The solidified history of Western-style buildings

The original old photo of the Western-style Building of the Old Summer Palace, taken in 1875, appeared in Beijing Huachen's spring photo shoot in 2008. This is the first time in China that an original photo of the Old Summer Palace has been discovered.

The old photo blog "The Eternity of the Frozen Historical Moment" published these rare old photos.

These three "interesting" photos of the Western-style building are all large-scale photos, printed from the glass wet plates of that year. They respectively show the "interesting" panorama, the main building and the North side building. "Xie Qiqi" is located in the westernmost part of the Western Tower Scenic Area of ??Yuanmingyuan. It is the earliest Western building built in the Western Tower Scenic Area and one of the three large fountain groups in the Western Tower. It consists of the main building, the front and rear fountains of the main building, and the water supply building to the north. "Xieqiqu" was named by Qianlong, which means "encouraging Western-style water spraying to be harmonious and interesting". It is the most intact building complex in the Western-style Building Scenic Area of ??the Old Summer Palace after it was burned down by the British and French forces in 1860. In 1900, the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded Beijing, and "Xieqiqu" "Xieqiqu" was destroyed, and in the following decades, it was successively robbed by Eight Banners soldiers, warlords and bandits. By the 1970s, the main building of "Xieqiqu" had been completely destroyed.

Since no photos of the Old Summer Palace before its destruction have been found, this group of photos is particularly valuable. The three photos were taken by British photographer Thomas Child (1841-1898). The quality of his photography is excellent in terms of composition, use of light, and albumen. In terms of photo printing level, it has reached a very high level under the conditions at that time. What is even more precious is that Child's photos usually have his own signature, indicating the time and place, and some photos have other people behind them. The seal has a handwritten number indicating the serial number of this photo taken in Beijing, which is unique among early photographers.