The overall damage was caused by local soldiers and civilians for decades. To put it bluntly, it's hard to say who set the fire.
Don't call me a traitor, I really didn't burn the Yuanmingyuan.
How was Yuanmingyuan completely destroyed?
Although Yuanmingyuan suffered devastating damage by the British and French allied forces in 1860, there are still many architectural relics in the whole park. At least in 1870, some buildings of Xiyang Building were still intact, and there was a large-scale reconstruction of China buildings in the park during the Tongzhi period. Until 1905, when Kang Youwei visited Yuanmingyuan, he also saw that "although the grass is broken and gravel is desolate, there are countless pavilions and pavilions in Shoushan Fuhai ... but he can only swim one corner every day." There is a three-story white stone building with exquisite doors and flowers, and it is European. " So, who completely destroyed it?
Fire robbery: Coalition forces, bandits and soil thieves
When the British and French allied forces looted Yuanmingyuan crazily, countless bandits took part in the robbery. The British and French allied forces chose the most valuable things to rob, bandits plundered the remaining essence, Wang picked up the scraps abandoned by the Committee, and even the eunuchs guarding the garden took advantage of the fire to rob. Easily available valuables were quickly collected, and some people pinned their hopes on exquisite treasures scattered and buried in the dust. They picked up brooms and dustpans and flew sand and dust on the middle road of the garden. Eunuchs and soldiers guarding the garden call them "soil-sifting thieves", and sometimes there is a saying: "soil-sifting, soil-sifting, never suffering." Fortunately, the building was not injured at this time.
Robbery of wood: Yuanmingyuan turned into a charcoal factory
Eight-Nation Alliance 1900 invaded Beijing, and the gardens in the western suburbs were looted again. This time, the Qing government completely lost control of Yuanmingyuan, and the people who took advantage of the fire were no longer satisfied with robbing foreigners of their surplus wealth. They sawed off the scattered buildings, columns and wooden bridges in the garden after the fire robbery, and pulled them down with big ropes. The trees and trees in the garden were also cut down. At that time, the timber in Qinghe town was piled up like a mountain, and the trade was busy. There were many charcoal factories in the park, and all the branches and roots were burned into charcoal. Within a few months, the remaining buildings after the fire robbery disappeared together with the old trees and miscellaneous trees in the garden, which was called "wood robbery" after the fire robbery in Yuanmingyuan by later generations. At this time, only rocks, lakes and springs were left in Yuanmingyuan.
Stone robbery: selling stones can also make a fortune.
In the early years of the Republic of China, warlords who changed like lanterns regarded Yuanmingyuan as an inexhaustible building material field. There are many helpless records in the archives of Puyi period: "Soldiers ride bicycles to haul Taihu Stone 10 vehicles in the park every day." In fact, the situation of dismantling and selling is far more serious than that recorded in the file. Xu Shichang demolished the timber of Ming and Jing Spring Gardens in Yuanmingyuan, and Wang Huaiqing demolished the wall of Anyou Palace and the stone of the west building in the garden. Since then, everything that can be used as building materials in Yuanmingyuan ruins, from square bricks, roof tiles, wall bricks and stone strips on the ground to underground wooden nails, stakes and copper pipes, has been collected and pulled intermittently for more than 20 years! Later generations called this a "stone robbery" after the fire in Yuanmingyuan. The European architecture in Xiyanglou Scenic Area suffered the greatest loss in stone robbery. Anyou Palace, located in the northwest corner of Yuanmingyuan, is the ancestral hall of the royal family in the garden in the Qing Dynasty. It is magnificent, especially the two pairs of China watches in front of the temple, and the Shu Lang is beautifully carved. After several robberies, all the trees in Anyou Palace and the surrounding archways were lost, leaving only two pairs of China watches.
1925 At the beginning of this year, Pastor yenching university Zhai dismantled China's watch privately, on the grounds that: "I thought the stone pillars in Yuanmingyuan belonged to antiquities, and I was afraid that someone would dismantle them, so I transported them to our school for preservation. If China uses it, he can return it. " Now this pair of China watches still stands in front of the teaching building in the west gate of Peking University. Another pair of China watches became the decoration in front of the newly-built antique library in the city during the Republic of China. At about this time, the construction of Central Park (now Zhongshan Park) and even the preparation of Xiangshan Shanxin Garden were all demolished because of "justice". The Hua Biao can still be dismantled in public, and the broken stone columns of the Yuan Ying Pavilion that still exist today are by no means the last "teaching materials" for people to be merciful and want to leave some for future generations for political education, perhaps because their styles are too weird to come in handy.
Soil robbery: planting rice in the imperial garden forest
At this point, Yuanmingyuan has been looted by fire, wood and stone, and all buildings, trees and bricks have disappeared. Is its tragic fate over? Not yet! It has to go through a more thorough "soil robbery" in the end. At the end of Xuan Tong, local banners built houses on the ruins of the palace in the park, facing the former royal garden. During the Japanese occupation period after 1940, Beijing was short of food, so it was rewarded for land reclamation. Since then, farmers have successively entered the park to fill the lake in Pingshan and open up wasteland to grow rice. Yuanmingyuan, a painstaking effort in the early Qing Dynasty 150 years of victory over lakes and mountains, is beyond recognition.
