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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 () is a northwest urban district of Beijing, bordering Xicheng, Beijing, Xicheng and Fengtai, Beijing, Fengtai. It is in area, making it the second-largest district in urban Beijing area (after Chaoyang, Beijing, Chaoyang), and is home ...
,
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. It is north-west 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 A building or edifice is an enclosed structure with a roof, walls and windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, and have been adapted throughout ...
and numerous
art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...
and historical treasures. Constructed throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries, the Old Summer Palace was the main imperial residence of the
Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China pr ...
of the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
and his successors, and where they handled state affairs; the
Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is the Chinese Empire, imperial Chinese palace, palace complex in the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasty L ...
was used for formal ceremonies. The Garden was reputed as the "Garden of Gardens" () in its heyday was "arguably the greatest concentration of historic treasures in the world, dating and representing a full 5,000 years of an ancient civilization", according to Robert McGee, chaplain to the British forces. During the
Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Chinese War or ''Arrow'' War, was fought between the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the United States against the Qing dynasty of China between 1856 and 1860. It was the second major ...
, 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 by the
Qing government The Qing dynasty (1644–1912) was the last imperial dynasty of China. The early Qing emperors adopted the bureaucratic structures and institutions from the preceding Ming dynasty but split rule between the Han and Manchus with some positions als ...
, with 19 delegation members being sentenced to death, the 8th Earl of Elgin, the British High Commissioner to China, 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 (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...
,
jade Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...
, silk robes, elaborate textiles, gold objects and more – were looted and, according to
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
, are now located in 47 museums around the world.


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 (2.2mi), 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 (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...
. 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 Spri ...
. 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 ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...
, then in the 16th-century Li Wei of the
Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
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 The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
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 architectural ...
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, personal name Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China pr ...
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 Chinese calendar that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating twelve-year (or duodenary) cycle. The zodiac is very important in traditional ...
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 165420 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, personal name Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign of 61 ...
. 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, personal name Yinzhen, was the fourth List of emperors of the Qing dynasty, emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the third Qing em ...
), 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, personal name Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China pr ...
'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 denotes ...
in 1795 representing the interests of the Dutch and
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...
. 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 Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest (1 November 1739 in Werkhoven – 8 July 1801 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch-American merchant who is mostly known for his participation in the last Netherlands, Dutch embassy to China under the tribute, tributary ...
, 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-Chinese War or ''Arrow'' War, was fought between the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the United States against the Qing dynasty of China between 1856 and 1860. It was the second major ...
, a combined Anglo-French expeditionary force, 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 Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'', 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 () was a Mongols, Mongol nobleman and general who served under the Qing dynasty during the reigns of the Daoguang Emperor, Daoguang, Xianfeng Emperor, Xianfeng and Tongzhi Emperor, Tongzhi emper ...
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 The Xianfeng Emperor (17 July 1831 – 22 August 1861), also known by his temple name Emperor Wenzong of Qing, personal name Yizhu, was the eighth emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the seventh Qing emperor to rule over China proper. During his re ...
and his entourage had already fled to the
Chengde Mountain Resort Chengde Mountain Resort (; 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 northeast of China's capi ...
in
Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...
. Although the French commander Charles Cousin-Montauban 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 you ...
, 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 Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin and 11th Earl of Kincardine, ( ; 20 July 176614 November 1841), often known as Lord Elgin, was a Scottish nobleman, diplomat, and collector, known primarily for the controversial procurement of marble sculptures ...
, 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 castration, 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 2 ...
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 during the Boxer Rebellion, with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, which were being besieged by the popular Boxer ...
invaded Beijing.)
Charles George Gordon Major-general (United Kingdom), Major-General Charles George Gordon Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (28 January 1833 – 26 January 1885), also known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, Gordon of Khartoum and General Gordon , was a British ...
, 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 the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
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 that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou dyn ...
, 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 animal heads. Some of the most notable treasures ended up at the Chinese Museum in the
Palace of Fontainebleau Palace of Fontainebleau ( , ; ), located southeast of the center of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. It served as a hunting lodge and summer residence for many of the List of French monarchs ...
, which
Empress Eugénie The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
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 public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. The university is affiliated with the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education and the Beijing Municipal People's Government. The ...
, 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 can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
and the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
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, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...
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 the Chinese Empire, imperial Chinese palace, palace complex in the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasty L ...
, 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 letter "Expédition de Chine",
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...
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. For his apologetic literature, a bust of the French writer was erected in the Old Summer Palace in 2010.


