In addition, "Yuanming" is the Buddhist name that Yong Zhengdi has been using since the time of the Prince. Yong Zhengdi believes in Buddhism and has a deep study of Buddhism. He is the author of Quotations of Imperial Selection (19) and Distinguishing between Demons and Different Records. In the pattern of Buddhist sects in the early Qing Dynasty, Yong Zhengdi, a very important figure in the history of Buddhist development, claimed to be a "master of the world", exerted influence on Buddhism and strongly advocated the unity of the three religions and Zen. When Emperor Kangxi gave this garden to Yin Zhen (later Yong Zhengdi), the name of the pro-theme garden "Yuanmingyuan" was taken from the name "Yuanming" of Yongzheng.
Secondly, we should know its history:
Yuanmingyuan is one of the famous royal gardens in Qing Dynasty. Yuanming Three Gardens covers an area of more than 5,200 mu, with more than 50 scenic spots/kloc-0. Yuanmingyuan was originally a garden given by Emperor Kangxi to his fourth son, Yin Zhen (later Yong Zhengdi). In the forty-sixth year of Kangxi, namely 1707, gardens had begun to take shape. In the same year 1 1 month, Emperor Kangxi visited the Yuanmingyuan. After Yong Zhengdi ascended the throne in 1723, the original garden was expanded, and Zheng Da Guangming Hall, Qin Zhengtang and the value rooms of the Cabinet, Sixth Department and Military Department were built in the south of the garden to "avoid noise and listen to politics". Emperor Qianlong reigned for 60 years, spending millions to build Yuanmingyuan, repairing porcelain every day, digging water and moving stones. In addition to the partial addition and reconstruction of Yuanmingyuan, he also built Changchun Garden in the immediate east and merged it into Qichun Garden in the southeast. By the thirty-fifth year of Qianlong, that is, 1770, the pattern of Yuanming three gardens had basically taken shape. Jiaqing Dynasty mainly renovated and expanded Qichun Garden, making it one of the main garden places. During the Daoguang period, state affairs declined and financial resources were insufficient. However, I would rather withdraw the furnishings of Wanshou, Xiangshan and Yuquan, stop the summer vacation in Jehol and Mulan hunting, and still do not give up the reconstruction and decoration of Yuanming Three Gardens.
Kangxi period
In the forty-eighth year of Kangxi (1709), Emperor Kangxi (that is, Emperor Michelle Ye of the Qing Dynasty) gave a garden one mile north of Changchun Garden in the northwest suburb of Beijing to his fourth son, Yin Zhen, and personally wrote the garden as "Yuanmingyuan".
Yongzheng period
In the third year of Yongzheng (1725), Yong Zhengdi (namely Emperor Sejong of the Qing Dynasty, Yin Zhen) built a palace office in the south of Yuanmingyuan, covering an area of more than 3,000 mu from the original 600 mu. From then on, Yuanmingyuan was not only a place for the Qing emperors to rest and visit, but also a place for them to meet foreign envoys and handle their daily affairs.
Qianlong period
After Emperor Qianlong ascended the throne, he adjusted the garden landscape in Yuanmingyuan, increased the number of architectural groups, and built Changchun Garden and Qichun Garden (Tongzhi renamed Wanchun Garden) in the east and southeast of Yuanmingyuan. These three gardens are managed by the management minister of Yuanmingyuan, and are called Yuanming Three Gardens.
Xianfeng period
In August of the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860), the British and French allied forces invaded Beijing. On October 6th, 65438/kloc-0, Yuanmingyuan was occupied. From the next day, the officers and men began to rob and destroy crazily. In order to force the Qing government to accept peace conditions as soon as possible, British Minister Erkin and British Commander Grant ordered Lieutenant General Mitchell to lead more than 3,500 invading troops to Yuanmingyuan in June+65,4381October+August, 5438, and set them on fire. The fire lasted for three days and nights.
After tongzhi
During the Tongzhi period (1750- 1949), the Tongzhi emperor prepared to restore the Yuanmingyuan for the Empress Dowager Cixi to live in. Later, due to financial difficulties, it was forced to stop work and rebuild other buildings. 1900, Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, and the Yuanmingyuan was destroyed again. After the demise of the Qing Dynasty, some warlords, politicians and bureaucrats stole the building materials of Yuanmingyuan, and the site of Yuanmingyuan was further destroyed.
People's Republic of China (PRC) period
After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the state attached great importance to the protection of Yuanmingyuan site. 1979, Yuanmingyuan site was listed as a key cultural relics protection unit in Beijing. After that, the repair work of Yuanmingyuan site gradually began. Later, it became the Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park.
Thirdly, we should understand the process of being robbed:
1860, 10 On June 6, the British and French allied forces bypassed the northeast suburb of Beijing and went straight to Yuanmingyuan. At that time, Sang Linqin and his remnants resisted in the north of the city for a while and then fled. The French army went ahead and passed Haidian in the afternoon. On the evening of 654381October 6, the invading army broke into the gate of Yuanmingyuan Grand Palace. At this time, at the entrance and exit of Xianliangmen, more than 20 skilled eunuchs in Yuanmingyuan waged a life-and-death struggle with the enemy, "from ruin", but in the end, because they were outnumbered, Ren Liang, the "eight-product leader" of Yuanmingyuan, and others died heroically. 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. This trip will be dedicated by you to His Majesty the Emperor (Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte), which is extremely rare in France and will be hidden 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.
