The scene of the destruction of Yuanmingyuan began.
Scene 1: Parkes is arrested and the British and French envoys are punished by China.
The Manchu government always regarded Parkes, the minister translator, as the commander-in-chief of the British and French allied forces. According to the traditional strategy of "catch the thief first, then catch the king", they had another purpose in the Tongzhou negotiations, hoping that after the capture of Parkes, the British and French allied forces would be leaderless and chaotic, and then seize the opportunity to suppress and win the battle.
So after the breakdown of Tongzhou negotiations, according to prior arrangements, the Qing side detained 39 British and French negotiating delegations headed by Parkes on the spot and escorted them back to Beijing, including Rocky, the private secretary of British Ambassador Elgin. Interestingly, Parkes and others were punished for "rebellion". This perfectly illustrates the concept of "unification of the world" adhered to by the Manchu dynasty. They still think that all countries in the world are vassals of the Manchu Dynasty and regard foreign enemies as their subjects. Therefore, the British and French allied forces' attack on China was not regarded as aggression, invasion or war, but "rebellion";
Thirty-nine arrested British and French negotiators were taken to Beijing by the Ministry of Justice for interrogation. According to a British diplomat who was imprisoned at that time, he later recalled:
"The heavy prison door was opened and I was taken in. The door boomed behind me. At this time, I found myself in a group of about seventy or eighty rough-looking prisoners. As you usually see in China prison, most of these prisoners are extremely aggressive because of illness and unsanitary environment. The jailers put me on a padded ceiling, let the prisoners sleep on it, and then tied me firmly to the overhead beam with another thick chain. This chain is long and heavy, first around the neck and fixed on your feet. Your hands are tightly bound by two crossed chains and handcuffs, and so are your feet ... "
These western diplomats also suffered cruel psychological torture in prison. The Manchu government informed Parkes and others that China was determined to fight to the death and that they would be executed immediately and given two hours to write a suicide note. After writing the suicide note, Parkes and others said that the execution date was changed to the next day, and there was no execution the next day. The execution date is delayed again and again, and the psychological pressure of those sentenced to death is increasing. The Manchu government exerted great psychological pressure on them in order to force them to yield and then reopen negotiations with them in prison.
Although Parkes and others were not executed in the end, when the Qing government was forced to release them one month later, 2 1 of the 39 prisoners were tortured to death, and 18 survived.
Lens 2: Before burning, there are many kinds of robbing scenes.
654381October 6, the British and French allied forces bypassed the northeast suburb of Beijing and went straight to Yuanmingyuan. At first, "stolen goods sharing" was somewhat orderly. A "trophy committee" composed of senior officers of the two countries was set up to select the best items to give to the French emperor and the Queen of England, while the most precious items were kept by the allied forces and divided equally in the future.
Mobutu and Grant personally selected two gold-encrusted green ruyi, which belonged to the Qing emperor himself and were prepared to give to the two monarchs. French soldiers found gold and silver ingots worth 800,000 francs in the cellar of a courtyard in Yuanmingyuan, which were immediately divided equally by all allied soldiers present.
Then the next day, the officers and men could no longer resist the temptation of things, and rushed forward in droves to snatch the gold and silver treasures and cultural and artistic treasures in the garden.
According to British and French officers, priests and journalists who witnessed the looting scene, officers and men, Britain and France, and local bandits who heard the news flocked to Yuanmingyuan from all directions to seize the treasure, indulging in it, taking what they needed and scrambling for it. They beat each other and even fought for jewelry.
There are too many things to rob in Yuanmingyuan. According to a British witness, the whole French camp was filled with many colorful clocks and watches, and around the soldiers' tents, silks and satins and embroidery were everywhere. Because there are so many treasures in the garden, they don't know what to take at the moment. Some of them moved cloisonne porcelain bottles, some coveted embroidery, some chose high-grade leather clothes, and some went to get 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, 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 1 200. 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. This man got the nickname "China Zhan Mu" because he plundered and enjoyed his life in Yuanmingyuan.
In addition to robbery, 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 them away. 2 1, in September, 860, Tongzhou Baliqiao lost the decisive battle with the Qing army. The next morning, Emperor Xianfeng fled from Yuanmingyuan to chengde mountain resort in a hurry. The capital was ownerless, and all the officials were scattered. The people were in a state of panic.
