Old Summer Palace

The Old Summer Palace, known in China as the Gardens of Perfect Brightness ({{zh-cp|c=圆明园 / 圓明園|p=Yuánmíng Yuán}}), and originally called the Imperial Gardens ({{zh-cp|c=御園|p=Yù Yuán}}), was an extremely large complex of palaces and gardens 8 km (5 miles) northwest of the walls of Beijing, built in the 18th and early 19th century, where the emperors of the Qing Dynasty resided and handled government affairs, the Forbidden City inside Beijing being used only for formal ceremonies. Also known to be one of the largest museums in the world (a popular name in China was the "Garden of Gardens", 萬園之園), the Imperial Gardens were entirely destroyed by British and French troops in 1860. Today, the destruction of the Gardens of Perfect Brightness is still felt inside China as a vivid symbol of foreign aggression and humiliation.

Destruction

In 1860, during the Second Opium War, the British and French expeditionary forces looted the Old Summer Palace. Later, on October 18 1860, the British general Lord Elgin - with protestations from the French General, Gros - purposely ordered to set fire to the huge complex which burned to the ground. It took 3,500 British troops to set the entire place ablaze and took three whole days to burn. Elgin justified the order as retaliation for the imprisonment, torture, and murder of several western prisoners of war, among them two British envoys who had been under protection of a flag of truce. Elgin's democratic sensibilities were also revolted by the enormously wasteful opulence of the Chinese ruling class in the face of the impoverished and oppressed people, and devised the burning as a direct insult to the ruling class, and an example to the people of Western ways of dealing with tyrants. The burning of the Gardens of Perfect Brightness is still a very sensitive issue in China today.

Related Topics:
Second Opium War - October 18 - 1860 - Lord Elgin

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