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The Old Summer Palace, also known as Yuanmingyuan () or Yuanmingyuan Park, originally called the Imperial Gardens (), and sometimes called the Winter Palace, was a complex of palaces and gardens in present-day
Haidian District Haidian District () is a district of the municipality of Beijing. It is mostly situated in northwestern Beijing, but also to a lesser extent in the west, where it has borders with Xicheng District and Fengtai District. It is 431 square km in ar ...
,
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
. It is northwest of the walls of the former Imperial City section of Beijing. Widely perceived as the pinnacle work of Chinese imperial garden and palace design, the Old Summer Palace was known for its extensive collection of gardens, its building architecture and numerous art and historical treasures. Constructed throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries, the Old Summer Palace was the main imperial residence of
Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 ...
of the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
and his successors, and where they handled state affairs; the
Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is a palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples including the Zhongshan Park, the sacrifi ...
was used for formal ceremonies. It was reputed as the "Garden of Gardens" () in its heyday. During the
Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire#Britain's imperial ...
, French and British troops captured the palace on 6 October 1860, looting and destroying the imperial collections over the next few days. As news emerged that an Anglo-French delegation had been imprisoned and tortured by the Qing government, with 19 delegation members being killed, the British High Commissioner to China,
James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, (20 July 181120 November 1863) was a British colonial administrator and diplomat. He served as Governor of Jamaica (1842–1846), Governor General of the Province of Canada (1847–1 ...
, retaliated by ordering the complete destruction of the palace on 18 October, which was then carried out by troops under his command. The palace was so large – covering more than – that it took 4,000 men three days to destroy it. Many exquisite artworks – sculptures,
porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...
,
jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group ...
, silk robes, elaborate textiles, gold objects and more – were looted and are now located in 47 museums around the world, according to
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
.


Overview

The Imperial Gardens at the Old Summer Palace were made up of three gardens: #Garden of Perfect Brightness () #Garden of Eternal Spring () #Garden of Elegant Spring () Together, they covered an area of , almost five times the size of the Forbidden City grounds and eight times the size of the
Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...
. Hundreds of structures, such as halls, pavilions, temples, galleries, gardens, lakes and bridges, stood on the grounds. In addition, hundreds of examples of Chinese artwork and antiquities were stored in the halls, along with unique copies of literary works and compilations. Several famous landscapes of southern China had been reproduced in the Imperial Gardens.


Location

The palace was built on a site abundant in fresh water, near the
Jade Spring Hill Jade Spring Hill () is located to the west of the Summer Palace in Beijing, China. It was also formerly known as Jingming Palace (景明宫, "Jǐngmíng gōng"). It contains an imperial garden, the Jingming Garden and is named after the Jade Spr ...
. The region was renowned for its beautiful landscape. Country homes were built here beginning in the 13th century, during the rule of the
Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fif ...
, then in the 16th-century Li Wei of the
Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
built the ''Qinghua Yuan'' estate at the site.


Western mansions

The most visible architectural remains of the Old Summer Palace can be found in the Western mansions (Xiyang Lou) section of 18th-century European-style palaces, fountains and formal gardens. These structures, built partly of stone but mainly with a Chinese infrastructure of timber columns, coloured tiles and brick walls, were planned and designed by the
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
Giuseppe Castiglione with
Michel Benoist Michel Benoist (, 8 October 1715 in Dijon, France – 23 October 1774 in Beijing, China) was a Jesuit scientist who served for thirty years in the court of the Qianlong Emperor (1735 - 1796) during the Qing Dynasty, known for his architectur ...
responsible for the fountains and waterwork.
Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 ...
became interested in the architectural project after seeing an engraving of a European fountain, and employed Castiglione and Benoist to carry out the work to satisfy his taste for exotic buildings and objects. Western-style palaces, pavilion, aviaries, a maze, fountains, basins, and waterworks as well as perspective paintings organized as an outdoor theatre stage were constructed. A striking clock fountain was placed in front of the largest palace, the Haiyan Tang. The fountain had twelve animals of the
Chinese zodiac The Chinese zodiac is a traditional classification scheme based on the lunar calendar that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating twelve-year cycle. Originating from China, the zodiac and its variations remain ...
that spouted water in turn every 2 hours, but all spouting water in concert at noon. These European-style buildings however only occupied an area along the back of the Garden of Eternal Spring that was small compared to the overall area of the gardens. More than 95% of the Imperial Gardens were made up of Chinese-style buildings. There were also a few buildings in Tibetan and Mongol styles, reflecting the diversity of the Qing Empire.


