Looks like a palace, and each pavilion is connected together,
Marble, jade, bronze and porcelain are used to create a dream. Beams made of cedar wood, decorated with precious stones, draped in silk as a temple, and a harem, like a castle; It enshrines gods and installs monsters; paints them with oil, inlaid enamel, and gilds.
A fountain at a glance, a pool of water - it is the most famous Yuanmingyuan building in China.
Before it was burned by invaders, it was one of the greatest buildings that shook the world. The Yuanmingyuan, which has been killed for nearly a hundred years, now the world sees it again, but it is a ruined wall, broken stones, it is difficult to imagine how beautiful it once was, the Yuanmingyuan was burned down, it is the pain of the Chinese nation.
Why was the Old Summer Palace targeted by the Anglo-French forces?
In 1856, the British army shelled Guangzhou again, provoking the Second Opium War. The Qing government was corrupt and incompetent, and after being unable to stop the British attack, the following year britain and France joined forces to directly capture Guangzhou and go all the way north. Seeing that the Anglo-French coalition was on the verge of attacking Beijing, the Qing government had to send people to negotiate peace.
In the process of negotiations in Tongzhou, because of the contradictions and disputes arising from the consultation, the British were eventually rejected by the Qing government for unreasonable demands. Under these circumstances, Erjin, as the commander-in-chief of the Anglo-French coalition, was extremely dissatisfied with the Qing government's approach, and he decided to do everything he could to deal a heavy blow to the Xianfeng Emperor and let the Xianfeng Emperor try the strength of the coalition army.
Erjin once wrote in his diary: "This time the Qing government sent people to negotiate, we argued for a long time, and after rejecting our request, we absolutely want to give him a lesson of complete destruction." If the entire imperial palace and the Forbidden City where the emperor lived were to be burned down, it would undoubtedly scare away the last group of Qing government officials who remained in Beijing, and for us, if they escaped, who should we negotiate and sign a treaty? So after learning that the emperor loved the Yuanmingyuan the most, we decided to burn it down completely. ”
In order to make the entire People of the Qing Dynasty realize the power of the coalition forces, Erjin brazenly issued an order to burn down the Yuanmingyuan, and before burning this great building, Erjin also specially sent people to paste notices throughout the city of Beijing, explaining the reasons for the burning of the Yuanmingyuan and the time of the burning, as a punishment for the Qing Government, and all the responsibilities were borne by the Qing Government. In doing so, Elgin undoubtedly gave the entire city of Beijing a way out of the way, allowing them to try how powerful the British and French Empire really was.
After entering the city of Beijing for a short rest, the British and French allies held the map of Beijing drawn by Elgin to look for the Yuanmingyuan, but unfortunately, due to the large number of trees near the north of Beijing, the road was narrow, and it was impossible to distinguish the direction of progress, they had to find a local common man, and under his guidance through torture, the British and French troops finally marched to the Yuanmingyuan.
Two groups of British and French robbers began to loot and destroy the loot
After entering the Yuanmingyuan, the first question faced by the Anglo-French coalition army was: "How to deal with the huge wealth collected in the Yuanmingyuan?" "At the suggestion of Commander-in-Chief Erkin, in order to make the sharing of the spoils more equitable, the British and French set up a special mixed acceptance committee, which was composed of one colonel and two soldiers from each side of the British and French sides. In the process of cleaning up the treasures, the French soldiers found the treasure storage place of the Xianfeng Emperor, which contained nearly 800,000 francs of gold and silver treasures, not only pearls, but also various corals and jadeite.
On the proposal of the Mixed Acceptance Committee, both France and England each received a national treasure worth four hundred thousand francs. Although there were mixed acceptance committees as collateral, the british and French methods of plunder were diametrically opposed. The French were in complete chaos, unorganized and undisciplined in their plundering, while the British were organized and methodical in their rational plundering. In the process of plundering the treasures of the Yuanmingyuan, the French soldiers only snatched nearly one-tenth of the wealth that the British soldiers could dispose of.
On the day of the plunder, the French commander Montauban immediately issued an order to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in France, telling the members of the French commissars to pay attention to the fact that all objects of artistic and archaeological value should be presented to Napoleon III by His Excellency in the name of the extremely rare things in France, and they should be treasured in the French Museum.
On the other side, the British commander Grant also issued an order to collect all the treasures collected by the army and belong to the British government. In this plunder of gold, silver and treasures and cultural and artistic treasures, the Anglo-French coalition forces created some estrangement, and even the soldiers of the two countries fought in groups to fight a civil war, but fortunately, the mixed committee finally came forward and gave a timely stop.