There are too many things to rob in Yuanmingyuan. According to a British witness, the whole French camp was filled with many colorful clocks and watches, and around the soldiers' tents, silks and satins and embroidery were everywhere. A British private named Hollis was nicknamed "China Zhan Mu" because he plundered and got rich and enjoyed life in Yuanmingyuan.
We will never know how much treasure the British and French invaders took from Yuanmingyuan, because all the furnishings and accounts in the garden were robbed and destroyed. The following information may give you a glimpse of the leopard. According to the historical records of the Qing Dynasty, only 4,465,438 European clocks and watches were exhibited and stored in Yuanmingyuan at that time, and only one big clock was spared. Afterwards, some lost objects robbed by bandits and abandoned by the invading army reached 1 197, which was at best one thousandth of the objects in the park. According to a newsletter of The Times at that time, "it is estimated that the total value of looted and destroyed property is over 6 million pounds". In fact, a large part of the goods robbed and destroyed by the British and French invaders are priceless. This heinous crime of destroying human culture is really outrageous!
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 moved cloisonne porcelain bottles, some coveted embroidered robes, some chose high-grade leather clothes, and some got 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, sapphires, 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. . In addition to wanton plunder, 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.
Learn about the world famous museums again and see how many of their collections come from China:
At present, the British Museum in Britain has more than 23,000 China cultural relics.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in the United States also have a large number of cultural relics lost from China. There are many amazing treasures in these cultural relics, and their social and historical value is immeasurable.
Look at the museums of the British and French allied forces now:
France
Located on the north bank of the Seine River in the center of Paris, the Louvre is the heart of Paris. Its overall building is U-shaped, covering an area of 24 hectares, with a building area of 4.8 hectares and a total length of 680 meters. In terms of porcelain, Jimei Museum in France, which is famous for collecting Asian art, has the best collection. The porcelain in the museum ranges from the earliest primitive porcelain in China to blue-and-white and colorful porcelain in Ming and Qing Dynasties. There are all kinds of famous kiln products in various dynasties, most of which are fine products. There are only 20,000 Dunhuang suicide notes in China, accounting for only 30%, and there are 6,000 in the French National Library. The Louvre is one of the most famous and greatest art treasures in the world. It is a world-famous art palace and a palace of Wanbao. On August 1793 and 10, the Louvre Art Museum officially opened to the public and became a museum. The pyramid-shaped building at the entrance was designed by China designers. Since then, the collection here has been increasing, including works of art plundered by Napoleon. In short, the number of artworks recorded in the museum collection catalogue has reached as many as 400,000. From ancient Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan and Roman artworks to eastern countries, everything is available. There are about 40,000 pieces of China ceramics in the collection. It covers almost all the ceramics in China. Some are even rare in China, and some are orphans. The Louvre has become a world-famous ceramics museum.
At present, the art treasures of Yuanmingyuan collected by the National Library of Paris mainly include: the silk edition of Forty Scenes of Yuanmingyuan drawn by court painters Shen Yuan and Tang Dai in Qing Dynasty; Woodblock prints by court painters Shen Yuan and Sun You; Forty scenes of Yuanmingyuan. Forty copperplate prints of "Western Architecture such as Haiyan Hall" produced by court painter Yilantai; Lang Shining's "Camp Gordon Elaya" and "Chrysanthemum Labyrinth Map of Yuanmingyuan" promoting Qianlong's martial arts. Wait a minute. Forty scenic spots in Yuanmingyuan. Paris Oriental Museum. Xue Fucheng, a diplomat in the late Qing Dynasty, described in the Diary of the Four Missions of Britain, France and Italy that in the 16th year of Guangxu (A.D. 1890), he found the "Imperial Seal of Yuanmingyuan" in the China showroom of Paris Oriental Museum. One said:' Baohe Taihe', sapphire square seal, slightly larger; A' Yuanmingyuan Seal', white jade square seal, slightly smaller. "Jimei Museum, Paris. The porcelain in the museum ranges from the earliest primitive porcelain in China to blue-and-white and colorful porcelain in Ming and Qing Dynasties. There are all kinds of famous kilns in different dynasties, most of which are fine products. There is also a collection of Yuanmingyuan art treasures in the museum: The Portrait of Qianlong painted by Lang Shining, which is a sitting statue of Emperor Qianlong at the age of 4 1. There are two ministers standing beside Qianlong, and the figures are verve, which is a masterpiece of the combination of China and European painting techniques. Qianlong Baihua Porcelain Bottle, gyro-shaped, beautifully shaped and well painted, with colorful and colorful flower patterns on the bottle, is very beautiful and is an artistic treasure of Qianlong era.