History

Initial construction of the Old Summer Palace began in 1707 during the reign of the
Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to ...
. It was intended as a gift for the emperor's fourth son, Prince Yong (the future
Yongzheng Emperor The Yongzheng Emperor (13 December 1678 – 8 October 1735), also known by his temple name Emperor Shizong of Qing, born Yinzhen, was the fourth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the third Qing emperor to rule over China proper. He reigned from ...
), who would greatly expand the Imperial Gardens in 1725. The Yongzheng Emperor also introduced the waterworks of the gardens, creating lakes, streams and ponds to complement the rolling hills and grounds, and named 28 scenic spots within the garden. The Yongzheng Emperor also constructed a number of "living tableaux" he and his family could observe and interact with. One such scene was called "Crops as Plentiful as Fields" which involved court eunuchs pretending to be rural farmers on an island. Another was called the "Courtyard of Universal Happiness" which was a mock village where the imperial family could interact with shopkeepers, again eunuchs in disguise. During the
Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 ...
's reign, the second expansion was well underway and the number of scenic spots increased to 50 (the emperor personally directed the construction process). The splendors of the palace and the grounds were depicted in the '' Forty Scenes of the Yuanmingyuan'', an album produced in 1744 by the Qianlong Emperor's court painters. The construction of the European-style palaces was initiated in 1747. The last European appearance in the Old Summer Palace in the context of traditional Chinese imperial foreign relations was a
diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...
in 1795 representing the interests of the Dutch and
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
. The Titsingh delegation included
Isaac Titsingh Isaac Titsingh FRS ( January 1745 – 2 February 1812) was a Dutch diplomat, historian, Japanologist, and merchant.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Isaak Titsingh" in . During a long career in East Asia, Titsingh was a senior official of the ...
, the Dutch-American Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest, and the Frenchman Chrétien-Louis-Joseph de Guignes. Both published complementary accounts of the mission. Titsingh died before he could publish his version of the events.


