When was the Summer Palace burned?

The Summer Palace was burned by the British and French allied forces in the Second Opium War. On September 18th, 186, the British and French invaders captured Tongzhou. On the 21st, the Qing army and the British-French allied forces launched a fierce battle at Baliqiao, and the commander-in-chief Sengqin and others took the lead in escaping, and the Qing army was wiped out. On September 22nd, Emperor Xianfeng and others left Beijing to flee to Jehol Summer Resort with the Queen and Yi Guifei in the name of Beishou.

On October 13th, the allied forces invaded Beijing from Andingmen. The allied forces found that the Qing army abused many people in the British and French diplomatic missions to death, so they decided to retaliate against China's barbaric behavior and teach the Qing royal family not to despise Britain and France in the future.

On October 18th, the British and French allied forces occupied Beijing, looted and burned the Yuanmingyuan. The British and French allied forces looted and burned the suburbs of Beijing for nearly 5 days, and the royal gardens in the suburbs of Beijing, such as Yuanmingyuan, Qingyi Garden, Jingming Garden (Yuquan Mountain), Jingyi Garden (Xiangshan) and Changchun Garden, were all set on fire. The Qing court sent Yi Xin as the plenipotentiary minister to negotiate peace and sign the Beijing Treaty between China and Britain and between China and France.

Allied forces looted and burned Yuanmingyuan and Jingyi Garden. The Yuanmingyuan fire lasted for three days and nights, and more than 3 eunuchs and maids were buried in the fire. French writer victor hugo once strongly condemned this, calling it "the victory of two robbers".

Extended information

In the 26th year of Guangxu reign (19), the Summer Palace was destroyed by the "Eight-Nation Alliance" and its treasures were looted. After Beijing was occupied, Eight-Nation Alliance's commander-in-chief and German marshal Vadexi chartered soldiers publicly robbed for three days, and then the armies of various countries robbed for many days. China's precious cultural relics suffered an unprecedented catastrophe.

treasures treasured for many years in the imperial palace and the Summer Palace were looted. General aleko Xie Yefu, the supreme commander of the Russian army, and others "ransacked" dozens of treasures refined from gold and precious stones in Cixi's bedroom. After the British and French soldiers robbed all kinds of treasures, they took the big things, packed them in coats and bags, and shipped them back to the station.

In Songzhu Temple alone, more than 3, gold-plated bronze buddhas, 1,4 splendid products and 4,3 bronzes were lost. Even the gold plating on the copper cylinder in front of the hall of supreme harmony was scraped off by the bayonet of the invading army, and it has been scratched so far. Alphonse Favier, a French Catholic bishop, robbed an official's house of property worth 1 million taels of silver, and Freire, commander-in-chief of the French invading army, robbed 4 boxes of precious property alone.

The French army robbed Li Wangfu of 2 million taels of silver. Shops in Dongsi area were looted, and all the famous "Four Great Heng" gold numbers were robbed. To the east of Di 'anmen and to the north of Dong 'anmen, 78% of the houses were burned, while to the north of Qianmen and to the south of Dongsi, almost all of them were destroyed.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Summer Palace