In 1860, the Yuanmingyuan, known as the "Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens", was flooded by a fire, and the former golden splendor became a ruin, and the fire burned for three days and three nights, becoming the rarest atrocity in the history of world civilization.
After the end of the First Opium War, Western capitalists invaded the land of China one after another, and their privileges and interests could no longer satisfy them, and they gradually wanted to infringe on China's sovereignty and carry out economic plunder. In 1958, the Treaty of Nanking had reached 12 years, and britain proposed to the Qing government to amend the Treaty of Nanking, but it was vetoed by the Qing government, and two years later, the twelve years of the Treaty of Wangxia had expired, so the United States, with the support of Britain and France, once again proposed to the Qing government to amend the Treaty of Nanking, but it was rejected by the Qing government. In the end, the patience of the Western powers has been exhausted, and they are ready to seize the opportunity to launch a large-scale war of aggression against China.
In October 1956, the British used the "Yarrow Incident" as an excuse to start a war. The Yaluo was a Qing government vessel that had been registered with the Hong Kong authorities for smuggling purposes, but had expired by then. On October 8, the British captured immigrant pirates and sailors on this ship, which should have been the business of the Qing government, but the British seized the opportunity to launch a war against the Qing government. On October 23, the offensive began, and it took three days to occupy all the forts inside the Tiger Gate, and a large-scale Anglo-French invasion of China struck.
In 1860, the British and French forces captured Beijing and seized the Yuanmingyuan, the Chinese defenders were outnumbered, and Wen Fengfu, the grand director of the Yuanmingyuan, had no choice but to commit suicide by throwing himself into the well, and chang concubines in the courtyard were frightened and killed. The british army leaders, with the support of the Prime Minister, set fire to the Old Summer Palace. 3500 British and French troops rushed into the Yuanmingyuan to plunder China's treasures, the fire burned for three days and three nights, even the Qingyi Garden and Jingmingyuan near the Yuanmingyuan were burned to rubble, nearly 300 eunuchs and palace women were buried in the sea of fire, and the Yuanmingyuan, which the Qing emperor had operated for more than 150 years, was burned to ashes overnight.
The Forbidden City could see the burning Yuanmingyuan, but they could do nothing, in the face of the powerful Anglo-French coalition they could only sit still and let others slaughter, but the Forbidden City was a place where they did not dare to move, and one reason made them dispel their thoughts - the Forbidden City was the home of the emperors of previous dynasties. The simplest reason why the Western powers burned the Yuanmingyuan was to threaten the Qing government, they only wanted more economic benefits, as well as Chinese sovereignty. Robbing Chinese treasures and burning the Yuanmingyuan to obtain endless economic value for them was only a little less money for the Qing government, but if the Forbidden City was burned, it would be to burn down the home of the Qing emperor. It is likely for them to break with China and thus not benefit.
The Qing government knew that it had become a defeat and could not recover the situation, and finally in 1860 it was forced to sign the Treaty of Beijing, and more than 1.5 million square kilometers of land were forced to cede. The Qing government was also crumbling after this invasion, but it still retained some strength to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the Qing government's rule was maintained. But a series of unequal treaties led to a much deeper degree of semi-colonization in China.
Today's Yuanmingyuan can no longer return to its former appearance, the scene of desolation and decay is deeply imprinted in the hearts of every Chinese son and daughter, the pain of the invasion cannot be hidden, many treasures have been lost, and they have not been able to return to the motherland!