Destruction

In 1860, during the
Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire#Britain's imperial ...
, a combined Anglo-French expeditionary forces, having marched inland from the coast at Tianjin (Tientsin), arrived in Beijing (Peking). In mid-September, two envoys, Henry Loch and Harry Parkes went ahead of the main force under a flag of truce to negotiate with Prince Yi and representatives of the Qing Empire at Tongzhou (Tungchow) and to scout out campsites behind enemy lines. The delegation included
Thomas William Bowlby Thomas William Bowlby (7 January 1818 – 22 September 1860) was a British correspondent for ''The Times'' in Germany and China in the 19th century. A "pioneer in the risky business of war reportage", his torture and death during the Second Op ...
, a journalist for ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
'', along with a small escort of British and Indian soldiers. As the talks concluded on 18 September, the Allied forces attacked Qing troops in the area who they believed were redeploying for an ambush, and the Qing court learned that the British had detained the prefect of Tianjin. It was around this time that the Qing general
Sengge Rinchen Sengge Rinchen (1811 – 18 May 1865) or Senggelinqin ( mn, Сэнгэринчен, ᠰᠡᠩᠭᠡᠷᠢᠨᠴᠢᠨ) was a Mongol nobleman and general who served under the Qing dynasty during the reigns of the Daoguang, Xianfeng and Tongzhi em ...
took the members of the delegation prisoner as they were traversing Qing lines to return to the expeditionary forces. The delegates and their escort were taken to the Ministry of Justice (or Board of Punishments) in Beijing, where they were confined and tortured. Parkes and Loch were returned after two weeks, with 14 other survivors. Nineteen British, French and Indian captives died as a result of the torture. On the night of 5 October, French units diverted from the main attack force towards the Old Summer Palace. At the time, the palace was occupied by only some eunuchs and palace maids; the Xianfeng Emperor and his entourage had already fled to the
Chengde Mountain Resort Chengde Mountain Resort in Chengde (; Manchu: ''Halhūn be jailara gurung''), is a large complex of imperial palaces and gardens situated in the Shuangqiao District of Chengde in northeastern Hebei province, northern China, about 225 km northea ...
in
Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...
. Although the French commander
Charles Cousin-Montauban Charles Guillaume Marie Appollinaire Antoine Cousin-Montauban, 1er Comte de Palikao (; 1796–1878) was a French general and statesman. Biography Montauban was born in Paris. As a cavalry officer he saw much service in Algeria, but he was still o ...
assured his British counterpart,
James Hope Grant General Sir James Hope Grant, GCB (22 July 1808 – 7 March 1875) was a British Army officer. He served in the First Opium War, First Anglo-Sikh War, Indian Rebellion of 1857, and Second Opium War. Early life Grant was the fifth and y ...
, that "nothing had been touched", extensive looting of the palace had already been carried out by Allied soldiers.M'Ghee, Robert. (1862)
''How we got to Pekin: A Narrative of the Campaign in China of 1860,'' pp. 202-216
There was no significant resistance to the looting, even though many Qing soldiers were in the vicinity. On October 18,
Lord Elgin Earl of Elgin is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1633 for Thomas Bruce, 3rd Lord Kinloss. He was later created Baron Bruce, of Whorlton in the County of York, in the Peerage of England on 30 July 1641. The Earl of Elgin is the h ...
, the British High Commissioner to China, retaliated against the torture of the delegation members by ordering the destruction of the Old Summer Palace. Destroying the Old Summer Palace was also a warning to the Qing Empire not to use kidnapping as a political tactic against Britain. It took 3,500 British troops to set the entire place ablaze, and the massive fire lasted for three days. Unbeknownst to the troops, some 300 remaining
eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millenni ...
s and palace maids, who concealed themselves from the soldiers in locked rooms, perished when the palace complex was burnt. Only 13 buildings survived intact, most of them in the remote areas or by the lakeside. (The palace would be sacked once again and completely destroyed in 1900 when the forces of the
Eight-Nation Alliance The Eight-Nation Alliance was a multinational military coalition that invaded northern China in 1900 with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, then besieged by the popular Boxer militia, who were determined to remove fo ...
invaded Beijing.)
Charles George Gordon Major-General Charles George Gordon CB (28 January 1833 – 26 January 1885), also known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British Army officer and administrator. He saw action in the Crimean War as an officer in ...
, who was then a 27-year-old captain in the
Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is head ...
and part of the 1860 Anglo-French expeditionary force, wrote about his experience: British and French soldiers preferred porcelain while neglecting bronze vessels prized locally for cooking and burial in tombs. Many such treasures dated back to the
Shang The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
, Zhou and Han dynasties and were up to 3,600 years old. A specific exception was the looting of the Haiyantang Zodiac fountain with its twelve
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids suc ...
animal heads. Some of the most notable treasures ended up at the Chinese Museum in the
Palace of Fontainebleau Palace of Fontainebleau (; ) or Château de Fontainebleau, located southeast of the center of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The medieval castle and subsequent palace served as a residence ...
, which
Empress Eugénie An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...
specifically set up in 1867 to house these newly acquired collections. Once the Old Summer Palace had been reduced a sign was raised by the Allied expeditionary force with an inscription in Chinese stating, "This is the reward for perfidy and cruelty". The burning of the palace was the last act of the war. According to Professor Wang Daocheng of the
Renmin University of China The Renmin University of China (RUC; ) is a national key public research university in Beijing, China. The university is affiliated to the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry and the Beijing Municipal People's Government. RUC ...
, not all of the palace was destroyed in the original burning.Wang Daocheng (2005) i
"Should Yuanmingyuan Be Rebuilt?", People's Daily Online
/ref> Instead, some historical records indicate that 16 of the garden scenes survived the destruction in 1860. Wang identifies the
Republican era Republican Era can refer to: * Minguo calendar, the official era of the Republic of China It may also refer to any era in a country's history when it was governed as a republic or by a Republican Party. In particular, it may refer to: * Roman Rep ...
and the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...
as two significant periods that contributed further to the destruction of the Old Summer Palace. Photographic evidence and eyewitness accounts make it clear that (although the palace complex was initially protected by the Qing emperors) it was during the
Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an Xenophobia, anti-foreign, anti-colonialism, anti-colonial, and Persecution of Christians#China, anti-Christian uprising in China ...
and in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the dynasty when most of the surviving structures were destroyed. Further, the Imperial household itself sold off the magnificent trees in the garden for revenue during the 1890s and after 1900 the palace was used as a veritable builder's yard for anyone who wanted construction materials. Entire buildings were built of materials taken from the Yuanming Yuan and smart Peking houses were adorned with sculptures and architectural elements plundered from the site. Like the
Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is a palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples including the Zhongshan Park, the sacrifi ...
, no commoner had ever been allowed into the Old Summer Palace, as it was used exclusively by the imperial family of the Qing Empire. The burning of the Old Summer Palace is still a very sensitive issue in China today. The destruction of the palace has been perceived as barbaric and criminal by many Chinese, as well as by external observers. In his ''"Expédition de Chine"'',
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
described the looting as, "Two robbers breaking into a museum. One has looted, the other has burnt. ... one of the two conquerors filled its pockets, seing that, the other filled its safes; and they came back to Europe laughing hand-in-hand. ... Before history, one of the bandits will be called France and the other England." In his letter, Hugo hoped that one day France would feel guilty and return what it had plundered from China. Mauricio Percara, journalist and Argentine writer who works at China Radio International, talks about the apology through the literature by Victor Hugo and mentioned in his story entitled redemption the bust of the French writer located in the old Summer Palace: "at the site where their French peers ever posed his destructive feet today a radiant bust of the great Victor Hugo rises. From the old Summer Palace, the gardens of perfect brightness, a righteous French poses her look of stone in the snow falling obediently on the worn floor of the capital of the North."


