The burning of the Yuanmingyuan took place from October 18, 1860 to October 21, 1860.

On October 18, 1860, Erskine, the head of the British army, with the support of British Prime Minister Palmerston, ordered the burning of the Yuanmingyuan. Yuanmingyuan, China's large royal garden of the Qing Dynasty, is located at No. 28, West Qinghua Road, Haidian District, Beijing, and covers an area of more than 350 hectares.

Of which the water area is about 140 hectares, consisting of Yuanmingyuan, Qichunyuan and Changchunyuan, while Yuanmingyuan is the largest, so collectively known as Yuanmingyuan (also known as Yuanming Three Gardens). Yuanmingyuan not only brought together a number of famous gardens in Jiangnan, but also transplanted the Western garden architecture, set the ancient and modern Chinese and foreign gardening art of the great achievements. It is one of the treasures of human culture and the largest museum in the world at that time.

Value significance

The Yuanmingyuan treasures countless priceless treasures of all kinds of styles, extremely rare historical books and a wealth of valuable historical relics, such as paintings and calligraphy of the past dynasties, gold and silver jewelry, Song and Yuan porcelains, etc., can be called one of the treasures of human culture is one of the world's largest museum.

The Yuanmingyuan architectural site is the core and soul of the garden art. Yuanmingyuan architectural site in the traditional architectural combination of all-encompassing, there are pavilions, platforms, buildings, pavilions, Xuan, salutes, corridors, etc.; in the monolithic architecture, but also the use of large woodwork, small woodwork, masonry, soil, decorative, colorful paintings, tiles, and other architectural techniques.

In the construction process, combined with the essence of ancient Chinese traditional architecture, resulting in the pinnacle of the history of Chinese garden architecture. The history of the Yuanmingyuan's architectural site is also recorded in the "Rules and Regulations of the Inner Workers of the Yuanmingyuan" and the "Stylized Lei Diagram File", which provide scientific information for the study of China's traditional architectural forms and construction techniques.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia - Yuanmingyuan