In the tenth year of Xianfeng in Qing Dynasty (1860), after the British and French allied forces captured Beijing, they occupied Yuanmingyuan on1October 6. China's defenders were outnumbered, and Wen Feng, the chief minister of Yuanmingyuan, committed suicide by throwing himself into Fuhai, and Chang Ai, who lived in the garden, was frightened to death. Two days after the British and French troops looted, they marched into the city. 1October 1 1 Japanese British troops sent1more than 200 cavalry and an infantry regiment to rob Yuanmingyuan again. James Bruce, the British plenipotentiary, took Parkes and others as an excuse and put the burning of Yuanmingyuan on the agenda and a prerequisite. 10 18, 3,500 British troops rushed into Yuanmingyuan and set it on fire. The fire did not 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, maids and craftsmen were buried in the fire in Anyou Palace. Become a rare atrocity in the history of world civilization.
Burning the Yuanmingyuan is a phrase that people are used to saying. In fact, the real concept of burning Yuanmingyuan is not only burning Yuanmingyuan, but burning the royal three mountains and five gardens in the west of Beijing. The scope of burning is much larger than that of Yuanmingyuan.
These three mountains and five gardens are: Wanshou Mountain, Yuquan Mountain and Xiangshan Mountain, Qingyi Garden, Yuanmingyuan Garden, Changchun Garden, Jingming Garden and Jingyi Garden.
Invaders burned Yuanmingyuan twice in history. The first time Yuanmingyuan was burned down was 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 looted and burned the world-famous Yuanmingyuan, and most of the temple buildings in the park were destroyed by fire. When the British and French allied forces burned Yuanmingyuan, it was intended to raze it to the ground. However, due to the large area of Yuanmingyuan Garden, 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 Cangzhouwu in Yuanmingyuan, Daguongmen and Zhengjue Temple in Qichun Garden, etc.
The second burning of Yuanmingyuan was 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 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 like there is some truth, but it is 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 country that is poor, backward and weak 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.
Loot Yuanmingyuan
1860 10. On 6 October, the British and French allied forces bypassed the northeast suburb of Beijing and went straight to Yuanmingyuan. At that time, the remnants of Sangrinqin and Ruilin resisted a little in the north of the city and fled. The French army went first, passing through Haidian in the afternoon,1On the evening of October 6, the invading army broke into the Grand Palace Gate of Yuanmingyuan. At this time, in the entrance and exit of Xianliang Gate, more than 20 skilled eunuchs of Yuanmingyuan fought with the enemy, "fighting bravely when they were killed", but in the end, because they were outnumbered, Ren Liang, the "eight-product leader" of Yuanmingyuan, and others died. At 7 pm, the French invaders captured the Yuanmingyuan. Wen Feng, Minister of Garden Management, died in Fuhai.
10 7, after the leader of the British and French invasion of China broke into Yuanmingyuan, he immediately "sent three members of the British and French committees to discuss and distribute the treasures in the garden." On the same day, Montaubon, commander of the French army, wrote to the French Foreign Minister: "I ordered the French members to pay attention to the most valuable items in art and archaeology first. The trip will be dedicated to His Majesty the Emperor (Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte) by you, which is extremely rare in France, and will be hidden in the French Museum. " Grant, the British commander, immediately "sent officers to collect things 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 things. Officers and soldiers rushed forward in groups to rob the treasures of gold and silver and cultural and artistic treasures in the park.
There are too many things to rob in Yuanmingyuan. According to a witness of the British army, the whole French camp was piled with many colorful clocks and watches, and around the soldiers' tents, silks and satins and embroidery were everywhere. A British second-class trooper named Hollis was nicknamed "China Zhan Mu" because he plundered and became rich in Yuanmingyuan and enjoyed his life.
It is never clear how many treasures the British and French invaders took away from Yuanmingyuan, because all the furnishings and accounts in the garden were robbed and destroyed. The following information may be used to get a glimpse of the leopard. According to the historical data of the Qing Dynasty, there were only 44/kloc-0 European clocks and watches on display and in stock in Yuanmingyuan at that time, and only one big clock survived the robbery. Afterwards, a part of the lost objects, namely 1 197, which were taken away by bandits and abandoned by the invading army, were seized, which was at best only one thousandth of the objects in the park. According to a communication in The Times at that time, "It is estimated that the total value of looted and destroyed property is over 6 million pounds". In fact, a large part of the objects robbed and destroyed by the British and French invaders are priceless. This heinous crime of destroying human culture is really outrageous!
