They were so magnificent they were necessary 4,000 marauders and three days to drain and destroy it. HE Summer Palace or Yuanmingyuan (Garden of Perfect Radiance is one of its less imperfect translations) It covers 350 hectares in an area of hills and wetlands northwest of Beijing. HE Emperor Kangxi He ordered it built at the beginning of the 18th century to alleviate the heat wave that affected the Forbidden City and its descendants. Qianlong emperor, He completed it 150 years later. This secondary imperial residence was a harmonious cluster of gardens, lakes, palaces and temples that best epitomized the architecture and art of an ancient civilization. Comparison with Palace of Versailles As effective as it is, it also wears out.
Centuries-old national tradition was deposited here. cosmopolitan contributions. Qianlong commissioned Jesuit missionaries to build palaces, from which unprecedented architecture emerged with western-style stone facades. chinese wooden structures. Perhaps the most valuable and undoubtedly the most famous, Twelve animal heads of the Chinese zodiac made of bronze and designed by Italians Giuseppe Castiglione Water was flowing in the most magnificent fountain of the complex.
On an autumn Sunday
Today it’s a disconnected series stones among the weeds But even if it doesn’t have that grandeur, it’s still the perfect plan for an autumn Sunday. Its vastness prevents any influx of tourists and lakes of lotus flowers and water lilies They are still being discovered before the cold comes. ducks and swans. Many visitors take photos on the bridges wearing imperial costumes, baroque hairstyles and a dignified attitude. others taste dumplings and noodles that the machines were sent.
When British and French troops entered the palace in 1860, China no longer had the grandeur it wanted to capture. qing dynasty by construction. Intoxicated with self-indulgence and committed to feudalism, this country was an easy victim of the European powers that created the industrial revolution. Britain flooded China with Indian opium and declared war to expand its role as a continental drug trafficker in the face of imperialist protests.
Enemy soldiers stole what they could and destroyed the rest. The fire destroyed the buildings and only the stones of those hybrid buildings survived. There is no precedent for such barbarism. The most delicate silks were burnedthe oldest ceramics were shattered. Most of what the palace kept was lost and most of the spoils of war reached Great Britain. The royal collection includes a photograph of the first Pekingese dog on the island, given to Queen Victoria by a soldier and christened Looty (‘Loot’ means booty in English) with impeccable taste.
China is busy recovering the ruins, and it is no easy task. more than a million According to UNESCO, they are found in museums around the world. It must be in top condition pay a fortune at auctions so it’s yours. Already seven zodiac heads have been saved, and the arrival of each of them was greeted with joy among the people. The Hong Kong casino mogul paid more than eight million dollars for the horse. Stanley Ho, Who gave it to the Summer Palace? Today it is the main attraction, strongly preserved in the only reconstructed palace. No news from the other five.
Restructuring was rejected
Experts, politicians and civil society have been discussing this issue for decades. What to do with the Summer Palace? It was a relief that China rejected reconstruction in not-so-distant times. architectural bunglers. Now the question is philosophical: is it urgent to celebrate these victories or to remember the dangers that threaten a weak country? The National Historic Heritage Administration settled this debate three years ago. He explained that its value lay in the destruction of “foreign aggressors.” “The place and its ruins serve as a warning to future generations that they will never forget. national humiliation“I,” he added. The Summer Palace is a healthy exception in a country obsessed with externalizing its rise.
Among the few recent contributions to the complex Bust of Victor Hugo on a tree-lined road. In a letter known to all Chinese schoolchildren, the French writer asked his country to one day apologize and return what was stolen. “We call ourselves civilized and others barbarians. “This is what civilization does to barbarism,” he wrote.