In the tenth year of Xianfeng, namely 1860, the British and French allied forces captured Beijing and occupied Yuanmingyuan. China's army was unable to resist, the chief minister of Yuanmingyuan jumped into the sea and killed himself, and Chang Ai, who lived in Yuanmingyuan, died of fright.

Elgin, the British leader, with the support of British Prime Minister Pa Max Don, ordered the burning of Yuanmingyuan. Finally, in 1860, 18 10, James Bruce, commander-in-chief of the British army and the eighth earl of Elgin, ordered the Yuanmingyuan to be burned.

In the next two days, British and French soldiers were sent to various palaces, pagodas and other buildings to set fire. The fire lasted for three days from 1860, 10, 18 to 10, 2 1, which was the famous incident of burning Yuanmingyuan in history.

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1857, Britain joined forces to invade China under the pretext of Yarrow incident and Father Ma incident. After occupying Guangzhou, they continued to invade Beijing. Emperor Xianfeng was frightened and sent his sixth brother Prince Gong as an imperial envoy to stay in Beijing to preside over the peace talks. He took his empresses, princes, princes and a group of ministers and fled to Jehol Palace in a hurry.

On October 5th, 65438/KLOC-0, British and French troops arrived at the gates of Beijing. According to the information provided by Russian diplomat ignatieff, the defenders of the Qing Dynasty were concentrated in the East City, and the North City was the weakest place, which should be captured first. It is also said that the Qing emperor of China was in Yuanmingyuan in the northwest suburb. As a result, the British and French allied forces bypassed Andingmen and Deshengmen and invaded Yuanmingyuan.

10 year10.6, the British and French allied forces invaded Yuanmingyuan, and then carried out robbery crazily. The first to break into Yuanmingyuan was the French invaders, who took everything they saw. The treasure in each French soldier's pocket is worth 30 thousand to 40 thousand francs. They came empty-handed and returned loaded. In the French military camp, there are valuable clocks and watches, colorful silks and satins and precious works of art worth 30 million francs.

Although the British invaders came a little late, their pockets were full of gold and silver. To make matters worse, they smashed those big porcelain and enamel bottles that could not be moved. After the British and French invaders looted the Yuanmingyuan, in order to eliminate the spoils and cover up the crimes, British Minister Erkin, with the support of British Prime Minister Pa Max Don, ordered the Yuanmingyuan to be burned.

The fire burned for three days and nights, turning this world-famous garden into a scorched earth. The British and French allied forces burned the Yuanmingyuan, aiming to raze it to the ground. However, due to the large area of Yuanmingyuan, scattered scenic spots and vast waters, some remote places and scenic spots in the water survived. According to the winter survey in the 12th year of Tongzhi, there are still 13 buildings in the park.

For example, Pengdao Yaotai and Cangzhou Wu in Yuanmingyuan, Dagongmen and Zhengjue Temple in Qichun Garden, etc. Yuanmingyuan was burned for the second time in the 26th year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty. Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing and set fire to Yuanmingyuan again, which made the remaining 13 royal palace buildings looted and burned again.

Baidu encyclopedia-burning Yuanmingyuan