Aftermath

Following the sacking of the Old Summer Palace, the Qing imperial court relocated to the Forbidden City. In 1873, the teenage
Tongzhi Emperor The Tongzhi Emperor (27 April 1856 – 12 January 1875), born Zaichun of the Aisin Gioro clan, was the ninth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the eighth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign, from 1861 to 1875, which effectively lasted ...
attempted to rebuild the Old Summer Palace, on the pretext of turning it into a place of retirement for his two former regents, the empress dowagers Ci'an and
Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese noblewoman, concubine and later regent who effectively controlled ...
. However, the imperial court lacked the financial resources to rebuild the palace, and at the urging of the court, the emperor finally agreed to stop the project in 1874. During the 1880s, an adjacent imperial gardens, the Gardens of Clear Ripples (the present-day
Summer Palace The Summer Palace () is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. It was an imperial garden in the Qing dynasty. Inside includes Longevity Hill () Kunming Lake and Seventeen Hole Bridge. It covers an expanse of , three-quarte ...
) was restored for the use of Empress Dowager Cixi as a new summer resort, albeit on a smaller scale. A few Chinese-style buildings in the outlying Elegant Spring Garden also survived the fire. Some of these buildings were restored by the Tongzhi Emperor before the project was abandoned. In 1900, many of the buildings that had survived or had been restored were burnt for good by the forces of the
Eight-Nation Alliance The Eight-Nation Alliance was a multinational military coalition that invaded northern China in 1900 with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, then besieged by the popular Boxer militia, who were determined to remove fo ...
. Most of the site was left abandoned and used by local farmers as agricultural land. Only in the 1980s was the site reclaimed by the government and turned into a historical site. The Yuanmingyuan Artists Colony became famous for germinating a new wave of painters such as Fang Lijun and musicians such as Fa Zi on the site before it was shut down by the government and many artists relocated to the Songzhuang area outside of Beijing. Debates in the 1990s arose regarding restoration and development issues and a more recent environmental controversy brought a new political life to the park as it became a symbol of China's "national wound". In the present day, the ruins of the European-style palaces are the most prominent building remnants on the site. This has misled some visitors to believe wrongly that the Old Summer Palace was made up only of European-style buildings.


