Destroyed places of interest

Old Summer Palace

Old Summer Palace was brutally looted and burned by the British and French forces in October 1860, the tenth year of Xianfeng year. It became a page of humiliation in the modern history of our country.

Due to seclusion, by the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the entire country's science and technology had lagged far behind the West, and class conflicts had become increasingly acute. In 1840 (the 20th year of Daoguang's reign), Western colonialists provoked a war of aggression against China—— The First Opium War; then the "Taiping Rebellion" movement broke out in China against the rule of the Qing Dynasty.

In October 1856, Britain and France jointly launched the Second Opium War. Its purpose is to seize greater colonial benefits. They first provoked war twice in Guangzhou, but failed to achieve their expectations. In order to put direct pressure on the Qing government, they decided to send troops to the capital. The invading army approached Tianjin in May 1858, and the Qing government was forced to sign the "Tianjin Treaty" with Britain, France, Russia and the United States, which was humiliating and humiliating to the country.

In July 1860 (the tenth year of Xianfeng), the British and French invader fleets once again broke into the entrance of Dagu. Under the guise of exchanging British and French envoys for Beijing, they advanced with force and induced "peace". . And they repeatedly created extraneous problems, with the purpose of Chen Bing the capital and forcing the Qing court to submit. The corrupt and incompetent Qing government reluctantly begged for peace and was hesitant to decide on a war-defense strategy. The invading army marched straight into Tongzhou. On September 21, the Qing army lost the decisive battle at Baliqiao in Tongzhou. The next morning, Emperor Xianfeng fled in a hurry from the Old Summer Palace to the Chengde Summer Resort. It is called "Northern Patrol", but in fact it puts the ancestors and the country at risk of escaping with their own lives. This resulted in a crisis situation in which the capital had no owner, all officials were scattered, the soldiers were unmotivated, and the people were terrified.

·Looting the Old Summer Palace

On October 6, 1860, the British and French allied forces bypassed the northeastern suburbs of Beijing and attacked the Old Summer Palace. At that time, the remnants of Seng Gelinqin and Ruilin were stationed in the north of the city. Resistance means fleeing. The French army went ahead and passed through Haidian in the afternoon of the same day. In the evening, they broke into the Grand Palace Gate of the Old Summer Palace. At this time, there were more than twenty Jiyong eunuchs from the Yuanmingyuan engaging in battle with the enemy inside the Xianliang Gate. "Don't be afraid of danger and move forward with all your strength", but in the end they were outnumbered. Ren Liang, the "eighth leader" of Yuanmingyuan's martial arts and bravery, and others died in the line of duty. At 7 p.m., the French invading army captured the Old Summer Palace. Wen Feng, the minister in charge of the garden, threw himself into Fuhai and died.

On October 7, after the British and French invaders broke into the Old Summer Palace, they immediately "sent three British and French committee members to discuss the distribution of the treasures in the garden." The French commander Monttopin wrote to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs that day. : "The French commissioners are ordered to take note of the items that are most valuable in art and archeology first. I will dedicate items that are extremely rare in France to His Majesty the Emperor (Napoleon III) and hide them in the French Museum." British Commander Grant immediately "sent officers to try their best to collect objects that should belong to the British." The day after the French and British invaders entered the park, they could no longer resist the temptation of the objects. Officers and soldiers rushed forward in groups. Robbery the gold and silver treasures and cultural and artistic treasures in the garden.

According to the descriptions of the British and French officers, priests, and reporters who witnessed the looting scene: Officers and soldiers, British and French, poured into the Old Summer Palace from all directions in order to seize treasures, taking whatever they wanted. I was in a hurry to seize it, and there were all kinds of things. In order to rob the treasure, they beat each other and even had armed fights. Because there were so many treasures in the garden, they didn't know what to take. Some moved the cloisonné porcelain vase, some were greedy for embroidery, some chose high-end fur coats, and some picked up the wall clock inlaid with pearls and jade. Some carry large bags filled with all kinds of treasures. Some put gold bars and gold leaves into the wide pockets of their coats; some had brocades and satins wrapped around their bodies; some hats were filled with rubies, pearls and crystal stones; some had emerald necklaces hanging around their necks. There was a mountain of high-end silk and satin in one wing, which was said to be enough for half of the residents of Beijing. All was transported away by soldiers on carts. A British officer looted a golden Buddha statue worth ￡1,200 from a temple with 500 statues. A French officer robbed property worth 600,000 francs. The treasure plundered by the son of the French commander-in-chief Montauban was worth 300,000 francs and filled several carriages. A second-class commander of the British army named Hellis stole two golden pagodas (both three-story, one 7 feet high and the other 6.4 feet high) and a large number of other treasures from the park in one go. A strong man carried him back to the military camp. This man got rich by plundering the Yuanmingyuan and enjoyed his life, so he was nicknamed "China James". In addition to looting, the invaders also destroyed countless things. Several houses were filled with silk and satin clothing. Clothes had been pulled out of boxes and thrown on the floor. When people walked into the house, they could barely cover their knees. The engineers brought big axes, smashed all the furniture, and took off the gems on it. Some people amused themselves by breaking large mirrors, while others shot viciously at the menorah. Most of the French soldiers used wooden sticks in their hands to smash everything they could not take away. When the French troops temporarily evacuated the Old Summer Palace on October 9, this beautiful garden had been completely destroyed.

