After the British and French allied forces captured Beijing in the tenth year of Xianfeng in Qing Dynasty (1860), they occupied Yuanmingyuan on June 6, 10. China's defenders were outnumbered, and Wenfeng, the chief minister of Yuanmingyuan, committed suicide by throwing himself into Fuhai. Chang Ai, who lived in the garden, was scared to death. Two days after the British and French allied forces looted, they marched into the city. On June 65438+1October1day, the British army sent 1200 cavalry and an infantry regiment to rob Yuanmingyuan again. James Bruce, the British plenipotentiary, took Parkes and others as an excuse to put the burning of Yuanmingyuan on the agenda as a prerequisite. 10 year 10 month 18 day, 3500 British troops rushed into Yuanmingyuan and set fire to it. The fire didn't go out for three days, and the Yuanmingyuan and its nearby Qingyi Garden, Jingming Garden, Jingyi Garden, Changchun Garden and Haidian Town were all burned into ruins. Nearly 300 eunuchs, ladies-in-waiting and craftsmen were buried in the fire of Anyou Palace. Become a rare atrocity in the history of world civilization.

Burning Yuanmingyuan is a common saying. In fact, the real concept of burning Yuanmingyuan is not just burning Yuanmingyuan, but burning the royal three mountains and five gardens in the west of Beijing. The burning area is much larger than that of Yuanmingyuan.

These three mountains and five gardens are: Wanshou Mountain, Yuquan Mountain, Xiangshan Mountain, Qingyi Garden, Yuanmingyuan Garden, Changchun Garden, Jingming Garden and Jingyi Garden.

Invaders burned Yuanmingyuan twice in history. The Yuanmingyuan was burned down for the first time in the tenth year of Xianfeng in Qing Dynasty (1860), and the British and French allied forces invaded Beijing. The British and French allied forces burned and looted everywhere, savagely plundered and burned the world-famous Yuanmingyuan, and most of the temple buildings in the park were destroyed by fire. The British and French allied forces burned the Yuanmingyuan, aiming to raze it to the ground. However, due to the large area of Yuanmingyuan, scattered scenic spots and vast waters, some remote places and scenic spots in the water survived. According to the winter survey in the 12th year of Tongzhi (1873), there are still 13 buildings in the park. For example, Pengdao Yaotai and Cangzhou Wu in Yuanmingyuan, Dagongmen and Zhengjue Temple in Qichun Garden, etc.

The Yuanmingyuan was burned down for the second time in the 26th year of Guangxu reign of Qing Dynasty (1900). Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing and set fire to Yuanmingyuan again, so that the only remaining 13 royal palace buildings here were looted and burned again.

In literary works, it seems that the sin of burning Yuanmingyuan is attributed to the incompetence of Empress Dowager Cixi. It sounds reasonable, but it's not exact. Countless facts in history show that a poor, backward and weak country and nation can only be oppressed, exploited, humiliated and plundered. The history of burning Yuanmingyuan once again proves that a poor, backward and weak country will be beaten.

Now, Yuanmingyuan has been turned into a ruins park, and protective maintenance is being carried out on the ruins, and the mountain water system, garden vegetation, bridges and culverts are restored, and some ancient buildings will also be rebuilt.