Recent developments and plans

There are currently several plans in China for rebuilding the Imperial Gardens, but such moves have been opposed on the grounds that they will destroy an important relic of modern Chinese history. In addition, any rebuilding would be a colossal undertaking, and no rebuilding of above-the-ground structures has been approved. However, the lakes and waterways in the eastern half of the gardens have been dug up again and refilled with water, while hills around the lakes have been cleared of brushwood, recreating long-forgotten vistas. Several temples located inside the Old Summer Palace grounds have also been refurbished and rebuilt. In February 2005, work was undertaken to reduce water loss from the lakes and canals in the Old Summer Palace by covering a total of of the beds with a membrane to reduce seepage. The park administration argued the prevention of water loss saves the park money, since water would have to be added to the lakes only once per year instead of three times. However, opponents of the project, such as Professor Zhengchun Zhang of
Lanzhou University Lanzhou University () is a major research university in Lanzhou, Gansu, China. Founded in 1909, it is one of the key universities under China's Ministry of Education (Double First Class University Plan, former Project 985 and Project 211). It ...
, feared the measure will destroy the ecology of the park, which depends on the water seepage from the lakes and the connection between the lakes and the underground water system. It is also feared the reduced seepage from the lakes will disturb Beijing's underground water system which is already suffering from depletion. There are also concerns about the gardens, which is a designated heritage site in the city of Beijing, changing their natural appearance. This issue, when brought up with the general public several weeks later, immediately caused an uproar from the press and became one of the hottest debates on the Internet in China due to the still painful memory of foreign humiliation epitomised in the destruction of the Old Summer Palace. The Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau (BEPB) recently conducted an assessment of the environmental impact of the measure. A partial copy of the palace, the "New Yuanming Gardens" (圆明新园; 圓明新園), was built in 1997 in the southern city of
Zhuhai Zhuhai (, ; Yale: ''Jyūhói''), also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, on the southeastern edge of P ...
in
Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...
province, as an amusement park of , including an lake. Up to the present, many relics which were taken from the Old Summer Palace remain in foreign museums and private collections. Although the Chinese government has tried to recover them, only a few statuettes from the Garden of Eternal Spring have actually been returned. Seven of the 21 columns displayed at the KODE Art Museums in
Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, secon ...
, Norway were returned to
Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charte ...
in 2014 as part of a deal set up by alumnus Huang Nubo, a real estate developer who donated 10 million Norwegian kroner (US$1.6 million) to the museum, according to the ''
China Daily ''China Daily'' () is an English-language daily newspaper owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Overview ''China Daily'' has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in China. ...
''. It is still debated in China whether to apply for an inclusion of the Old Summer Palace on the list of
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
s.


Transport

The ruins of the Old Summer Palace remain open to the public and are an important tourist attraction in
Haidian District Haidian District () is a district of the municipality of Beijing. It is mostly situated in northwestern Beijing, but also to a lesser extent in the west, where it has borders with Xicheng District and Fengtai District. It is 431 square km in ar ...
, the Yuanmingyuan Park. They can be accessed from Yuanmingyuan Park station on Line 4 of the
Beijing Subway The Beijing Subway is the rapid transit system of Beijing Municipality that consists of 25 lines including 20 rapid transit lines, two airport rail links, one maglev line and 2 light rail lines, and 463 stations. The rail network extends ...
.


