Burning Yuanmingyuan is a familiar expression. In fact, the real concept of burning Yuanmingyuan is not only burning Yuanmingyuan, but also burning the royal three mountains and five gardens in western Beijing. The burning range is much larger than that of Yuanmingyuan. These three mountains and five gardens are Wanshou Mountain, Yuquan Mountain, Xiangshan Mountain, Qingyi Garden, Yuanmingyuan Garden, Changchun Garden, Jingming Garden and Jingyi Garden.

The invading army burned Yuanmingyuan twice in history. The first time was in the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860), when the British and French allied forces invaded Beijing. The British and French allied forces burned and looted everywhere, and the world-famous Yuanmingyuan was burned down, and most of the temple buildings in the park were destroyed by fire. When the British and French allied forces burned the Yuanmingyuan, they intended 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 (1873), there are still 13 buildings in the park, such as Pengdao Yaotai in Yuanmingyuan, Cangzhou Wu, Dagongmen and Zhengjue Temple in Qichun Garden. The second burning of Yuanmingyuan was in the 26th year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (1900).

In literary works, it seems that the sin of burning Yuanmingyuan is attributed to the incompetence of Empress Dowager Cixi. It sounds reasonable, but it is not accurate. Countless facts in history show that a poor, backward and weak country and nation can only be oppressed, exploited, insulted, invaded and plundered. The history of burning Yuanmingyuan once again proves that a country that is poor, backward and weak will be beaten.