Burning The Yuanmingyuan
Published on Mar 17, 2016
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BURNING THE YUANMINGYUAN
The Old Summer Palace, known in Chinese as 圆明园 Yuánmíngyuán , and originally called the Imperial Gardens, was a complex of palaces and gardens in Beijing.
Initial construction of the Old Summer Palace began in 1707, during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor. It was intended as a small gift for the emperor's fourth son, the future Yongzheng Emperor, who would greatly expand the Imperial Gardens in 1725.
In 1860, during the Second Opium War, British and French expeditionary forces, having marched inland from the coast, reached Peking (Beijing).
Photo by Xiangdian
On September 29, two envoys, Henry Loch and Harry Parkes went ahead of the main force under a flag of truce to negotiate with the Prince I at Tungchow. After a day of talks, they and their small escort of British and Indian troopers were suddenly surrounded and taken prisoner. They were taken to the Board of Punishments in Beijing where they were confined and tortured. Parkes and Loch were returned after two weeks, with fourteen other survivors. Twenty British, French and Indian captives died.
Photo by Wessex Archaeology
On the night of October 6, French units diverted from the main attack force towards the Old Summer Palace. The palace was then occupied only by a few eunuchs, the Xianfeng Emperor having fled. Although the French commander Montauban assured the British commander Grant that "nothing had been touched", there was extensive looting by both French and British.
Photo by Oldtasty
British and French looters preferred porcelain while neglecting bronze vessels prized locally for cooking and burial in tombs. Many such treasures dated back to the Shang, Zhou and Han dynasties and were up to 3,600 years old. A specific exception was the looting of the Haiyantang Zodiac fountain with its twelve bronze animal heads.
Photo by Mr. Huang / photographer
On October 18, the British High Commissioner to China Lord Elgin retaliated to the torture and executions by ordering the destruction of the palace. Destroying the Old Summer Palace was also thought to be a way of discouraging the Chinese Empire from using kidnapping as a bargaining tool. It took 3,500 British troops to set the entire place ablaze, taking a total of three days to burn. Only 13 royal buildings survived intact, most of them in the remote areas or by the lakeside. The palace was again sacked and completely destroyed in 1900 during the Eight-Nation Alliance invasion
Photo by Plateroy