According to the descriptions of the British and French officers, priests and journalists who witnessed the looting scene, officers and soldiers, British people and French people flocked to Yuanmingyuan from all directions in order to seize the treasure, and they were in a hurry to take whatever they wanted. They beat each other and even fought with each other in order to rob the treasure. Because there are too many treasures in the garden, they don't know what to take at the moment. Some move cloisonne porcelain bottles, some covet embroidered robes, some choose high-grade fur coats, and some get wall clocks inlaid with pearls and jade. Some carry big bags full of all kinds of treasures. Some put gold bars and gold leaves into the wide pockets of their coats; Some are wrapped in brocade and satin; Some hats are filled with rubies, sapphires, pearls and crystals; Some have jade collars around their necks. There is a mountain of high-grade silks and satins in one wing, which is said to be enough for half of Beijing residents, and all of them are carried away by soldiers in carts. -A British officer snatched a golden Buddha statue from a temple with 500 statues, which was worth1200. A French officer robbed property worth 600,000 francs. The treasure plundered by the son of Montaubon, commander-in-chief of the French army, was worth 300,000 francs and was filled with several carriages. A British second-class trooper named Hollis once stole two golden stupas (all three floors, one 7 feet high and the other 6.4 feet high) and a large number of other treasures from the garden, and found seven strong men to carry them back to the barracks for him. . In addition to looting, the invaders have ruined countless things. Several rooms were full of silks and satins, and the clothes were dragged out of the box and thrown all over the floor. People walked into the room and could almost cover their knees. Engineers with big axes smashed all the furniture and took off the gems on it. Some people break big mirrors, while others shoot at candlesticks for fun. Most French soldiers brandish wooden sticks and smash all the things they can't take away. On 10/9, when the French army temporarily withdrew from Yuanmingyuan, this beautiful garden had been destroyed in lupus.
Burning yuanmingyuan
Just as the Qing government bowed its knees to the invaders and promised to accept all the conditions of "negotiation and peace", when signing the contract on another day, the leaders of British aggression against China, Elgin and Grant, made the Qing government "shocked" in order to leave an impression of their aggression against China, and even brazenly ordered the burning of Yuanmingyuan under the pretext that the Qing government arrested the minister and treated prisoners of war badly. Erkin wanted to send a message by burning the Yuanmingyuan: It is the Emperor China and his minions who should be responsible for the atrocities such as arresting ministers and mistreating prisoners, not the people of China. A few days before the retaliation, Erkin ordered the following announcement to be posted all over Beijing, declaring the purpose of the British and French allied forces to burn the Yuanmingyuan: "No one, no matter how high his position, can escape responsibility and punishment after committing fraud and atrocities; Yuanmingyuan will be burned down on (1860 10) 18 as a punishment for the treachery of Emperor China; Only the Qing imperial government should be responsible for this, and people who have nothing to do with atrocities do not have to worry about being hurt. " (translated from the original English)
1October 18 and 19, three or four thousand British troops set fire everywhere in the park, and the fire did not go out for three days and nights, and smoke clouds enveloped Beijing for a long time. This unique garden masterpiece was burned together. Afterwards, according to the investigation of the Qing officials, only 20 or 30 temples, pavilions, temples, official doors, value rooms and other buildings survived in the vast Yuanming Three Gardens, but many doors and windows were uneven, and indoor furnishings and several cases were looted. Since then, some buildings of Qingyi Garden in Wanshou Mountain, Jingyi Garden in Xiangshan Mountain and Jingming Garden in Yuquan Mountain have also been burned.
According to relevant records, on 10 18, when the British invading army burned down Anyou Palace, because they came suddenly and the eunuch in charge locked the door of Anyou Palace, there were ***300 eunuchs, maids-in-waiting, craftsmen and so on, who were burned alive in Anyou Palace.
When Yuanmingyuan fell into a sea of fire, Erjin proudly declared: "This move will shock China and Europe, and its effect is far beyond the imagination of people thousands of miles away.". The main emissary of the fire regarded this behavior as a great achievement, while the upright people all over the world were angered by this barbaric crime. Hugo wrote in 186 1 year: "One day, two robbers broke into the Yuanmingyuan, one looted and the other set fire. It seems that after winning, you can start stealing ... Two winners, one full of pockets, which is visible, and the other full of boxes and baskets. They returned to Europe arm in arm and smiling. "The two robbers who will be punished by history, one is called France and the other is called English." This passage represents the voice of millions of upright people.