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), also known by his temple name Emperor Muzong of Qing, personal name Zaichun, was the ninth emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the eighth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign, w ...
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. 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 during the Qing dynasty. Inside includes Longevity Hill () Kunming Lake and Seventeen Hole Bridge. It covers an expanse of , three-quar ...
) 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 by the forces of the
Eight-Nation Alliance The Eight-Nation Alliance was a multinational military coalition that invaded northern China in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion, with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, which were being besieged by the popular Boxer ...
. 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, where they started the Songzhuang art colony. 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 public university in Lanzhou, Gansu, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. Founded in 1909, the ...
, 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 romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Jyūhói''; Chinese postal romanization, also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern ...
in
Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...
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 (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...
, Norway were returned to
Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...
in 2014 as part of a deal set up by alumnus
Huang Nubo Huang Nubo (; born 1956) is a Chinese real estate developer, entrepreneur, poet, and mountaineer who founded and remains Chairman of Beijing Zhongkun Investment Group. According to Hurun Report, his net worth is US$2.3 billion as of 2014, rankin ...
, a real estate developer who donated 10 million Norwegian kroner (US$1.6 million) to the museum, according to the ''
China Daily ''China Daily'' ( zh, s=中国日报, p=Zhōngguó Rìbào) 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 ...
''. 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 (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
s. Image:Yuanmingyuan haiyan.jpg, Haiyantang (海晏堂) water clock fountain. The original figures in a drawing before the looting with all 12 head figures–eight of the 12 figures have been recovered, while four are still missing File:Yuanmingyuan Haiyantang 20120715.JPG, The site of the water fountain in 2012 File:VM Yuanmingyuan Haiyantang bronze heads 4434.jpg, Replicas of the 12 heads


Transport

The ruins of the Old Summer Palace remain open to the public and are an important tourist attraction in
Haidian District Haidian () is a northwest urban district of Beijing, bordering Xicheng, Beijing, Xicheng and Fengtai, Beijing, Fengtai. It is in area, making it the second-largest district in urban Beijing area (after Chaoyang, Beijing, Chaoyang), and is home ...
, 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 Direct-controlled municipality, Municipality that consists of 29 lines including 24 rapid transit lines, two airport rail links, one maglev line and two light rail, light rail tram line ...
.


Gallery

Hundreds more photographs of the site can be found on the website Colonial Architecture Project File:The rebuilt Wen Shu Pavillion of Zheng Jue Temple of Old Summer Palace.jpg, Parts of the Zhengjue Temple (正觉寺) of Elegant Spring Garden are being refurbished File:Old Summer Palace, Palace Gates of Qichunyuan.jpg, Entrance to the Yuanmingyuan Park (site of the original gate to the Elegant Spring Garden) 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 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


See also

*
Century of humiliation The century of humiliation was a period in Chinese history beginning with the First Opium War (1839–1842), and ending in 1945 with China (then the Republic of China) emerging out of the Second World War as one of the Big Four and establishe ...
* ''
Flashman and the Dragon ''Flashman and the Dragon'' is a 1985 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the eighth of the Flashman novels. ''The Guardian'' said the book was "as buoyant as ever". Plot introduction Presented within the frame of the supposedly discovered ...
''—A historical novel based on the events around the destruction of 1860 * Old Summer Palace bronze heads *
History of Beijing The city of Beijing has a long and rich history that dates back over 3,000 years. Prior to the unification of China by the First Emperor in 221 BC, Beijing had been for centuries the capital of the ancient states of Ji and Yan. It was a prov ...
*


Notes


References

* Lumby, E. W. R. "Lord Elgin and the Burning of the Summer Palace." ''History Today'' (July 1960) 10#7 pp 479–48. * Grimberg, Phillip. "Trauma, Memory, and the Nation: The Ruinscapes of Yuanming Yuan and their Afterlife in Modern China,
''Thinking Through Ruins: Genealogies, Functions, and Interpretations''
ed. Enass Khansa, Konstantin Klein, and Barbara Winckler (Berlin, 2022), 239–56. * Kutcher, Norman. "China's Palace of Memory," ''
The Wilson Quarterly ''The Wilson Quarterly'' is a magazine published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. The magazine was founded in 1976 by Peter Braestrup and James H. Billington. It is noted for its nonpartisan, non-ide ...
'' (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 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 Buildings and structures in Haidian District Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Beijing National archaeological parks of China Burned buildings and structures in China Ruins in China