When was the photo of Yuanmingyuan taken?

On February 24th, the Yuanmingyuan Management Office held a press conference on the old photos of Yuanmingyuan on the top floor of Beijing Zhengjue Temple. The 365 old photos of Zhang Zhengui released on the spot give us a chance to see the historical changes of Yuanmingyuan in the past hundred years.

An Youhua Public Table (1882)[ France] Photo by Xie Manlu

Dashuifa (1922)[ Sweden] Photographed by ]Xi· Long Ren.

Tang Haiyan (1887)[ England] filmed in julia child.

Lian Xi Yue Chu Shen Xiu Siyong Store (1882)[ France] Photo by Xie Manlu

Shunmutian (1882)[ France] Photo by Xie Manlu

Fish jumping (1882) [France] Photo by Xie Manlu

Kwan Ran Grand Duke Guiyue Bridge (1879) [Hongkong, China] Photo by Afong Lai.

Yuanmingyuan was burnt down by the British and French allied forces in 1860. Since then, Yuanmingyuan has gradually become a ruin and lost its former glory. /kloc-during the 0/60 years, Yuanmingyuan experienced the changes from a garden of ten thousand gardens to ruins, from royal gardens to villages where ordinary people lived, and then to the first batch of national archaeological sites parks. Before these changes, there were not many written records in Yuanmingyuan. However, in the 100 year after the death of Yuanmingyuan, many photographers photographed the site with the most advanced photographic equipment at that time, including China and Hongkong photographer Afong Lai, German photographer Olmo, Frenchman Xie Manlu and Swede Xi Long Ren. These early images have also become the historical testimony of the vicissitudes of Yuanmingyuan in the past century.

In the photos released this time, the Frenchman Xie Manlu took photos of the wooden buildings in Yuanmingyuan before they were completely destroyed around 1882, including Shunmutian in Yuanmingyuan, Beiyuan Villa, Yuyue Leap, Acropolis, Lianxi Concert Hall, Fang Hui Academy (broken bridge and broken snow stone bridge), Hongci Permanent, Kuixing Building and Palace Gate of Changchun Garden. These old photos clearly show the situation of these buildings before they were completely destroyed, breaking the way that the China buildings in Yuanmingyuan only stayed in documents or paintings in the past, and letting people see the splendid features of the royal gardens.