Yuanmingyuan is not only magnificent in architecture, but also contains the most precious historical relics: bronze ritual vessels in the pre-Qin period, celebrity paintings and calligraphy in the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and various rare treasures. Therefore, it was the largest museum and art gallery in the world at that time.
1860101On October 6th, British and French forces invaded Beijing and invaded Yuanmingyuan. They robbed the garden of everything they could take away; If you can't move it, use carts or animals to carry it; If it can't be shipped, it will be destroyed at will.
In order to destroy the criminal evidence, more than 3000 intruders were ordered to set fire to the garden on June 18 and June 19. The fire burned for three days and thick smoke enveloped the whole city of Beijing. China, the treasure of garden art and the essence of architectural art, was reduced to ashes in this way.
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In the decades after the demise of the Qing Dynasty, the remains of Yuanmingyuan site were constantly looted. Building materials such as square bricks, strips, stones, white marble carvings, Taihu stone and bluestone in the park were transported away by warlords and bureaucrats to build private gardens and tombs, and the tiger-skin stone fence in Yuanmingyuan was demolished to build roads. In addition, some cultural relics of Yuanmingyuan were placed in public places, such as the bronze unicorn at the entrance of Changchun Garden, the pen stone of Anyou Palace, and the Shui Mu Mingse Monument. These cultural relics were moved from 19 10 to 1937 in the Summer Palace.
The Hua Biao of Anyou Palace, Lin Shiqi, Xingfa Bridge of Xiyanglou, Fan Weishiyu, Shi Mei Monument, Yanhua Monument and Wenyuan Pavilion Monument were moved to the old libraries in yenching university and Beijing respectively. Precious Taihu stones such as Lanting Eight Pillars Monument, Yuanying Guanshi Balcony and "utpala" were moved to Zhongshan Park on 19 15; The stone lion in the east gate of Changchun Garden and its pedestal moved to Zhengyangmen and xinhua gate.
The white marble and bricks at the site of Xiyanglou were also transported away by warlords and bureaucrats, or bought by various stone workshops and carved into other stones on the spot. 1928, the stone of Dashuifa site was demolished to build a memorial for the soldiers killed in Suiyuan. During the Japanese occupation in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, some sites in the park were filled with lakes by Pingshan under the slogan of "rewarding agriculture" and changed into paddy fields.