·Burning the Old Summer Palace

Just when the Qing government bowed its knees to the invaders and agreed to accept all the "peace" conditions and set a date to sign the contract, Elgin and Grant, the leaders of the British invasion of China, wanted to His invasion of China left a "remarkably harsh" impression, and he even ordered the burning of the Old Summer Palace on the pretext that his captured personnel had been mistreated. On October 18th and 19th, three to four thousand British troops set fires everywhere in the country, and the fires did not go out for three days and nights. This unique garden masterpiece and a rare art treasure at home and abroad was burned to the ground.

Afterwards, according to investigations by Qing Dynasty officials, only twenty or thirty palaces, pavilions, temples, official gates, duty rooms and other buildings survived in the huge Three Gardens of Yuanming Dynasty. However, many of the doors and windows were uneven, and the indoor furnishings and cases were all missing. All were robbed. Since then, some buildings in Qingyi Garden of Wanshou Mountain, Jingyi Garden of Xiangshan Mountain and Jingming Garden of Yuquan Mountain have also been burned down.

According to relevant records, when the British invaders burned down the Anyou Palace on October 18, because they arrived suddenly, the eunuch in charge locked the door of the Anyou Palace. Therefore, there were eunuchs, maids, and The craftsmen and other 300 people were burned alive in Anyou Palace.

When the Old Summer Palace was in flames, Elgin proudly declared: "This move will shock China and Europe, and its effect is far beyond what people thousands of miles away can imagine." The perpetrators of the arson regarded this act as a great achievement, but decent people around the world were outraged by this barbaric crime. Hugo wrote in 1861: "One day, two robbers walked into the Old Summer Palace. One robbed something and the other set fire to it. It was as if victory in the war meant they could engage in robbery... In the face of history, these two robbers , one is called France and the other is called England." This passage represents the voice of millions of upright people.

While the Old Summer Palace was still burning, Prince Gong Yi, who was ordered to stay in Beijing, promised all the conditions of the invaders. Soon after, the texts of the "Tianjin Treaty" were exchanged with Britain, France, and Russia, and the "Beijing Treaty" was signed. In this way, the imperialist powers occupied China's Kowloon Peninsula and large tracts of territory in the north, and extorted a huge military indemnity of 16 million taels of silver.

·The historical reasons for the "burning of the Old Summer Palace"

On the one hand, people think that the blood and fire nature of imperialism's external expansion determines the barbaric behavior wherever they go.

On the other hand, it is caused by "kowtow diplomacy". At that time, Britain and France requested negotiations with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, "embassy in Beijing, travel inland, and trade on the Yangtze River." In other words, they wanted to establish diplomatic relations with you and establish embassies and consulates in each other's country. Foreigners can travel to mainland China and do business with China.

At that time, Britain and France requested negotiations with China on the above three points. According to current understanding, various disputes between China and Britain are very normal in the relations between countries and should be resolved through bilateral consultation and negotiation. be solved.

However, the Chinese emperor believed that China had been the center of the world since ancient times. The emperor was the master of the world, and all countries were vassals of China. Everyone who saw the emperor must kowtow to show submission. The traditional diplomatic theme of the Qing Dynasty was to let the barbarians come to kowtow, and thus established a complete diplomatic model that Fairbank called the "tribute system." So, the trouble is that Yi Di refuses to kowtow, and they have to stay in Beijing permanently. The minister's stationing in Beijing would inevitably lead to an audience with the emperor, and failure to kneel and worship the emperor would go against the concept of "unification of the world." At that time, the British and French allied forces requested negotiations with the Qing Dynasty, and if they wanted to negotiate, they would have to meet the emperor; meeting the emperor, according to traditional foreign policy Envoys were required to kneel when meeting the emperor, that is, to kowtow or not to kowtow.

The culprit behind the burning of the Old Summer Palace was the British Earl of Elgin (James Bruce, the 8th Earl of Elgin). Elgin ordered the burning of the Old Summer Palace in retaliation for the Qing government's arrest of ministers and mistreatment of prisoners of war. In September 1860, British Minister Harry Parkes and Elgin's personal secretary Henry Loch went to Tongxian County to negotiate with the Qing government under the white flag of armistice. They were arrested by Zaiyuan and Senggelinqin. Together with a group of British and French soldiers who had been captured alive in an ambush, they were taken to Beijing and imprisoned for more than a month. The Manchu emperor and the government had always regarded Parkes as the supreme commander of the British and French forces. According to the traditional strategy of "capture the thief first, capture the king", they planned to trap Parkes before the Tongzhou negotiations, hoping that after Parkes was captured, The British and French forces were without a leader and would inevitably be in chaos. They would then seize the opportunity to launch a massive attack and secure victory. During their imprisonment, these people were tortured and humiliated in various ways. Of the 39 prisoners, 20 died in custody, including London Times reporter Thomas Bowlby.