Gallery

Hundreds more photographs of the site can be found on the website Colonial Architecture Project File:Yuanmingyuan Front lake of Jiuzhou 20130324.JPG, Front Lake of Jiuzhou (九州前湖), on the other side of the lake lies the site of Jiuzhou Qingyan (九洲清晏) File:杏花春馆遗址01 20130324.JPG, Apricot Blossom Spring Villa (杏花春馆) File:坦坦荡荡遗址01 20130201.jpg, Ruins of The Magnanimous World (坦坦荡荡) File:Ruyi Bridge in Yuanmingyuan Ruins 20130318.JPG, Ruyi Bridge (如意桥) in Yuanmingyuan File:Yuanmingyuan_lake2.jpg, Fuhai Lake (福海) south bank (夹镜鸣琴) File:Bieyou Dongtian 20130323.JPG, A stoneboat in the Yuanmingyuan (别有洞天) File:含经堂 20130126.jpg, Ruins of Hanjingtang (含经堂) File:Ruins of Yuanyingguan 20130323.JPG, Yuanyingguan (远瀛观) Ruins North side File:Yuanmingyuan haiyan.jpg, Historic drawing of Haiyantang (海晏堂) File:Yuanmingyuan Haiyantang 20130126.JPG, Ruins of Haiyantang File:Fangwaiguan.jpg, Ruins of the Fangwaiguan (方外观) File:Huanghuazhen.jpg, Restored Huanghuazhen (黄花阵/万花阵) in the Western Mansions (西洋楼) area File:Belvedere of the God of Literature, Summer Palace, Beijing, 6–18 October, 1860 (cropped).jpg, Belvedere of the God of Literature, Summer Palace, Beijing, 6–18 October 1860 File:Felice Beato (British, born Italy - (Porcelain Tower) - Google Art Project.jpg, Porcelain Tower, Summer Palace, Beijing, 6–18 October 1860 File:Felice Beato (British, born Italy - (The Great Imperial Porcelain Palace (Yuan Ming Yuan), Pekin, October 1860) - Google Art Project.jpg, Great Imperial Porcelain Palace, Summer Palace, Beijing, 6–18 October 1860 File:Felice Beato (British, born Italy - (The Great Imperial Palace (Yuan Ming Yuan) Before the Burning, Pekin, October 18, 1860) - Google Art Project.jpg, Summer Palace, Beijing, 6–18 October 1860 File:Pagoda at Old Summer Palace, Yu-chuan Shan, Jade Spring Hill LACMA M.83.302.36.jpg, Pagoda at Old Summer Palace, Yu-chuan Shan, Summer Palace, Beijing, 6–18 October 1860


See also

*
Xiyang Lou Xiyang Lou (), are ruins of 18th-century European-style imperial buildings on the grounds of the Old Summer Palace in Beijing, China. They are located in the northern part of the ''Changchun Yuan'' (Garden of Eternal Spring), one of the three ga ...
(Western mansion) * Haiyantang (Water clock fountain) * History of Beijing * ''
Flashman and the Dragon ''Flashman and the Dragon'' is a 1985 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the eighth of the Flashman novels. Plot introduction Presented within the frame of the supposedly discovered historical Flashman Papers, this book describes the bully ...
'' (historical fiction based on the events around the destruction of 1860) * Century of humiliation


Notes


References

* Lumby, E. W. R. "Lord Elgin and the Burning of the Summer Palace." ''History Today'' (July 1960) 10#7 pp 479–48.
* Kutcher, Norman. "China's Palace of Memory," '' The Wilson Quarterly'' (Winter 2003). * Wong, Young-Tsu. ''A Paradise Lost: The Imperial Garden Yuanming Yuan.'' (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2001). . * M'Ghee, Robert James Leslie. (1862)
''How we got to Pekin: A Narrative of the Campaign in China of 1860.''
London: Richard Bentley. * Barme, Geremie.
The Garden of Perfect Brightness: A Life in Ruins.
''East Asian History'' 11 (1996): 111–58. Web. * *


External links

*
Yuanming Yuan, The Garden Of Perfect Brightness"China Heritage 8
(2008).
Official site


*

Bernard Briese * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070312222551/http://www.intellectbooks.com/europa/number7/china.htm China's view of Europe - A Changing Perspective? Perry W. Ma * Stephen H. Whiteman, (Review
John R. Finlay, “40 Views of the Yuanming yuan”: Image and Ideology in a Qianlong Imperial Album of Poetry and PaintingDissertation Reviews
{{coord, 40, 00, 26, N, 116, 17, 33, E, region:CN-11_type:landmark, display=title 1707 establishments in China Houses completed in 1707 Houses completed in 1725 18th century in Beijing 1860 disestablishments in China Buildings and structures demolished in 1860 Palaces in China Royal residences in China Buildings and structures in Beijing Gardens in Beijing History of Beijing Qing dynasty architecture Haidian District Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Beijing National archaeological parks of China Burned buildings and structures in China