On October 18, 1860, the British and French forces began to burn the world-famous Qing Dynasty royal garden-Old Summer Palace.

In the autumn breeze of October, we can’t help but miss the beauty of the classical garden of the Old Summer Palace, which was the model of garden art in the western suburbs in the past. As the British military chaplain said at that time: "There must be a poet, painter, art connoisseur, Chinese scholar and other geniuses who can write about the garden landscape, describe it to the fullest, and give you a slight idea..." The tragic ruins left after the disaster welcomed countless people to pay their respects in the 20th century, triggering people's imagination.

-The French writer Hugo praised the garden as a miracle of oriental art

The western suburbs of Beijing are picturesque, with not only green mountains stretching for hundreds of miles, but also flowing springs in the mountains. The plains in the southeast merge into the famous Kunming Lake and other rivers, lakes and swamps. From the Liao and Jin Dynasties to the Ming Dynasty, rulers who established their capitals in Beijing successively built many garden palaces here. The Manchu royal family came to dominate the Central Plains from the still remote Northeast China. After settling in Beijing, they became obsessed with the beauty of the south of the Yangtze River. In addition, they learned about some luxurious European buildings from foreign missionaries (unfortunately they were not interested in its technology and culture), so they decided to Integrate the known beauty of the world into the royal Old Summer Palace.

The Old Summer Palace was built in 1709 until it was burned down in 1860. It lasted 151 years. Several generations of Qing emperors spent countless financial and material resources to build this unprecedented royal garden. The garden consists of three gardens: Old Summer Palace, Wanchun Garden and Changchun Garden, so it is also called the "Three Old Summer Palaces". The total area of ??the three gardens is 5,200 acres, which is 850 acres larger than the Summer Palace, the largest existing royal garden. The garden has a circumference of more than 10 kilometers and a construction area of ??160,000 square meters, which is equivalent to the construction area of ??the Imperial Palace in Beijing. There are more than 100 scenic spots in the three gardens, and countless pavilions, pavilions, pavilions and pavilions are all surrounded by mountains and rivers.

The Old Summer Palace has inherited the excellent gardening art of China's past dynasties, brought together famous gardens and scenic spots across the country, and boldly absorbed Western architectural forms, resulting in a group of "Western-style buildings" that combine Chinese and Western styles. Chinese gardens can be said to be a mixture of landscape and architectural styles. They are different from Western gardens, which are mainly buildings, and Japanese gardens, which are mainly landscapes. The Old Summer Palace combines the three gardening styles of China, Japan and Western Europe. Its reputation has long spread to the West. It is as famous as the Palace of Versailles in France and is known as the "Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens". The park also collects many unique secret books, famous calligraphy and paintings, Ding and Yi ritual vessels, gold and pearl treasures, and copper and porcelain antiques. It is one of the treasures of human culture. The famous French writer Hugo once described it in a letter to Captain Butler: "In a corner of the world, there is a world miracle. This miracle is called the Old Summer Palace. Art has two sources, one is ideal, and ideal The first is fantasy, which produces Eastern art. The Old Summer Palace's status in fantasy art is like the Parthenon's status in ideal art.

-The British and French forces robbed the Qing emperor. Later, the whole garden was burned down