The scene of the destruction of Yuanmingyuan began.
Scene 1: Parkes is arrested and the British and French envoys are punished by China.
The Manchu government always regarded Parkes, the minister translator, as the commander-in-chief of the British and French allied forces. According to the traditional strategy of "catch the thief first, then catch the king", they had another purpose in the Tongzhou negotiations, hoping that after the capture of Parkes, the British and French allied forces would be leaderless and chaotic, and then seize the opportunity to suppress and win the battle.
So after the breakdown of Tongzhou negotiations, according to prior arrangements, the Qing side detained 39 British and French negotiating delegations headed by Parkes on the spot and escorted them back to Beijing, including Rocky, the private secretary of British Ambassador Elgin. Interestingly, Parkes and others were punished for "rebellion". This perfectly illustrates the concept of "unification of the world" adhered to by the Manchu dynasty. They still think that all countries in the world are vassals of the Manchu Dynasty and regard foreign enemies as their subjects. Therefore, the British and French allied forces' attack on China was not regarded as aggression, invasion or war, but "rebellion"; The Manchu government's war against Britain and France was justly declared as "suppression of foreign countries" and "rebellion".
Thirty-nine arrested British and French negotiators were taken to Beijing by the Ministry of Justice for interrogation. According to a British diplomat who was imprisoned at that time, he later recalled:
"The heavy prison door was opened and I was taken in. The door boomed behind me. At this time, I found myself in a group of about seventy or eighty rough-looking prisoners. As you usually see in China prison, most of these prisoners are extremely aggressive because of illness and unsanitary environment. The jailers put me on a padded ceiling, let the prisoners sleep on it, and then tied me firmly to the overhead beam with another thick chain. This chain is long and heavy, first around the neck and fixed on your feet. Your hands are tightly bound by two crossed chains and handcuffs, and so are your feet ... "
These western diplomats also suffered cruel psychological torture in prison. The Manchu government informed Parkes and others that China was determined to fight to the death and that they would be executed immediately and given two hours to write a suicide note. After writing the suicide note, Parkes and others said that the execution date was changed to the next day, and there was no execution the next day. The execution date is delayed again and again, and the psychological pressure of those sentenced to death is increasing. The Manchu government exerted great psychological pressure on them in order to force them to yield and then reopen negotiations with them in prison.
Although Parkes and others were not executed in the end, when the Qing government was forced to release them one month later, 2 1 of the 39 prisoners were tortured to death, and 18 survived.
Lens 2: Before burning, there are many kinds of robbing scenes.
654381October 6, the British and French allied forces bypassed the northeast suburb of Beijing and went straight to Yuanmingyuan. At first, "stolen goods sharing" was somewhat orderly. A "trophy committee" composed of senior officers of the two countries was set up to select the best items to give to the French emperor and the Queen of England, while the most precious items were kept by the allied forces and divided equally in the future.
Mobutu and Grant personally selected two gold-encrusted green ruyi, which belonged to the Qing emperor himself and were prepared to give to the two monarchs. French soldiers found gold and silver ingots worth 800,000 francs in the cellar of a courtyard in Yuanmingyuan, which were immediately divided equally by all allied soldiers present.
Then the next day, the officers and men could no longer resist the temptation of things, and rushed forward in droves to snatch the gold and silver treasures and cultural and artistic treasures in the garden.
According to British and French officers, priests and journalists who witnessed the looting scene, officers and men, Britain and France, and local bandits who heard the news flocked to Yuanmingyuan from all directions to seize the treasure, indulging in it, taking what they needed and scrambling for it. They beat each other and even fought for jewelry.
There are too many things to rob in Yuanmingyuan. According to a British witness, the whole French camp was filled with many colorful clocks and watches, and around the soldiers' tents, silks and satins and embroidery were everywhere. Because there are so many treasures in the garden, they don't know what to take at the moment. Some of them moved cloisonne porcelain bottles, some coveted embroidery, some chose high-grade leather clothes, and some went to get 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, 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 1 200. 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. This man got the nickname "China Zhan Mu" because he plundered and enjoyed his life in Yuanmingyuan.
In addition to robbery, 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 with them.