When Yuanmingyuan was still burning, Prince Yi Xin, who was ordered to stay in Beijing, promised all the conditions of the invaders. Soon after, the text of Tianjin Treaty was exchanged with Britain, France and Russia, and the Beijing Treaty was signed.
Decline process
When the British and French allied forces looted Yuanmingyuan crazily, countless bandits took part in the robbery. Take everything that can be taken away, and pull it with cars or animals that can't be taken away. If you can't take it away, you will destroy it at will! Those inhuman British and French allied forces chose the most precious things to rob, bandits plundered the remaining essence, Wang picked up the bits and pieces that were abandoned by the Committee, and even the eunuchs guarding the garden also took advantage of the fire to rob. Easy-to-get valuables were quickly cleaned up, and some people pinned their hopes on the fine treasures scattered and buried in the dust. They picked up brooms and dustpans and flew sand and dust in the middle of the garden. The eunuchs and soldiers guarding the garden called them "soil-sifting thieves", and sometimes there was a saying: "sifting soil, sifting soil, never suffering."
1900 Eight-Nation Alliance [the eight bandits were Britain, France, Prussia (Germany), Russia, the United States, Japan, Italy, Austria-Hungary (now Austria and Hungary)] invaded Beijing, and the gardens in the western suburbs were looted again. This time, the Qing government completely lost control of Yuanmingyuan, and the people who took advantage of the fire were no longer satisfied with robbing foreigners of the surplus wealth. They sawed off the scattered buildings, pillars and piles of wooden bridges in the garden after the fire robbery, and pulled them down with big ropes, and all the trees and trees in the garden were also felled. At that time, the timber in Qinghe town was piled up like a mountain, and the trade was busy, while there were many charcoal factories in the park, and all the branches and roots were burned into charcoal. In addition, some relics of Yuanmingyuan were placed in public places, such as the bronze unicorn at the gate of Changchun Garden, the Danbi stone at Anyou Palace, and the Shui Mu Minse Monument, which were moved to the Summer Palace from 19 10 to 1937. Anyou Palace Huabiao, Shiqilin, Xiyanglou Line Faqiao, Fanwei Shiyu, Meishi Monument, Yanhua Monument and Wenyuan Pavilion Monument were moved to the old libraries of yenching university and Beijing respectively. Precious Taihu stones such as Lanting Monument and "Qingliandou" were moved to Zhongshan Park in 19 15; The stone lion and its pedestal in the East Gate of Changchun Garden moved to Zhengyangmen and xinhua gate. The white marble and bricks at the site of Xiyanglou were also transported away by warlords and bureaucrats, or bought by various stone workshops and carved into other stones on the spot. 1928 The stone of Dashuifa site was demolished to build a memorial for the fallen soldiers in Suiyuan. During the Japanese occupation, some sites in the park were filled with lakes by Pingshan under the slogan of "rewarding agriculture" and changed into paddy fields.
In the early Republic of China, warlords, who had the same change of lanterns, all regarded Yuanmingyuan as an inexhaustible building material field. The archives of Puyi period left many helpless records: "Soldiers rode their cars every day 10 to haul Taihu Stone in the garden." In fact, the situation of dismantling and selling is far more serious than that recorded in the archives. Xu Shichang demolished the wood belonging to Mingchun Garden and Jingchun Garden in Yuanmingyuan, and Wang Huaiqing demolished the wall of Anyou Palace and the stone of the Western Building in the garden. Since then, everything that can be used as building materials in the ruins of Yuanmingyuan, from square bricks, roof tiles, wall bricks and stone strips on the ground, and underground wooden nails, stakes and copper pipes, has been collected and pulled off and on for more than 20 years!
At this point, the buildings, trees and masonry of Yuanmingyuan have all disappeared. At the end of Xuantong, local banners had built houses on the site of the palace in the park, facing the former royal garden. /kloc-during the Japanese occupation after 0/940, Beijing was short of food, so it was rewarded for land reclamation. Since then, farmers have successively entered the park to fill the lake in Pingshan and open fields to grow rice. Yuanmingyuan, a victory of lakes and mountains painstakingly managed by 150 years in the early Qing Dynasty, is beyond recognition.