Fontainebleau, originally meaning "blue spring", is located 90 kilometers southeast of Paris and surrounded by 2500 hectares of forest. It has been a hunting and summer resort since ancient times. During the period of French King Louis VI (about AD 1 137), the palace was first built here. After the continuous expansion of several emperors, Fontainebleau Palace has become increasingly perfect and luxurious. China Pavilion in Fontainebleau Palace was built by Eugénie, Queen of Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte. The reason for the construction is very simple, that is, to store the cultural relics looted from Yuanmingyuan. 1860 After the British and French allied forces looted Yuanmingyuan, Meng Daobang, commander of the French army invading China, presented the so-called spoils plundered from Yuanmingyuan to Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte and Queen Eugénie. At present, there are more than 30,000 famous paintings, gold and silver jewelry, porcelain, incense burners, chimes, precious stones and gold and silver vessels in China.
In addition, the Ji Mei Museum in Paris has a collection of more than 65,438+0,000 pieces of China ceramics. Pottery includes painted pottery pots in the Neolithic Age in Gansu, pottery barrels in the Han Dynasty, horse-riding figurines in the Northern Wei Dynasty and tri-colored pottery in the Tang Dynasty. Porcelain includes pan-mouth bottles in the Jin Dynasty, slag buckets in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, white glazed dishes in the Tang Dynasty and Song Ge kiln washing. Jun kiln rose purple washing, flowerpot, etc. The blue-and-white flat pot in Yuan Dynasty was its boutique. There are countless porcelains in the Ming Dynasty, and there are countless blue and white porcelains in the Qing Dynasty.
Britain:
The British Museum on Russell Street in London is smaller than the Metropolitan Museum in New York, but its exhibition area is also larger than the Forbidden City. Originally a privately donated library, montague Building was purchased as the former site in 1754 and opened to the public for the first time in 1759. 1823, King George IV of England built the present Romanesque building on the original site of montague Building, and donated many royal collections to become the British Museum today.
The British Museum has a wide collection of cultural relics, among which China's paintings are the best. It can be called the World History Museum. Babylonia, India, China and Greece, the cradles of human civilization, have a large number of precious cultural relics. Chinese porcelain is dazzling. The China Art Museum was established with a donation of 6,543,800+0,250 pounds from the Hong Kong tycoon Mr. Xu Zhantang, and it has a large collection of China porcelain. As far as Dunhuang treasures are concerned, there are only more than 20 thousand Dunhuang suicide notes in China, accounting for only 30%; The British Library has a headquarters of13,700 oriental languages. There are nearly 2,000 books in the Library of Indian Affairs in Britain, and almost all in China. It's amazing. Some exhibits are not even available in the Forbidden City in China. Most of these things were plundered by Eight-Nation Alliance. Half of the round treasures are in the museum. This museum is probably the largest ceramics museum in China outside China. 1860, part of the cultural relics plundered by the British army from Yuanmingyuan was presented to Queen Victoria at that time, and the other part was auctioned. The Yuanmingyuan cultural relics dedicated to the Queen are kept in the British Museum. Its collection is now close to 7 million pieces.
China's cultural relics collected by the British Museum include bronzes, pottery, calligraphy and painting, jade and sculpture. There are more than 23,000 pieces, many of which are treasures and orphans. For example, the Tang Dynasty copy of Gu Kaizhi's Female History in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the favorite collection of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, is the most striking, and the exquisite Shang and Zhou bronzes and a large number of Dunhuang cultural relics brought to Britain by Stein in the last century are also extremely important treasures. Some of Gu Kaizhi's paintings and calligraphy works are as follows: Gu Kaizhi's Zhentu of Female History in Tang Dynasty, Green Landscape, Moulin Emperor's Map, Li's Climbing Over the Roof, Fan Kuan's Visiting Friends and Playing the Piano, Yan Wengui's Snow Hill and Su Shi's Ink Bamboo Map. Bronzes: Shang Shuangyang Zun, Western Zhou Kang Hougui, Xing Hougui, etc.
The British Library has more than 60,000 kinds of precious documents and ancient books in China, including the earliest edition of Paramita Classic and Yongle Grand Ceremony in China. 45 volumes and Oracle Bone Inscriptions, bamboo slips, carved ancient books, Dunhuang Tibetan scriptures (including printed Diamond Sutra and maps). Fontainebleau Palace in France is the best collection and exhibition of Yuanmingyuan treasures among western museums, and China Pavilion in the palace can be said to be the reappearance of Yuanmingyuan in the west. British Victoria Museum and museums in Cambridge, Oxford, Preston and Edinburgh have nearly 300 pieces of Dehua porcelain in Fujian alone, including 60 pieces in Victoria Museum.
The Victoria-Albert Museum in London, the British Museum treasures the invoice17311210 signed by Pierre in Guangzhou for ordering China porcelain. There are 100 blue and white porcelain dishes of different styles on the invoice, about 25O pieces; According to the requirements of the ordering party, about 450 pieces of porcelain decorated with rose glaze family crest. In addition, there are vases, coffee pots, large bowls and so on.
Finally, according to the above reasons, it can be seen that Yuanmingyuan, as the garden of ten thousand gardens at that time, has many treasures/cultural relics/artworks. Worthy of being "the largest museum and art gallery in the world at that time"! ! ! ! !
Heartache ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~