654381October 9 When the French army temporarily evacuated Yuanmingyuan, this beautiful garden was destroyed.
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.
The looting of Yuanmingyuan was the main culprit, but it must be admitted that there were Indian soldiers and Guangdong coolies who participated in the looting, and the largest number of them were local "bandits". The First Historical Archives of China has sorted out the Yuanmingyuan, and there are many records that tens of thousands of bandits robbed the Yuanmingyuan in Haidian area at that time, and recorded that after the situation subsided, they collected a large number of cultural relics and treasures from local people.
Scene 3: In the name of revenge, the British and French allied forces are determined to burn the Yuanmingyuan.
The looting forced the Qing government to bend its knees and concede, and promised to accept all the conditions of "negotiation and peace". Just as the signing date was selected, British Minister Elgin and Commander-in-Chief Grant made a move that shocked the world: they ordered the burning of Yuanmingyuan.
They said they would retaliate against the Qing government for arresting ministers and abusing prisoners of war. In fact, in order to sign a new unequal treaty, the British and French allied forces had long planned to give the Qing government a severe lesson-destroying the Forbidden City or the Summer Palace and Yuanmingyuan.
After several days of deliberation, Binary chose Yuanmingyuan as the target of revenge. Er Jin's decision to burn Yuanmingyuan instead of the Forbidden City actually has another meaning. Erkin believed that the Forbidden City was the seat of the China government (Britain and France were negotiating the Beijing Treaty with the Qing government at that time); Yuanmingyuan is a royal garden, privately owned by Emperor China. "We must fight against the arrogance of Emperor China and his violation of international law. We want to leave a permanent memory of revenge for future generations and make the rulers of China feel afraid. "
A few days before the fire, Erkin ordered the following notices to be posted all over Beijing, announcing the purpose of the British and French Coalition forces burning the Yuanmingyuan:
"No one-no matter how high the position-can escape responsibility and punishment after committing fraud and atrocities. Yuanmingyuan will be burned in June 1860+1October18 as a punishment for the treachery of Emperor China. Only the Qing imperial government should be responsible for this, and people who have nothing to do with atrocities do not have to worry about being hurt. "
1860 10 6 18, three or four thousand people from the first division of the British Expeditionary Force entered the Yuanmingyuan from the East Gate and burned it in a planned and step-by-step manner. The fire burned for two days, and the northwest wind blew the smoke that covered the sky to Beijing, and a thick layer of ash accumulated on the roof of the house.
According to relevant records, when the British invading army burned down the Anyou Palace, the eunuch in charge locked the door of Anyou Palace because of their sudden arrival, so 300 eunuchs, maids and craftsmen were burned alive in Anyou Palace.
After the British and French allied forces snatched the most valuable things, the bandits plundered the remaining essence, and the locals picked up the scraps discarded by the Committee. Even the eunuch guarding the garden took advantage of the fire to rob. Precious things that were readily available were quickly cleaned up, 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 in the middle 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." But at this time, the building was not damaged.
Lens 4: Yuanmingyuan is declining step by step and heading for complete destruction.
Prince Gong, who was ordered to stay in Beijing while Yuanmingyuan was still burning? All agreed to all the conditions of the invaders. Soon, they signed the more unequal Beijing Treaty with Britain, France and Russia respectively. After hearing the bad news that Yuanmingyuan was burned down, Emperor Xianfeng vomited blood on the spot, relapsed his old illness and died in Jehol in less than a year.
1860 after the fire, the main wooden hall of Yuanmingyuan was destroyed, but many buildings in the lake and on the mountain were still intact, especially the stone western buildings in the north of Changchun Garden. Except for the collapse of the wooden beam at the top, the stone walls and carvings are intact (as evidenced by the photo of 1870). The mountain water system and vegetation flowers and trees in various scenic spots are generally well preserved.
According to the statistics of the Qing government, 40% of the scenic spots in Yuanmingyuan have not been seriously damaged.
At the end of Tongzhi, under the command of Empress Dowager Cixi, a large-scale "selective reconstruction" was carried out, and it was planned to repair more than 3,000 buildings, but it was forced to stop work because of financial exhaustion. However, at that time, there were not less than 120 garden buildings basically formed after renovation and reconstruction, with nearly a thousand rooms and an area of over 1000 square meters. Later, until the middle and late Guangxu period, Empress Dowager Cixi did not completely give up her old dream of revisiting Yuanmingyuan. It was not until the 24th year of Guangxu (1898) that she launched the "1898 coup" that she had no time to take care of Yuanmingyuan.
