Mainly two countries: Britain and France.

After the British and French forces captured Beijing in the 10th year of Xianfeng (1860), they occupied the Old Summer Palace.

Elgin, the leader of the British army, with the support of British Prime Minister Palmerston, ordered the burning of the Old Summer Palace. 3,500 British troops rushed into the Old Summer Palace and set it on fire. The fire lasted for three days. The Old Summer Palace and the nearby Qingyi Garden, Jingming Garden, Jingyi Garden, Changchun Garden and Haidian Town were all burned into ruins. This world The famous garden was reduced to ruins.

A rough estimate of the number of plundered cultural relics in the Old Summer Palace is about 1.5 million, ranging from bronze ritual vessels from China’s pre-Qin period to famous calligraphy and paintings of the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties and various rare objects. Rare treasure.

Extended information:

The Old Summer Palace is located in Haidian District, the western suburbs of Beijing, closely adjacent to the Summer Palace.

Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty gave the garden to his fourth son Yinzhen (later Emperor Yongzheng) and named it Old Summer Palace.

It was built in the 46th year of Kangxi (1709) and consists of three gardens: Old Summer Palace, Changchun Garden and Qichun Garden.

After more than 150 years of management by the five emperors Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang and Xianfeng, they concentrated a large amount of material resources, employed countless skilled craftsmen, and devoted the blood and sweat of millions of working people to build it carefully. It has become a magnificent palace with beautiful scenery.

The Old Summer Palace is large in scale, has numerous cultural relics in its collection, and combines Chinese and Western architectural styles, reaching the pinnacle of ancient Chinese garden art.

In order to further open up the Chinese market, expand their aggressive interests in China, and take advantage of the Taiping Rebellion in China, Britain and France joined forces to attack the Qing government. The French allied forces broke into the Old Summer Palace, looted the jewelry, and burned it.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia - Burning of the Old Summer Palace