When Eight-Nation Alliance entered Beijing, there were still many troops stationed in Beijing. These soldiers not only failed to play a protective role, but also took advantage of the fire to rob. At that time, foreign invaders were all infantry, and there was no way to take away heavy items. Most of them are gold and silver (and poor soldiers who don't understand gold and silver), and few people know the value of precious stones and jade. Of course, some of them were taken away just because they looked good.
The overall damage was caused by local soldiers and civilians for decades. To put it bluntly, it's hard to say who set the fire.
Don't call me a traitor, I really didn't burn the Yuanmingyuan.
How was Yuanmingyuan completely destroyed?
Although Yuanmingyuan suffered devastating damage by the British and French allied forces in 1860, there are still many architectural relics in the whole park. At least in 1870, some buildings of Xiyang Building were still intact, and there was a large-scale reconstruction of China buildings in the park during the Tongzhi period. Until 1905, when Kang Youwei visited Yuanmingyuan, he also saw that "although the grass is broken and gravel is desolate, there are countless pavilions and pavilions in Shoushan Fuhai ... but he can only swim one corner every day." There is a three-story white stone building with exquisite doors and flowers, and it is European. " So, who completely destroyed it?
Fire robbery: Coalition forces, bandits and soil thieves
When the British and French allied forces looted Yuanmingyuan crazily, countless bandits took part in the robbery. The British and French allied forces chose the most valuable things to rob, bandits plundered the remaining essence, Wang picked up the scraps abandoned by the Committee, and even the eunuchs guarding the garden took advantage of the fire to rob. Easily available valuables were quickly collected, and some people pinned their hopes on exquisite treasures scattered and buried in the dust. They picked up brooms and dustpans and flew sand and dust on the middle road of the garden. Eunuchs and soldiers guarding the garden call them "soil-sifting thieves", and sometimes there is a saying: "soil-sifting, soil-sifting, never suffering." Fortunately, the building was not injured at this time.
Robbery of wood: Yuanmingyuan turned into a charcoal factory
Eight-Nation Alliance 1900 invaded Beijing, and the gardens in the western suburbs were looted again. This time, the Qing government completely lost control of Yuanmingyuan, and the people who took advantage of the fire were no longer satisfied with robbing foreigners of their surplus wealth. They sawed off the scattered buildings, columns and wooden bridges in the garden after the fire robbery, and pulled them down with big ropes. The trees and trees in the garden were also cut down. At that time, the timber in Qinghe town was piled up like a mountain, and the trade was busy. There were many charcoal factories in the park, and all the branches and roots were burned into charcoal. Within a few months, the remaining buildings after the fire robbery disappeared together with the old trees and miscellaneous trees in the garden, which was called "wood robbery" after the fire robbery in Yuanmingyuan by later generations. At this time, only rocks, lakes and springs were left in Yuanmingyuan.
Stone robbery: selling stones can also make a fortune.
In the early years of the Republic of China, warlords who changed like lanterns regarded Yuanmingyuan as an inexhaustible building material field. There are many helpless records in the archives of Puyi period: "Soldiers ride bicycles to haul Taihu Stone 10 vehicles in the park every day." In fact, the situation of dismantling and selling is far more serious than that recorded in the file. Xu Shichang demolished the timber of Ming and Jing Spring Gardens in Yuanmingyuan, and Wang Huaiqing demolished the wall of Anyou Palace and the stone of the west building in the garden. Since then, everything that can be used as building materials in Yuanmingyuan ruins, from square bricks, roof tiles, wall bricks and stone strips on the ground to underground wooden nails, stakes and copper pipes, has been collected and pulled intermittently for more than 20 years! Later generations called this a "stone robbery" after the fire in Yuanmingyuan. The European architecture in Xiyanglou Scenic Area suffered the greatest loss in stone robbery. Anyou Palace, located in the northwest corner of Yuanmingyuan, is the ancestral hall of the royal family in the garden in the Qing Dynasty. It is magnificent, especially the two pairs of China watches in front of the temple, and the Shu Lang is beautifully carved. After several robberies, all the trees in Anyou Palace and the surrounding archways were lost, leaving only two pairs of China watches.
1925 At the beginning of this year, Pastor yenching university Zhai dismantled China's watch privately, on the grounds that: "I thought the stone pillars in Yuanmingyuan belonged to antiquities, and I was afraid that someone would dismantle them, so I transported them to our school for preservation. If China uses it, he can return it. " Now this pair of China watches still stands in front of the teaching building in the west gate of Peking University. Another pair of China watches became the decoration in front of the newly-built antique library in the city during the Republic of China. At about this time, the construction of Central Park (now Zhongshan Park) and even the preparation of Xiangshan Shanxin Garden were all demolished because of "justice". The Hua Biao can still be dismantled in public, and the broken stone columns of the Yuan Ying Pavilion that still exist today are by no means the last "teaching materials" for people to be merciful and want to leave some for future generations for political education, perhaps because their styles are too weird to come in handy.
Soil robbery: planting rice in the imperial garden forest
At this point, Yuanmingyuan has been looted by fire, wood and stone, and all buildings, trees and bricks have disappeared. Is its tragic fate over? Not yet! It has to go through a more thorough "soil robbery" in the end. At the end of Xuan Tong, local banners built houses on the ruins of the palace in the park, facing the former royal garden. During the Japanese occupation period after 1940, Beijing was short of food, so it was rewarded for land reclamation. Since then, farmers have successively entered the park to fill the lake in Pingshan and open up wasteland to grow rice. Yuanmingyuan, a painstaking effort in the early Qing Dynasty 150 years of victory over lakes and mountains, is beyond recognition.