The Garden of Gardens: How a Global Treasure Became China's National Wound
In short: Once the pinnacle of imperial design, the Old Summer Palace was a sprawling 860-acre complex of art and architecture. In 1860, it was systematically looted and burned by Anglo-French forces. Today, its ruins serve as a haunting, sensitive symbol of foreign humiliation and a complex debate over historical memory.
The Old Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan, was far more than a summer retreat. Constructed over the 18th and early 19th centuries, it served as the primary residence for the Qing dynasty's emperors, including the Qianlong Emperor. It was a massive, 3.5-square-kilometre complex of gardens, halls, and pavilions, housing an unparalleled collection of art and literature that represented 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. While the site featured a small section of European-style palaces designed by Jesuit architects, over 95% of the grounds were dedicated to traditional Chinese architecture, landscapes, and diverse cultural styles.
The destruction occurred during the Second Opium War. Following the imprisonment and death of an Anglo-French diplomatic delegation, the 8th Earl of Elgin ordered the palace's total destruction in October 1860. It took 3,500 British troops three days to burn the site, an act that even then was described by participant Charles George Gordon as 'wretchedly demoralising work.' While the French commander initially claimed the site was untouched, extensive looting had already occurred, scattering thousands of treasures to museums worldwide. The palace suffered further degradation during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion and subsequent decades of neglect and material scavenging.
Today, the site is a potent symbol of China's 'national wound.' Debates persist over whether to fully restore the gardens or preserve the ruins as a historical relic. Recent environmental controversies, such as a 2005 plan to line lake beds with membranes, ignited public outcry, highlighting how deeply the memory of the 1860 destruction remains embedded in the modern Chinese consciousness. While some relics have been returned, the palace remains a site of contested history, serving as both a tourist attraction and a painful reminder of the imperial era's end.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Old Summer Palace
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