China Millennium Monument

The China Millennium Monument ( Chinese 中華世紀壇 / 中华世纪坛 , Pinyin Zhōnghuá shìjì tán - "Chinese Millennium Monument ") is a sundial architecture in Beijing that opened in 2000 to welcome the new millennium and the new century has been. On an area of 4.5 hectares and a total usable area of around 42,000 square meters, the China Millennium Monument extends on the north-south axis between the military museum and the Chinese television station, with Yuyuantan Park in the north and Beijing in the west Railway terminus in the south. The Millennium Monument consists of the sundial structure, the bronze tunnel, the torchlight place, the Centennial Hall, the art pavilion and other structures. The structure of the monument combines the spirit of traditional Chinese culture with modern architectural art. It integrates landscaping, sculpture, wall painting, and various other art forms. It not only represents an eternal memory of the turn of the millennium, but also serves as a center for cultural, artistic and scientific exhibitions at home and abroad.

monument

At the head of the cloister is the main part of the Millennium Monument, which consists of two parts called "Qian" and "Kun". "Kun" is the static, step-shaped, pyramid-like structure, which is arranged on the outer wall of the architecture in a track construction and bears the engraved symbolic structures of the 56 nationalities of China. In the center of the static structure is “Qian”, a rotating circular area of 1,700 square meters that covers one revolution per day at an angle of inclination of 19.4 degrees. A stage with a diameter of 14 meters in the middle of the rotating structure serves as the central arena for art performances, dancing and singing, as well as other large open air events. At the top of the monument, a pointer is inserted into the 45 meter high pointer, which looks like the sundial in the Palace Museum. The pointer is a symbol for the space-time extension, which embodies the ever-marching spirit of the Chinese.

At the southern entrance is a white marble tablet on which the five Chinese characters Zhong , Hua , Shi , Ji and Tan , written by the former President of the People's Republic of China Jiang Zemin , are engraved. Inside the southern entrance to the monument is the Plaza of the Holy Fire (sheng huǒ guǎng chǎng). The plaza is one meter below the monument level and is paved with 960 pieces of granite, which symbolizes the rise of the Chinese nation with the gentle rise of the centripetal floor. The 960 pieces of granite represent the 9.6 million square kilometers of the territory of China. The Holy Fire of China is in the center of the plaza. The constantly burning flame is about 45 centimeters high and has its origin on the Beijing man's compound in Zhoukoudian , about 50 kilometers from Beijing, from where it is fed with natural gas. It is a sign of the incessant creativity of Chinese civilization.

Along the east and west sides of the Plaza of Sacred Fire are cascades of water that flow in a steady stream down the stairs. They symbolize the mother rivers of the Chinese nation: the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers (Huang He). If you walk along the plaza towards the monument, you will come to the 270 meter long bronze tunnel (Qing tong yǒng Dào). In the center of the tunnel is a three-meter-wide bronze board that chronographs the events of science, technology, culture, education and other aspects from 300 million years before the creation of mankind to the year 2000 AD from south to north .

The China Millennium Monument represents the harmonious development between man and nature. The main colors of the monument are yellow and green. The Chinese represent the cultural spirit through the yellow color and the combination of sky and man through the green color, according to a traditional Chinese philosophy.

World Art Museum

Inside the China Millennium Monument is an art museum, the World Art Museum of Beijing (Shi jie yì shu guǎn). It is the first non-profit national institution in China engaged in the collection, exhibition and research of world art. By working with museums, schools and other educational institutions around the world, it strives to familiarize the local population with broader human civilization and serves to promote cultural communication as well as art education. In this way, it becomes a window to the world of art and a display for communication between cultures.

The World Art Museum includes the exhibition hall, special gallery exhibition, digital art gallery, and exhibition spaces. The exhibition area is around 20,000 square meters and, together with the original works of art, serves to broadly show the basic contexts of the history of world art. In the special gallery exhibition, some in-depth topic is introduced and organized annually from a higher level. In the digital art gallery, five video screens with a screen diagonal of 381 centimeters and in 16: 9 format are installed symmetrically in a circular building. They are used for daily video presentations in a high-resolution, three-dimensional multi-media environment.

In the Centennial Hall, the ring-shaped natural colored wall paintings are applied to a stone. With a circumference of 117 meters and a height of 4.8 meters, it is one of the largest ring-shaped wall paintings in China. The important events and events are presented in four historical stages, which reflect the spirit and development of the 5,000 year old civilization of the Chinese nation. The first stage shows the rational spirit of the time before the Qin Dynasty (from 221 BC to 207 BC) and describes the original conceptual content of the Chinese nation. The second stage embodies the tolerant attitude from the Han dynasty (from 206 BC to 220 AD) to the Tang dynasty (618–907) and depicts the generous spirit of the Chinese nation. The third stage reflects loyalty to the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), as well as the strength of the character of the Chinese nation. The fourth stage corresponds to the historical variations of modern enlightenment and redemption, showing the spirit of independence of the Chinese nation.

Beijing World Art Museum is one of the most important institutions for presenting art exhibitions and cultural activities in China. It is a great venue for major national and international exhibitions, biennials, large-scale performances, and other cultural activities.