Speaking of the Old Summer Palace, it's really a pity. It has the title of The Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens, but the Yuanmingyuan was destroyed in the Second Opium War. This garden, belonging to the imperial garden of the Qing Dynasty, has a high art of construction. It is a collection of garden styles from all over China, both from the north and from the south. The emperors of the Qing Dynasty fused them into this gorgeous imperial garden, and finally achieved the garden of this civilized world. The Yuanmingyuan passed through the three dynasties of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, and finally completed. Inside, there are not only Chinese-style buildings, but also Western-style buildings, although the area accounts for only 2%, but also reflects the exchange between China and the West. With the decline of the Qing Dynasty, the Yuanmingyuan was also looted and is now in ruins.
In the face of this humiliation, many people also want to restore the Yuanmingyuan to its original state. As things stand, recovery is not a problem. The key is whether something should change or not. Some people on the Internet suggested restoration, and some people supported maintaining the status quo, and eventually two factions emerged. So should we rebuild the Old Summer Palace? If the Old Summer Palace is rebuilt, what problems will it encounter?
The first is the problem of site selection, many people say that it should be built in the original place, this is no problem. If it can be built in situ, it will have the feeling of erasing the evidence of the enemy's crime, which is equivalent to forgetting the shame of the past. And if you want to achieve the same as the original Yuanmingyuan, this is difficult to do. Because of the lack of some historical documents, many details are difficult to achieve. The general style can be restored, but internally, it is still not exactly the same. After all, the current craftsmanship is different from the ancient one, and perhaps we can surpass the ancient one, but it lacks some cultural charm.
The second is the issue of cultural relics and treasures. If we only build an "empty shell" Yuanmingyuan, what is the use of that? Attract people by architecture? In the history of the Yuanmingyuan, in addition to the glory of the building, the cultural relics and treasures inside are the most important. Whether it is jade, porcelain, pearls, calligraphy and painting, historical documents and so on. They are extremely valuable and an indispensable part of the Old Summer Palace. Today, these treasures have been lost overseas, but they cannot be recovered in their entirety. To this end, the reconstruction of the Yuanmingyuan, cultural relics are the key. Only after recovering most of the cultural relics should we consider rebuilding the Old Summer Palace.
Finally, there is the choice of patriotic education. The Yuanmingyuan in the ruins can better reflect the shame of that year. Repairing the Yuanmingyuan will indeed erase the pain of the past, seeing the glorious Yuanmingyuan, who will remember the Second Opium War? Who remembers that this garden was destroyed? Use the ruins of the present, be wary of future generations, and do not forget the national shame.
In the current situation, it is not suitable for the reconstruction of the Old Summer Palace. In fact, it is not so simple to rebuild the Yuanmingyuan, which will affect many aspects. The proposal to rebuild the Yuanmingyuan has been proposed as many as four times, but the result is still rejected by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. In the controversy between the "Restorationists" and the "Ruins", each has its own reasons. In the 1980s, when the first controversy began, the "Restorationists" gained momentum. The second time in the 90s, the two sides were evenly matched. At the beginning of the new century for the third time, the "restoration faction" gradually fell behind, and the "ruin faction" had the advantage. The fourth time is this year's battle.
Judging from the situation of the debate between the two sides, the basic viewpoint of the "ruin faction" is not to forget the national shame, and the viewpoint of the "restoration faction" is to show glory. For this reason, the two sides have argued many times. However, the state is also preparing. For example, since 2015, systematic archaeological excavations have been carried out on the Ruyuan Garden, the Omiya Gate, the Acropolis, the Zibi Mountain House, and the Scenic Area of the Western-style Building. As you dig deeper, the complexity of the Old Summer Palace is so high. For example, in Ruyuan, every few steps, you will see a scene. That's why I say it's hard to be exactly the same internally, of course, as long as it can reach more than 80% similarity, it is already perfect.
In the ruins of the Yuanmingyuan, perhaps everyone sees the ruins, but from 1996 to 2017, archaeologists excavated more than 50,000 cultural relics from the ruins of the Yuanmingyuan. It can be seen that there are many underground cultural relics here, and perhaps the Qing Dynasty built an underground palace below. As the excavation continues, many valuable artifacts will appear.
At present, the area of archaeological excavation accounts for only 20%. Only after comprehensive excavation can it be said that the Yuanmingyuan can be reconstructed. Because these artifacts need an exhibition, they also increase the chances of rebuilding the Yuanmingyuan. From the current point of view, the appropriate construction of a part of the garden will not only have the opportunity to exhibit more cultural relics, but also protect the original ruins. In short, at present, it is still impossible to rebuild the Yuanmingyuan on a large scale, at least the conditions are not yet met. Maybe one day it will happen, but important sites will also be preserved, after all, it was a shame.