In the 18th century, when western countries began the industrial revolution and strived to go upstream, the land of China was still immersed in a false prosperity, the afterglow of the Kangqian dynasty still seemed to shine on this eastern empire, the royal family still adhered to the posture of the heavenly kingdom, and various gardens were constantly built, the most famous of which was the Yuanmingyuan. Under the expansion of successive emperors, this imperial garden has become the largest garden in the country, and the combination of east and west can be called the pearl in the history of world garden architecture.
Partial restoration of the Old Summer Palace
However, with the sound of Westerners' artillery fire, the war spread across the Central Plains, and the royal family fled in a hurry. Without the protection of the prosperous dynasty, the former "pearl" was looted by shameless robbers, leaving only ruins and broken walls, adding to the sadness. Later, the Yuanmingyuan became a scenic spot for people to visit, and its huge footprint made people exclaim the grandeur before it was destroyed.
Ruins of the Old Summer Palace
Yuanmingyuan, as a royal garden, is not only a scenic resort, but also hides many royal treasures, after the Yuanmingyuan was burned, where are those treasures?
The "pearl" in the history of architecture - the Old Summer Palace
In the middle of the seventeenth century, the Manchus, who lived between the White Mountains and the Black Water, ended the chaotic era at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and after centuries of nomadic life, they were soon lost in the flower and flower world of the Central Plains. After entering the customs, the Manchus were dissatisfied with the water and soil, the climate in Eastern Liaoning was humid, while Beijing was a typical dry climate, so in order to alleviate this problem, the royal family and nobles had the idea of going out to escape the summer and relax.
Mountain resort
Since the Ming Dynasty, the nobles began to build gardens in the western suburbs of Beijing, where there are not only continuous green mountains, but also beautiful and clear mountain springs, and every late autumn, it is an excellent place to enjoy the scenery and escape the summer. According to reports, Li Wei, the grandfather of the Wanli Emperor, built the Qinghua Garden here, and the great calligrapher Mi Wanzhong built the "Spoon Garden", and for a while the pavilions in the western suburbs were all tilted. With such a historical origin, the imperial family of the Qing Dynasty naturally had a good feeling for this place, and the Kangxi Emperor once again built gardens such as Changchun Garden and Yuanmingyuan, and gave the Yuanmingyuan to the Yongzheng Emperor, who was still the Prince of Yong at the time, in the last year of The Kangxi Dynasty.
Spoon Garden
In the late Kangxi Dynasty, the Ninth Son seized the concubine, the situation was chaotic, and the Yongzheng Emperor often took refuge in the Yuanmingyuan Taoguang Yang obscure, at this time the Yuanmingyuan was just an ordinary imperial garden. After the Yongzheng Emperor ascended the throne, the Yuanmingyuan chicken dog ascended to heaven and became the emperor's "hidden residence" and began the first expansion. The expanded Yuanmingyuan covers an area of 3,000 acres, of which the pavilions and pavilions are all available, which can be called langyuan xianpao. After the Yongzheng Emperor ascended the throne, he often left many paintings in the Yuanmingyuan.
Yongzheng Emperor
Since then, the Yuanmingyuan has been expanded by qianlong, Jiaqing and other emperors, and there are more than 600 buildings in the Yuanmingyuan, which Western missionaries call "China's Versailles Palace".
The Yuanmingyuan, which was devastated
By the 19th century, the Qing Dynasty's national strength was weakened, the Opium War broke out, and the British's strong ships and cannons opened the country's doors, after which the country fell and declined. After that, the Western countries that tasted the sweetness repeatedly made excessive demands, and finally launched the Second Opium War in 1856, which also suffered a catastrophe in the Yuanmingyuan.
Opium war
In the face of the surging Western soldiers, the royal family fled in a hurry, and those "robbers" heard about the reputation of the Yuanmingyuan "Versailles of the East", and one by one they poured into this quiet garden, where the sound of killing and looting sounded. During this catastrophe, a large number of cultural relics, gold and silver, and more than 400 pieces of clocks stored in the Yuanmingyuan were looted, and when the emperor of this dynasty returned to his city, he saw a mess.
The Yuanmingyuan was looted
The royal family, which had eased up, began to rebuild the Yuanmingyuan in order to be decent and to provide a nurturing environment for the empress, but due to financial, material resources and the political situation at that time, only part of the Yuanmingyuan was restored, including the famous Summer Palace. However, the world is huge, the country is already difficult to return, foreigners are wandering around in the Central Plains, and the Yuanmingyuan is forced to undergo a baptism of fire, and it is also at this time that the Qing Dynasty's control over the Yuanmingyuan is completely ineffective.
Summer palace
Not only foreigners snatched cultural relics here, but some hooligans also quietly came in to steal cultural relics and sell them to make a fortune, even the ancient trees and strange stones in the park were removed, and the Yuanmingyuan has no past style since then, and has completely become a ruined wall.
Where are the relics of the Old Summer Palace?
It is said that there are no less than a million cultural relics stored in the Yuanmingyuan, and there are many gold and silver jewelry, so where are these treasures? Most of the cultural relics of the Yuanmingyuan have been taken away by Western countries such as Britain, France and Germany, and now some precious porcelain and cultural relics can be seen in the British Empire Museum in London, and this is not the country that has taken the most treasures in the Yuanmingyuan.
Chinese porcelain in the British Museum
France was the biggest winner of this "carnival", and after the officers grabbed the cultural relics, they donated most of the cultural relics to the empress of Napoleon III, so much so that there were enough places to build a Chinese museum in fontainebleau Palace, which contained about 30,000 yuanmingyuan artifacts.
Fontainebleau Palace Chinese Pavilion
In addition, China's cultural relics have also repeatedly appeared in the spring and autumn auctions of well-known auctions such as Sotheby's and Christie's, which are highly sought after by people. With the improvement of the country's economic and political strength, China is actively recovering those "wanderers" who have wandered away from home, such as the head of the zodiac beast. Due to the strength of the country and the increasing number of Chinese people active in the international community, many patriotic businessmen have also begun to buy cultural relics from auctions and donate them to the state to contribute to the return of cultural relics.
Zodiac head
Although today's Yuanmingyuan has lost its former style and only leaves some dead branches, it symbolizes the general fact that backwardness will be beaten by the subway, urging people to strive to develop the country, build the country into a world-class country, and realize the rejuvenation of the country. The Yuanmingyuan has now opened into a scenic spot, and people from all over the world can come here to see the traces of history, which is a vivid patriotic education lesson that contributes to the great rejuvenation of the nation.
epilogue
The miserable scene of the Yuanmingyuan tells the story of that history full of oppression, sadness and shame, whipping us forward and washing away humiliation. Today, our country is no longer a weak country that is oppressed by others, the "sleeping lion" has long woken up, and the strong strength allows us to stand among the nations of the world. Under the support of strength, the cultural relics that were once plundered in the Yuanmingyuan are "returning home" one by one, and it is believed that one day, the lost cultural relics of the Yuanmingyuan will return to their hometown.