Yuanmingyuan was brutally looted and burned by the British and French allied forces in the tenth year of Xianfeng, that is,1June, 860, which became a humiliating history in China's modern history. By the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the science and technology of the whole country had fallen far behind the West, and class contradictions were becoming increasingly acute. 1840 (20 years of Daoguang), western colonialists provoked the war of aggression against China-the first opium war. Then the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement against the rule of the Qing Dynasty broke out in China. 1856 10, Britain and France jointly launched the second opium war. Its purpose is to grab greater colonial interests. First, they started the Guangzhou War twice, but both failed to meet their expectations. In order to exert direct pressure on the Qing government, the capital of Chen Bing was decided. The invading army approached Tianjin1May 858, and the Qing government was forced to sign the Tianjin Treaty with Britain, France, Russia and the United States respectively. 1860 (the tenth year of Xianfeng) In July, the fleet of British and French aggressor troops rushed out of Dagukou again, and under the guise of exchanging contracts between British and French ministers in Beijing, they forcibly pushed forward and lured them to "make peace". However, it has repeatedly created troubles with the aim of forcing the capital of Chen Bing to yield. However, the corrupt and incompetent Qing government made up its mind to beg for peace, and it was too late to decide the strategy of war and defense. The invading army went straight to Tongzhou. On September 2 1 day, the Qing army lost the decisive battle at Bali Bridge in Tongzhou. The next morning, Emperor Xianfeng fled from Yuanmingyuan to chengde mountain resort. It's called "Traveling to the North", but in fact, it runs away regardless of its ancestral home. As a result, the capital has no owner, and all the officials are scattered, and the soldiers are afraid of the people. 654381October 6, British and French forces bypassed the northeast suburb of Beijing and rushed to Yuanmingyuan. At that time, the remnants of Monk Qin and Rui Lin resisted in the north of the city for a while and then fled. The French army went first, passed Haidian in the afternoon and arrived at the gate of Yuanmingyuan Grand Palace in the evening. At this time, more than 20 skilled eunuchs in Yuanmingyuan were fighting with the enemy at the entrance to Jindemen. "Don't be afraid of being killed, and strive to advance", but in the end, Ren Liang, the "eight-product head" of Yuanmingyuan, and others died because they were outnumbered. At 7 pm, the French invaders captured the Yuanmingyuan. Wenfeng, Minister of Landscape Management, died in Fuhai. 65438 10/7, the leader of British and French aggression against China broke into Yuanmingyuan, and immediately "sent three members of the British and French Committee to discuss the distribution of treasures in the garden." On the same day, French Army Commander Montaubon wrote to the French Foreign Minister: "I ordered French members to pay attention to the most valuable objects in art and archaeology first. Yu Xinghui dedicated the rare things of France to His Majesty the Emperor (Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte) and kept them in the French Museum. " British commander Grant immediately "sent officers to collect things that should belong to the British." The day after the British and French invaders entered the park, they could no longer resist the temptation of things. The officers and men rushed forward in droves to snatch the treasures of gold and silver and cultural and artistic treasures in the park. According to the descriptions of British and French officers, priests and journalists who witnessed the looting, officers and men, British and French people flocked to Yuanmingyuan from all directions in order to seize the treasure, and they were eager to take whatever they wanted. They beat each other and even fought for the treasure. Because there are so many treasures in the garden, they don't know what to take at the moment. Some of them moved cloisonne porcelain bottles, some coveted embroidery, some chose high-grade leather clothes, and some went to get wall clocks inlaid with pearls and jade. Some carry big bags, which are full of all kinds of treasures. Some people put gold bars and leaves in the big pockets of their coats; Some are wrapped in brocade; Some hats are filled with rubies, pearls and crystals; Some people wear jade collars around their necks. There is a mountain of high-grade silks and satins in one wing, which is said to be enough for half of Beijing residents, and all of them are carried away by soldiers in carts. A British officer plundered a golden Buddha from a temple with 500 Buddha statues, with a value of 1 200. A French officer robbed property worth 600,000 francs. The treasure plundered by the son of Montaubon, commander-in-chief of the French army, was worth 300 thousand francs and filled several carriages. A British private named Hollis once stole two golden Buddha pagodas (all three