The destruction of the Old Summer Palace is an immeasurable loss in the cultural history of the motherland and an immeasurable loss in the cultural history of the world!
The Old Summer Palace is a world-famous royal garden located in the northwest suburbs of Beijing. It consists of the Old Summer Palace, Wanchun Garden and Changchun Garden, so it is also called the Three Old Summer Palaces. In addition, there are many small gardens located on the east, west and south sides of the Old Summer Palace, surrounded by stars like a moon.
There are splendid palaces and exquisite pavilions in the Old Summer Palace; there are "Business Streets" that symbolize the bustling markets, and there are also mountains and countryside that symbolize the pastoral scenery. Many of the scenery in the garden are modeled after famous places from various places. Such as the Pinghu Qiuyue and Lei Feng Sunset at West Lake in Hangzhou, Anlan Garden in Haining, and the Lion Forest in Suzhou, etc. There are also many scenic spots built based on the poetic and artistic conception of ancient poets, such as Penglai Yaotai, Wuling Spring... There are not only ethnic buildings in the garden, but also Western landscapes. Walking in the garden is like roaming all over the world, enjoying the scenic spots at home and abroad; lingering here is like being in a fantasy realm.
The Old Summer Palace is not only a magnificent building, but also houses the most precious historical relics. From the bronze ritual vessels of the pre-Qin era to the paintings and calligraphy of celebrities from the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, there are all kinds of rare treasures. Therefore, it was the largest museum and art gallery in the world at that time.
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The destruction of the Old Summer Palace (information) - -
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On October 5, 1860, the British and French forces arrived at the gates of Beijing. According to the information provided by Russian diplomat Ignatiev: the Qing defenders were concentrated in the East City, and the North City was the weakest place and should be captured first; it was also heard that the Chinese Emperor of the Qing Dynasty was in the Old Summer Palace in the northwest suburbs. As a result, the British and French forces bypassed the Anding Gate and Desheng Gate, invaded the Old Summer Palace, and looted the Old Summer Palace, creating the "Burning of the Old Summer Palace" incident that shocked both China and the world.
The Old Summer Palace is located in the northwest suburbs of Beijing and was built in the Ming Dynasty. In 1709, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty gave the garden to his fourth son Yinzhen (later Emperor Yongzheng) and named it Yuanmingyuan. After more than 150 years of management by the five emperors Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang and Xianfeng, they concentrated a large amount of material resources, employed countless skilled craftsmen, and devoted the blood and sweat of millions of working people to carefully build it into a magnificent and beautiful temple. Leaving the palace.
Emperors of the Qing Dynasty came here every midsummer to escape the heat, listen to politics, and handle military and political affairs, so it was also called the "Summer Palace." The Old Summer Palace stretches for 10 kilometers around and consists of the Old Summer Palace, Wanchun Garden and Changchun Garden. The Old Summer Palace is the largest, so it is collectively called the Old Summer Palace (also known as the Three Old Summer Palaces). In addition, there are many subordinate gardens located on the east, west and south sides of the Old Summer Palace, including Jingyi Garden in Xiangshan Mountain, Jingming Garden in Yuquan Mountain, and Qingyi Garden (the later Summer Palace was built on this basis). etc. The total area of ??the whole park is more than 5,000 acres.
The Old Summer Palace not only brought together several famous gardens in the south of the Yangtze River, but also creatively transplanted Western garden architecture, integrating the culmination of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign gardening arts at that time. There are magnificent palaces, light and exquisite pavilions and pavilions in the garden; there is the "Business Street" that symbolizes the lively market, and there is the "Mountain Villa" that symbolizes the rural scenery; there are the autumn moon on the flat lake and the sunset on the Lei Feng that imitate the West Lake in Hangzhou, and the lions in Suzhou. There are also scenic spots in the forest; there are also those built after the poetic and artistic conception of ancient poets and painters, such as Penglai Yaotai, Wuling Spring Color, etc. It can be said that the Old Summer Palace is the crystallization of the wisdom and blood and sweat of the Chinese working people and a model of the Chinese people's architectural art and culture. Not only that, the Yuanmingyuan also contains countless priceless treasures of various styles, extremely rare historical classics and rich and precious historical relics, such as calligraphy and painting of the past dynasties, gold and silver jewelry, porcelain of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, etc. It can be called one of the treasure houses of human culture. It can also be said that it is the largest museum in the world. On October 6, the British and French forces broke into the Old Summer Palace and immediately robbed it crazily.
The French invaders were the first to break into the Old Summer Palace. They snatched everything they saw. The treasures in each French soldier's pocket were worth thirty to forty thousand francs. They come in empty-handed and come back loaded with money. In the French military camp, there are piles of rare clocks, colorful silks and satins, and precious works of art worth 30 million francs. Although the British invaders arrived late, their pockets were filled with gold and silver treasures. What's even more disgusting is that they smashed the large porcelain and enamel bottles that couldn't be moved away.
After the British and French invading forces robbed the Old Summer Palace, in order to eliminate traces of the loot and cover up their crimes, British Minister Plenipotentiary Elgin, with the support of British Prime Minister Palmerston, ordered the Old Summer Palace to be burned down. There were two large-scale burnings. The first time was from October 7th to 9th, mainly burning the Old Summer Palace. The fire burned for three days and nights, turning this world-famous garden into a piece of scorched earth. This catastrophe was just as described and criticized by the famous French writer Hugo: One day, two robbers broke into the summer palace, one robbed and the other set fire to it. Victory turns out to be a robber.