What treasures did the British and French allied forces take away after destroying Yuanmingyuan? According to the descriptions of British and French officers, priests and journalists who witnessed the looting scene, in order to seize the treasure, British and French officers and soldiers rushed into Yuanmingyuan from all directions, indulging in wantonness and taking whatever they wanted. They beat each other and even fought for the treasure. Because there are so many treasures in the garden, they don't know what to take at the moment. Some moved cloisonne porcelain bottles, some coveted embroidered robes, some chose high-grade leather clothes, and some got wall clocks inlaid with pearls and jade. Some carry big bags, which are full of all kinds of treasures. Some people put gold bars and leaves in the big pockets of their coats; Some are wrapped in brocade; Some hats are filled with rubies, sapphires, pearls and crystals. Some people wear jade collars around their necks.

There is a mountain of high-grade silks and satins in one wing, which is said to be enough for half of Beijing residents, and all of them are carried away by soldiers in carts. -A British officer snatched a golden Buddha from a temple with 500 Buddha statues, worth 1200. A French officer robbed property worth 600,000 francs. The treasure plundered by the son of Montaubon, commander-in-chief of the French army, was worth 300 thousand francs and filled several carriages. A British private named Hollis once stole two golden Buddha pagodas (all three stories, one 7 feet high and the other 6.4 feet high) and a lot of other treasures from the garden, and found seven strong men to carry them back to the barracks for him.

In addition to wanton plunder, the invaders destroyed countless things. Several rooms were full of silks and satins, and clothes were dragged out of the box and thrown all over the floor. People can almost cover their knees when they walk into the room. The engineer with a big axe smashed all the furniture and took the jewels from it. Some people break big mirrors, others shoot candlesticks for fun. Most French soldiers waved sticks and smashed everything they couldn't take away. They also took away the courage of confrontation in the Qing Dynasty.

According to rough statistics, the number of cultural relics robbed in Yuanmingyuan is about 6.5438+0.5 million, ranging from bronze ritual vessels in the pre-Qin period to famous paintings and calligraphy in the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties and various rare treasures. According to the historical records of the Qing Dynasty, only 4,465,438 European clocks and watches were exhibited and stored in Yuanmingyuan at that time, and only one big clock was spared. Afterwards, some lost objects robbed by bandits and abandoned by the invading army reached 1 197, which was at best one thousandth of the objects in the park. In fact, a large part of the goods robbed and destroyed by the British and French invaders are priceless. This heinous crime of destroying human culture is really outrageous!