, how to repair—missing or damaged elements, such as Tian Qiao or Di’anmen.
Li observed that Beijing’s Central Axis shows the essence of Beijing's urban culture, as well as the essence of Chinese civilization. He elaborated that it represents the thought, culture and achievements of Chinese urban planning and construction in both ancient and modern times and that the urban design reflects a synthesis of the agricultural culture of the central plains and prairie culture of the north in China. Li further noted that the Central Axis embodies both the impulse of the northern nomads—to settle by a water source—and Chinese cultural and aesthetic values of unity, symmetry, and harmony.
He also concluded that academia has done insufficient research on the central axis, two notable exception being Charm of Beijing’s Central Axis (《魅力北京中轴线》) and Diagrams of Beijing’s Central Axis (《图说北京中轴线》). Li stressed that Chinese academia could do more during the process of application. “The process of applying to be a World Cultural Heritage site is also the process of researching, publishing about and popularizing Beijing’s Central Axis.”
The Chinese version appeared on Chinese Social Sciences Today, No. 358, Nov.28,2012.
（Translated by Yang Lu）
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