Harmony in the Heart of the Middle Kingdom

CGTN Europe

Beijing’s design reflects more than architecture—it embodies harmony. Bruce Connolly shares how the city’s central axis, flowing through the Forbidden City and Tian’anmen, inspired a deeper sense of calm and understanding.   Read more: https://tinyurl.com/4hrumhu4       #middle #kingdom #beijing #architecture #harmony #design

Transcript

00:00I started looking at Beijing, I could see this Chinese character, it's one of the very few

00:06characters I can actually write, Zhong, middle. He's much more of what China is, the middle kingdom,

00:16the middle way, the central axis line of Beijing coming from Zhongguo right down to Yongdingmen,

00:24but the rectangle, I saw this as the Gugong, the line coming right through the middle,

00:32right through the Tiananmen Gate, right down through Monument to People's Heroes, right

00:39through Mao Zedong Mausoleum, right down the Tiananmen. Good grief, this city is built around this,

00:46it's built around the, you know, this rectangle. There, in the middle of this rectangle was where

00:58the emperor's throne was. In the Forbidden City, the word harmony comes up quite a few times.

01:05I realised, watching Chinese people, you rarely saw fights or arguments in the street.

01:14People would calm things down to bring harmony, to keep peace.

01:19If you go into the parks and watch the people doing the Tai Chi,

01:26it's all done in this harmony. I find myself becoming much quieter, more calm.

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