The tombs of the Qing Dynasty attached great importance to the beauty of symmetry. Shinto centered on Xiaoling Mausoleum, the main mausoleum, has become the central axis of the whole mausoleum layout, and other mausoleums are arranged on both sides with Xiaoling Mausoleum as the center. Each mausoleum has a central axis parallel to the meridian of the earth, extending symmetrically from north to south. At the northern end of the central axis, there are major buildings such as Long 'en Hall and Fangcheng in turn, all facing south. The top of the central axis is a horizontal mountain range, forming a T-shape. On both sides of the central axis are paired buildings, such as watchtower and Renwu, which echo each other. For example, the mountains and rivers in the whole mausoleum area of Qing Dongling, from Changrui Mountain to Jinxing Mountain, are all dominated by Shinto (the central axis), and dozens of buildings of different sizes are arranged in an orderly manner along Shinto, which is spectacular.
The ancient buildings of the Forbidden City pay more attention to the principle of symmetry. Passing through the core of the Forbidden City, there is a central axis running through it: starting from Yongdingmen in the outer city, passing through Zhengyang Gate in the inner city, then entering Daming Gate in the Palace Square (changed to Daqing Gate in Qing Dynasty and Zhonghua Gate after the Revolution of 1911), passing through the square is the Chengtian Gate of the Imperial City. Chengtianmen has a terminal door, and the oncoming door is the meridian gate on the front of the Forbidden City, also called Wufeng Tower. On the east and west sides of this central axis, the most important buildings in the inner and outer cities are symmetrically arranged, and on the east are the Temple of Heaven, the Shanchuan Altar (later renamed as the "Xiannongtan"), the ancestral temple and the social altar (now the Working People's Cultural Palace and Zhongshan Park). After entering the meridian gate, all the buildings have adopted stricter symmetrical layout. Among them, only the three halls of the former dynasty ── Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Zhonghe and Hall of Baohe, and the three palaces of the later dynasty ── Gan Qing Palace, Jiaotai Palace and Kunning Palace, which represent the center of imperial power, are properly arranged in the center, and the dragon chairs on each hall are located on the central axis.
After liberation, Beijing, as the capital of the people, broke the old pattern. The newly expanded Tiananmen Square has become the center of the political life of the people's capital, while the Forbidden City, which once lived in the whole city, has retreated to the position of "backyard". However, the newly-built Monument to the People's Heroes and Chairman Mao Memorial Hall are still on the north-south central axis.
Many isolated cities in China have their own strict central axes. On the central axis, it is symmetrical left and right, and the streets in the city are east and west. North and south, chessboard-shaped.
Symmetry is the image representation of natural beauty, for example, various animals (human body, birds and beasts, butterflies, bees, etc. ) both are left and right. At all times, many ancient cities, palaces, houses and tombs are also symmetrical. This symmetrical design of spatial position is an organic imitation of nature, in which human beings get sensory pleasure and sentiment cultivation, and then produce aesthetic feeling beneficial to people's physical and mental health.