After Elgin learned of the atrocities committed by the Qing government, he decided to take revenge. Elgin prepared to burn down the Forbidden City, but after several days of deliberation, he chose the Old Summer Palace as the target of his revenge. Elgin's decision to burn down the Old Summer Palace instead of the Forbidden City had a deeper meaning. Elgin believed that the Forbidden City was the seat of the Chinese government (at that time, Britain and France were negotiating the Treaty of Beijing with the Qing government); and the Old Summer Palace was a royal garden, privately owned by the Chinese emperor. Elgin wanted to send a message by burning the Old Summer Palace: it was the Chinese emperor and his lackeys, not the Chinese people, who were responsible for atrocities such as arresting ministers and mistreating prisoners. A few days before the retaliation, Elgin ordered the following announcement to be posted throughout Beijing, declaring the purpose of the British and French forces to burn the Old Summer Palace: "No one - no matter how high his status - commits fraud and atrocities, can escape responsibility and responsibility. Punishment; the Old Summer Palace will be burned down on the 18th (October 1860) as punishment for the Chinese emperor's betrayal; only the Qing imperial government should be responsible for this, and people who have nothing to do with the atrocities need not worry about being harmed." (Translated from English)< /p>

The detention and torture of British and French diplomats not only violated Western international law in the eyes of Lord Elgin, but also violated China's code of conduct since ancient times: "When two countries engage in war, they will not kill envoys."

The damage caused by the burning of the Old Summer Palace was not only the crime of the British and French forces, but also the historical reason caused by the pedantry and incompetence of the Manchu emperor and government.

·After the disaster

After the destruction of the Old Summer Palace, it remained a forbidden royal garden. During the Tongzhi period, under the instruction of the Empress Dowager Cixi, an attempt was made to rebuild the temple. At that time, the planned construction scope included more than 20 sites and more than 3,000 temples, mainly concentrated in the front area, Houhu area, west and north areas of the Old Summer Palace, as well as the Wanchun Garden Palace Gate area, Fuchuntangkou Qingxia Hall, etc. . However, less than 10 months after the construction started, it was forced to suspend repairs due to depletion of financial resources. After that, although Empress Dowager Cixi built the Summer Palace, she did not completely give up on restoring the Old Summer Palace. Until the 22nd to 24th year of Guangxu, she also repaired the Shuanghezhai, Ke Nongxuan and other scenic spots in the Old Summer Palace. In 1900 (the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu), the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded Beijing. Empress Dowager Cixi took Emperor Guangxu and fled to Xi'an. The order in the capital was in chaos. Eight Banners soldiers and bandits took advantage of the situation and looted the remaining nearly 100 temples in the park that had been basically restored. The buildings were all demolished and looted, resulting in the complete destruction of the buildings and ancient and valuable trees in the Old Summer Palace.

Since then, the relics of the Old Summer Palace have been robbed by bureaucrats, warlords, and profiteers for a long time, and even systematically destroyed by government authorities. The dignitaries of the Beiyang government, including some who were responsible for the protection of the Yuanmingyuan ruins, relied on their power to transport large quantities of stone sculptures, Taihu stones, etc. from the garden to build their gardens and residences. For example, Wang Huaiqing, commander-in-chief of the Gyeonggi garrison, Cao Kun, the patrol envoy (later bribed to be elected as the president of the Republic of China), Nie Xianfan, commander of the infantry, Che Qingyun, commander of the gendarmerie of the capital, and Wang Lanheng, secretary-general of the government, all had such misdeeds, only Jing Zhaoyi (who was quite Liu Menggeng, later mayor of Peiping City, forcibly removed 623 carts of Taihu stones from Changchun Garden and 104 carts of Yunping stones from Qichun Garden within 25 days in the autumn of 1922. At that time, the 13th and 16th Army Divisions, the 11th National Army Division, the 53rd Army of the Northeast Army, and the 29th Army of Song Zheyuan were garrisoned in the Xiyuan area. The walls of the Old Summer Palace were forcibly demolished, and the bricks and stones were sold privately or used to build the Xiyuan playground. A large number of stone pieces were also removed from the Summer Palace, Zhongshan Park, Yanjing University, Peking Library and other places. In the early 1930s, when the stone ballast highway from Haidian to Yuquan Mountain was being renovated from the Gaoliang Bridge, with the approval of the Peking City Special Government, all the tiger-skin stone walls to the south (4,800 meters) and east of the Old Summer Palace were demolished and smashed into stone ballast for use. paving. Prior to this, the Great Wall bricks, tiger skin stones, cloud flake stones, and even the remaining marble pillars of the Western-style buildings in the garden were publicly sold at wholesale prices for many times. In this way, the Old Summer Palace was reduced to ruins.

The destruction of the Old Summer Palace, a famous garden of a generation, is not only a witness to the barbaric destruction of human culture by Western invaders, but also proof that ancient civilizations will be beaten if they fall behind.