In 1861, the French writer Victor Hugo severely criticized Britain and France in a letter to his friend Captain Barrett who participated in the British and French forces in the Second Opium War. The crimes committed by the coalition forces in the Old Summer Palace expressed the respectable sense of justice and magnanimity of this literary giant. To Captain Barrett, November 25, 1861, you would like to know my opinion on the military expedition to China. Since you consider this expedition a heroic and honorable undertaking, I can only help you to give some meaning to my opinion. In your opinion, this expedition undertaken by the combined fleets of Queen Victoria and Emperor Napoleon is a great honor, and it is an honor shared by France and England. Therefore, you are very interested to know what I think of England and France. Is there a full understanding of this victory? Since you want to hear my opinion, let me share my opinion. In a corner of the earth, there is a magical world called Summer Palace. What lays the foundation of art are these two factors, namely the rationality that produces European art and the imagination that produces Eastern art. In an art based on imagination, the Summer Palace is equivalent to the Parthenon in an art based on reason. Everything that the imagination of the people, almost magically, the people could create, was embodied in the Summer Palace. The Parthenon is an extremely rare and unique creation in the world, but the Summer Palace is a huge model based on imagination, and such a model can only be built based on imagination. You just have to imagine that it is a fascinating building, like a castle in the Moon Palace. The Summer Palace is one such building. You can use marble, jade, bronze and ceramics to create your imagination; you can use spun pine as its building materials; you can take the most precious treasures in your imagination and use them with extremely gorgeous famous silks. To decorate it; you can use your imagination to turn it into a palace, a boudoir, or a castle; you can imagine that it is full of gods and goddesses, and it is full of treasures; you can imagine that this building is all painted with paint. It's made with enamel, gold, and fine carvings; you can in your imagination instruct those architects who have the imagination of poets to make the thousand and one stories in "One Thousand and One Nights" You can express yourself in a dream; you can also imagine that there are gardens all around, with fountains, swans, scarves and peacocks everywhere. In a word - you can use the infinite richness and incomparable imagination of human beings to imagine it as a temple or a palace - in this way, this magical world will be displayed before your eyes. To create it, two entire generations were required to labor for months and months. This building, which is as huge as a city, took several centuries to build. Why did people build this? It is for all peoples of the world. Because the era that created all this is the era of the people. Artists, poets, philosophers, everyone knew about this summer palace; Voltaire mentioned it. People often say this: Greece has the Parthenon, Egypt has the Pyramids, Rome has the Coliseum, Paris has Notre Dame, and the East has the Summer Palace. For those who have not seen it with their own eyes, just imagine it in their imagination. This is a breathtaking, unparalleled masterpiece of art. The depiction of it here is still very far away from it, and it is made in a mysterious twilight. It is like the Asian civilization appearing dimly on the horizon of European civilization. A silhouette. This magical world is now gone. One day, two robbers broke into the summer palace. One started to rob it, and the other set it on fire. It turns out that victory is a plunder. The victors stole all the wealth of the summer palace and divided the spoils among themselves. All these things were done in the name of Elgin. This reminds people of the Parthenon. They treated the Summer Palace the same way they treated the Parthenon, but this time they did it more simply and thoroughly, sweeping away everything without leaving anything behind. Even if all the treasures of all the churches in our country were added together, they would not be comparable to this large and magnificent Oriental Museum. This Oriental museum houses not only outstanding works of art, but also a dazzling array of gold and silver artifacts. This is really a great achievement and a very proud extra money! One of the victors filled all the pockets, and the other did the same thing and filled several chests. After that, they held hands and returned to Europe in glory. This is the experience of these two robbers.

We, Europeans, always think of ourselves as civilized people; in our eyes, the Chinese are barbarians. However, this is how civilization treats barbarism. When the time comes for the judgment of history, one of the robbers will be called France, and the other will be called England. However, I would like to protest here, and I would also like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to do so. The crimes committed by rulers must not be confused with the faults of the people they rule. It is always the Communists who engage in banditry. As for the people of all countries, they have never been bandits. The French Empire has embezzled half of its treasures, and now, she has gone so far as to take out these magnificent ancient cultural relics from the Summer Palace for public display as the owner. I believe that there will be a day like this - this day, France, which has been liberated and has washed away its filth, will return its stolen goods to the robbed China. For the time being, I will prove this: these two robbers were responsible for this robbery. Your Excellency, you finally know now that I have a full understanding of this military expedition to China. (Originally published in "Guangming Daily" on March 29, 1962, translated by Cheng Daixi) In a corner of the world, there is a world miracle, this miracle is called the Old Summer Palace. Art has two origins: one is ideal, which produces European art; the other is fantasy, which produces Eastern art. The position of the Old Summer Palace in fantasy art is the same as the Parthenon in ideal art. This is what the imagination of an almost superhuman nation can achieve. This is not a rare, unique work, like the Parthenon; it is some colossal example of fantasy, if fantasy can have a model. Please imagine that there is a building that cannot be described in words, some kind of moon palace-like building. This is the Old Summer Palace. Please build a dream. Use marble, jade, bronze, porcelain, and cedar to make the beams of this dream. Cover it with precious stones from top to bottom, cover it with silk and satin, build a temple here, build a harem there, and build a city tower. , put statues of gods and strange beasts in them, decorate them with glass, enamel, gold, and powder, and ask architects who are poets to build the thousand and one dreams of the thousand and one nights, and then add Gardens, pools, fountains, flocks of swans, ibises and peacocks. In short, please imagine that there is some kind of dazzling cave created by human whim, and its appearance is a temple or a palace. , this is this garden. It took two generations of long-term labor to create the Old Summer Palace. This building, as big as a city, was built by generations, and for whom? For people of all countries. Because the things accomplished by time belong to human beings. Artists, poets, philosophers all knew the Old Summer Palace in the past; Voltaire talked about it. We often say: Greece has the Parthenon, Egypt has the Pyramids, Rome has the Colosseum, Paris has Notre Dame, and the East has the Old Summer Palace. If you haven’t seen it, you have also dreamed of it. This was once some kind of frightening unknown masterpiece, vaguely visible in the indescribable morning light, like the silhouette of Asian civilization on the horizon of European civilization. The miracle has disappeared. One day, two robbers entered the Old Summer Palace. One robber looted, another set fire to it. It seems that the goddess of victory may be a thief. Massive destruction of the Old Summer Palace was carried out, shared between the two victors. We see that this whole incident is also related to the name of Elgin, which is destined to remind people of the Parthenon. What was done to the Parthenon in the past was done to the Old Summer Palace now, more thoroughly and more beautifully, until nothing remains. If all the treasures of all our cathedrals were put together, they would not equal this marvelous and magnificent museum of the East. There are not only art treasures in the garden, but also piles of gold and silver products. Great achievements and huge gains. The two victors, one with his pockets full for all to see, and the other with his suitcases full; they returned to Europe arm in arm, smiling. This is the story of two robbers. We Europeans, we are civilized people, the Chinese are barbarians to us. This is what civilization does to barbarism! In the face of history, one of these two robbers will be called France and the other will be called Britain. I want to protest first, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to protest: the crime of those who govern others is not the fault of those who govern others; *** are sometimes robbers, but the people never are. The French Empire has swallowed half of the fruits of victory. Today, the Empire displays the magnificent rags of the Old Summer Palace with a certain naivety of ownership.

I hope that one day, the liberated and clean France will return this stolen goods to the plundered China. Now, I confirm that a theft occurred and there were two thieves. Victor Hugo lived in Gaocheng on November 25, 1861