architecture
Updated 14th February 2021
Debates over Beijing s derelict Old Summer Palace are about more than history
Written by Paul FrenchOscar Holland, CNN
Paul French is the author of books including Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China, and Through the Looking Glass: China s Foreign Journalists from Opium Wars to Mao.
Northeast of Beijing s resplendent Summer Palace lie the ruins of another stately structure, burned to the ground by European forces during the Second Opium War.
Once an elaborate network of pavilions, palaces, bridges and gardens, Yuanmingyuan The Garden of Perfect Brightness, known simply as the Old Summer Palace in English is now little more than collections of rubble amid a network of tranquil lakes. In 1860, Britain s High Commissioner to China, Lord Elgin, ordered troops to destroy both the Summer Palace and Old Summer Palace to avenge the killing of several British envoys to Beijing. B
Stuff the British Stole.
Don’t let their fluffy hair and judgy eyes fool you, Pekingese dogs are hiding a secret. Their history encompasses torture, hubris, war, and some very long sleeves. Most importantly these dogs well, one in particular may hold the key to understanding the sometimes vexed relationship China has with the West.
Our story begins in 1860. The Old Summer palace in Beijing has been annexed by a contingent of British and French troops. The emperor has fled and the invaders are helping themselves to his treasures. Antiques, jewels, statues and one of the Imperial family s most beloved possessions; Pekingese puppies. One of these would later be presented to Queen Victoria as a gift.