After a large number of treasures were plundered and taken away, the British and French forces began to sabotage. And those large treasures that could not be taken away were destroyed by the British and French forces for 48 hours. According to the officers involved in the looting scene, "In the process of destruction, all the catharsis broke out completely at that moment, all the porcelain objects that could not be moved were smashed, the sappers would also use large axes to smash all the antique furniture, and all the gems embedded in them were removed and removed, and some fierce soldiers would shoot at the candlesticks for fun." ”
In a sense, the Anglo-French coalition destroyed not only a Yuanmingyuan, but also the royal gardens and private gardens in the northern part of Beijing. In the Records of the Court of the Late Qing Dynasty, it was recorded that "all the sacred and solemn objects that the whole country revered and the exquisite and gorgeous objects collected throughout the ages were burned to the ground and turned into ashes." Red flames reflected on the faces of the officers and men who set fire, making them look like demons.
The burning of the Yuanmingyuan caused controversy, and in the end only the British themselves participated
In the consciousness of many people, the burning of the Yuanmingyuan is a masterpiece in which Britain and France participate together. However, in fact, only the British carried out the burning alone, and had nothing to do with France. The Idea of the British to burn the Yuanmingyuan was opposed by the French, who were opposed to the looting and destruction of the Yuanmingyuan's treasures, but the French were opposed to the complete burning of the Yuanmingyuan.
First, the French have always been known for their romance, in the eyes of the French, although they plundered and destroyed the treasures of the Yuanmingyuan, but the Yuanmingyuan as a magnificent building that shocked the world, the Chinese-style "Palace of Versailles" is full of a lot of artistic atmosphere, if this kind of building is burned and destroyed, it is a pity.
Special Envoy of France
In a letter to Army Secretary Langton, Meng Douban said: "I have admired all the exquisite workmanship in the Yuanmingyuan, but unfortunately it has been burned now." This is an act of revenge that is inappropriate with a civilized people, because it destroys those admired buildings that have been respected for centuries. ”
Second, for the French, burning the Yuanmingyuan is meaningless, because it will soon be possible to sign a treaty with the Qing Dynasty government, and if you do this kind of meaningless burning of the Yuanmingyuan again, the impact in the international arena is very large, and even the reputation of the country will be affected.
For the Concerns of the French, the British did not think so, they always insisted on the idea of burning the Yuanmingyuan, first, to vent their emotions, to avenge the Qing Government's failure to agree to their demands, to give a complete mental blow to the Emperor of the Qing Government, and second, in the eyes of the British, the burning of the Yuanmingyuan was also destroying the evidence of their plunder. Faced with the arrogant Peacock-like British army, the French were helpless, after all, the leader of the coalition army was the British. Forced by affection, the French had to agree to the British request, but the French did not personally participate in the burning of the Old Summer Palace.
The British soldiers were divided into dozens of groups, each armed with torches, starting with a palace made of cedar wood in the garden. When the smoke rose, the entire Yuanmingyuan fell into the sea of fire, and hundreds of craftsmen and palace ladies and eunuchs were all killed in the fire of the Yuanmingyuan.
If it were not for the order of the infamous collector of ancient Greek stone sculptures, the seventh Earl of Elgin, to burn down the Yuanmingyuan, perhaps the various rare ancient books and other exquisite works of art in our country at that time would not have been annihilated in the fire.
Commander-in-Chief Erjin said recklessly: "Such a building should not exist in China, this is the evil consequence of the Qing government running counter to us." "Faced with the scene of the raging fire, many British expeditionary forces were shocked, not expecting to become barbarians and completely destroy this magnificent building like a painting.
When the Yuanmingyuan was killed in the sea of fire, Prince Gong Yixun received orders from the emperor to stay in Beijing, and in the face of all the conditions proposed by the Anglo-French army, he promised and agreed to it. Not long after, the "Treaty of Tianjin" and the "Treaty of Beijing" were signed with them, and the imperialist powers also ceded Hong Kong at that time in Our country, and also extorted the Qing government to compensate 16 million taels of silver.
The Yuanmingyuan was devastated and left. The burning of the Yuanmingyuan is undoubtedly the worst act in history, and the harm inflicted on China by these two atrocious countries is abhorrent.
We can't imagine how this delightful castle-like building was destroyed at the time. Today, this breathtaking masterpiece has completely disappeared from the world. The master messenger of the arson made the people of the whole world realize how barbaric he really was, and the annals of history also recorded this unbearable scene, so that future generations can remember this history of humiliation!
#2021生机大会 #