So who completely destroyed it next?
Robbery of wood: Yuanmingyuan turned into a charcoal factory
1900, with the Boxer Rebellion, Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing and Tianjin, and the queen fled in a panic, and the surrounding areas of Beijing fell into an unprecedented anarchy. Bandits and local ruffians swarmed in, and soldiers of the Eight Banners also took advantage of the fire to turn soldiers into bandits. Before Eight-Nation Alliance, they flocked to the Yuanmingyuan to plunder.
When Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, all the gardens in the western suburbs were looted. After Eight-Nation Alliance robbed the newly restored Summer Palace, soldiers, civilians and bandits around Haidian also broke into houses and looted the remaining furnishings and treasures.
Yuanmingyuan is completely out of control, and looters are 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, and all the trees in the garden were hacked. All intact buildings were demolished, and wood, stones and bricks were transported to the nearby Qinghe county market for sale. 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.
Stone robbery: selling stones can also make a fortune.
During the looting in Eight-Nation Alliance, the local people tore down the tiger skin stone wall around the garden and stole the stones. Ruins such as Dashui Law were demolished, exquisite carved stone carvings were stolen and sold to masons, and the patterns were chiseled off and re-carved. Even the big bronze lion and many stone lions guarding Yuanmingyuan were moved to their own manor by some landlords. The huge Yuanming Three Gardens, except the palace gate of Qichun Garden, Fuyuan Gate Gate and Zhengjue Temple, were all demolished and robbed, and all became Songka.
After the Revolution of 1911 (19 1 1), the last emperor Puyi abdicated, and Yuanmingyuan remained the private property of the royal family. The park is guarded by eunuchs and protected by yamen and Zhongying officers and soldiers.
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 use 10 cars to pull Taihu Stone in the garden every day." In fact, the situation of dismantling and selling is far more serious than that recorded in the file. Wang Huaiqing, commander-in-chief of the garrison in both capital city, relied on his power to tear down the wall of Yuanmingyuan and transport the bricks for three years. Nie Xianfan, the infantry commander, was originally responsible for protecting the scene, but asked the lieutenant of Zhongying to send someone to take Taihu Stone 352 away from Changchun Garden. In order to repair his garden in Baoding, Cao Kun took dozens of cars from Wenyuan Pavilion to Xizhimen to load the train, and was escorted and protected by the Chinese and British guerrillas (official names). Xu Shichang demolished the timber belonging to Mingchun Garden and Jingchun Garden in Yuanmingyuan. The above behaviors are too numerous to mention.
1928, the Beiyang government collapsed, and after the Beiping Special Municipal Government took over Yuanmingyuan, the site suffered more organized damage. At this time, the object of "stone robbery" becomes all bricks and stones. In order to build a ballasted road from Haidian to Yuquan Mountain, the Beiping municipal government has successively ordered the demolition of the 4800-meter south wall of Yuanming Third Garden and all the tiger stone walls on the east side of Changchun Garden, and smashed them into rubble to make up for the lack of ballasting. At the same time, the "Cleaning the Yuanmingyuan Property Office" was set up, and the government authorities agreed to sell the so-called "waste bricks and stones" in the park at different prices, and the outer shadow wall of the Grand Palace was sold by tender; The stone pillars around the Shimen of Xiyanglou were sold to merchants at a mountain price to set up a monument for the soldiers killed in Suiyuan. The official even expressly stipulates that the tiger skin stones in Yuanmingyuan can be sold; The marble and blue stripe stone of the former site of Xiyang Building can be sold by whoever carves it coarsely. In addition, residents in the park have been digging stones and bricks for a long time in order to build houses and fences; During the period of Japanese puppet government, the poor people nearby stole bricks and stones from Yuanmingyuan because of hunger and cold, and the puppet government set up a brick collection office, which really encouraged the demon wind of digging. After such a long time, most of the ancient architectural sites in Yuanmingyuan have been dug up, and it is difficult to find complete bricks and tiles.
Although it is an excerpt, it is true ... I hope you are satisfied ...!