Inside the southern entrance to the Monument is the Plaza of Holy Fire, one metre below ground and 960 square metres in area, standing for China's vast territory of 9,600,000 square kilometres. With the gentle centripetal rise of the ground suggesting the rise of the Chinese nation, the Holy Fire of China is located right in the middle of the Plaza. The fire originated at the site of Peking Man at Zhoukoudian, Beijing, and is fed on natural gas. The ever burning flames, rising some 45 centimetres high, are a token of the unceasing creativity of the Chinese civilization.
Along both the eastern and western side of the plaza, there is a steady current of water cascading down the steps, reminding the visitor of the mother rivers of the Chinese nation: the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers. Going up the northern steps, the visitor sees a 270-metre-long causeway. The 3-metre-wide bronze plates paved along the middle of the causeway are carved in a south-north order with a chronology describing man's progress from his first appearance three million years ago to 2000 AD, and succinctly recounting important events of Chinese history in science and technology, culture, education and other fields, illustrated by the Ten Heavenly Stems and the Twelve Earthly Branches with their corresponding symbolic animals. These immobile bronze inscriptions are incessantly caressed by a limpid sheet of running stream, with the movement of the water and the stillness of the pavement harmonizing and contrasting with each other to indicate the continuity and renewal of the nation's history. Strolling along the causeway, the visitor seems to be passing through China's five millennia, witnessing her continuous civilization and savouring her distinctive uniqueness.
The causeway is lined on either side with a 16-metre-wide belt of verdant lawns and hedges made up of Xian juniper, Jinshan meadowsweet, purple-leaf barberry and golden-leaf privet, showing with the rotation of the seasons the infinite changes and beauty of lively nature, and providing much pleasing and peaceful space for the roaming of the mind.
The main structure of the Monument, consisting of 'Qian' (or heaven) and 'Kun' (or earth), stands 28 metres high and 85 metres in diameter.
The 'Qian' , or the revolving rotunda, is 47 metres in diameter, slopes upwards at an angle of 19.4 degrees and revolves once every 3-12 hours. The outer wall of the 'Qian' is carved with 56 ethnic designs in relief, representing the 56 ethnic groups of the Chinese nation in their unity and solidarity. The round, level space at the middie of the rotunda, 14 metres in diameter, may serve as a central stage for large-scale, open-air celebrations and/or performances of song and dance, symphonic music, or other art and cultaral forms. The steps all around can hold over a thousand spectators. Piercing into the sky from the 'Qian' is a 27.6-metre-long needle, a symbol of the infinity of time and space.
The 'Kun', or the immobile bottom of the structure, has on its outside sixteen circular tiers of steps paved with light-tan granite slabs, and in its interior e-metre-wide circular galleries totaling 140 metres in length and housing bronze statues of forty most outstanding figures in Chinese history. Passing by the statues, the visitor may watch the 56 ethnic designs inscribed on the outer wall and witness the revolution of the 'qian' at the same time.
The still circular galleries and the revolving rotunda symbolise the time-honoured Chinese concepts of 'Qian' and Kun' , which are best summed up in the Book of Changes: 'As heaven moves constantly, so the superior man should rely on himself and work ceaselessly. As the earth extends infinitely, so the superior man should embrace all with magnanimous virtue.' 'Qian' refers to the eternal, ceaseless movement of celestial bodies, embodying an idea of eternal edification, endeavour and progress, while 'Kun' stands for the all-embracing earth, displaying a spirit of tolerance, magnanimity and harmony.
The main structure as a whole, combining a harmony of movement and stillness with a grandeur of conception, manifests the Chinese nation's great spirit of ceaseless endeavour, as well as her broadminded emphasis on virtue and tolerance.