stories, one 7 feet high and the other 6.4 feet high) and a lot of other treasures from the garden, and found seven strong men to carry them back to the barracks for him. This man got the nickname "China Zhan Mu" because he plundered and enjoyed his life in Yuanmingyuan. In addition to robbery, the invaders destroyed countless things. Several rooms were full of silks and satins, and clothes were dragged out of the box and thrown all over the floor. People can almost cover their knees when they walk into the room. The engineer with a big axe smashed all the furniture and took the jewels from it. Some people break big mirrors, others shoot candlesticks for fun. Most French soldiers waved sticks and smashed everything they couldn't take with them. 654381October 9 When the French army temporarily evacuated Yuanmingyuan, this beautiful garden was destroyed. Just as the Qing government bowed to the invaders and promised to accept all the conditions of "negotiation and peace", on the other day, when signing the contract, British leaders Erjin Palace and Grant brazenly ordered the burning of Yuanmingyuan on the pretext that their prisoners were abused in order to give people the impression that their aggression against China was "extremely bad". 65438+1October 18 and 19, three or four thousand British troops set fire everywhere in China, and the fire didn't go out for three days and three nights. This unique garden masterpiece, a rare artistic treasure at home and abroad, was burned together. Afterwards, according to the official investigation of the Qing Dynasty, there were only 20 or 30 temples, pavilions, temples, official doors, value rooms and other buildings in the huge Yuanming Three Gardens, but many doors and windows were uneven, and the indoor furnishings and several cases were looted. Since then, some buildings of Qingyi Garden in Wanshou Mountain, Jingyi Garden in Xiangshan Mountain and Jingming Garden in Yuquan Mountain have also been burned down. According to relevant records, when the British invaders burned Anyou Palace on June 6th, 10, the eunuch in charge of Anyou Palace locked the gate, and 300 people including eunuchs, maids and craftsmen in Anyou Palace were burned alive. When Yuanmingyuan fell into a sea of fire, Erjin proudly declared: "This move will shake China and Europe, and its effect far exceeds the imagination of people thousands of miles away." . The main emissary of the fire regarded this behavior as a great achievement, and upright people all over the world were angered by this barbaric crime. Hugo wrote in 186 1: "One day, two robbers walked into Yuanmingyuan, one robbed something and the other set fire. It seems that if you win the war, you can engage in robbery. In the face of history, these two robbers, one is called France and the other is called Britain. " This passage represents the voice of millions of upright people. When Yuanmingyuan was still burning, Prince Gong, who was ordered to stay in Beijing, agreed to all the conditions of the invaders. Soon, the Tianjin Treaty text was exchanged with Britain, France and Russia, and the Beijing Treaty was signed. In this way, the imperialist powers occupied China's Kowloon Peninsula and a large area of northern territory, and extorted huge military compensation of162,000 silver. Why did the British and French allied forces burn the Yuanmingyuan? Or what was the reason or excuse for the British and French Coalition forces to burn the Yuanmingyuan? On the one hand, people think that the blood and fire nature of imperialism's external expansion determines the barbarity wherever it goes. On the other hand, it is caused by "kowtow diplomacy". At that time, Britain and France asked for negotiations with the Manchu, "Beijing embassy, mainland exchanges, Yangtze River trade." In other words, people will establish diplomatic relations with you and set up embassies and consulates with each other. Foreigners can travel to Chinese mainland and trade with China. At that time, Britain and France requested to negotiate with China on the above three points. According to the current understanding, various disputes between China and Britain are very normal in state-to-state relations and should be resolved through bilateral consultations and negotiations. However, Di Hua believes that China has been the center of the world since ancient times, the emperor is the master of the world, all countries are vassals of China, and everyone kowtows when they see the emperor. The traditional diplomatic theme of the Manchu Dynasty was to make Yidi kowtow, which established a complete diplomatic model called "Tribute System" by Fei Zhengqing. Therefore, the trouble is that Yidi refuses to kowtow, and they will stay in Beijing for a long time. When an envoy enters Beijing, he is bound to see the emperor, but the ceremony of not bowing to the emperor will violate the concept of "the world is unified." At that time, the British and French allied forces demanded to negotiate with the Manchu, and if they wanted to negotiate, they had to see the emperor. Meeting the emperor, according to tradition, foreign envoys kneel down when meeting the emperor, that is, kowtow instead of kowtow.