| BEIJING
Yuanmingyuan
Park
In a quiet section of the suburbs of Beijing to the northwest
of Qinghua University, there once stood a complex of gardens
known as the Yuanmingyuan. Built in the Qing Dynasty, this
"garden of gardens" was made up of the Garden of
Perfection and Light (Yuanmingyuan), and the Garden of Ten
Thousand Springtimes (Wanchunyuan).
The work of building the garden went on over a period of
150 years, beginning in around 1700. The grounds had a circumference
of 10 kilometers and occupied an area of more than 347 hectares.
Of the hundreds of large and small buildings, which once stood
here, all that remains are a few ruins in stone, a sorry reminder
of past greatness.
On October 5, 1860, the Anglo-French Allied Armies occupied
the town of Haidian in the northwest suburbs of the capital,
and on October 7 the mad plunder of the garden began. Finally,
Lord Elgin's cavalry set the gardens on fire, leaving them
to burn for three days and three nights. After their retreat,
repairs were begun, but in 1900 the Eight-Power Allied Forces,
leaving it in completer ruin, brought further destruction
upon the garden. Before long, members of the imperial household
and the warlords of the early Republican period took whatever
could be made use of from out of the rubble, including wood,
stones, bricks or tiles, away.
Visitors can now stroll about the ruins and view the remains
of the following sites: ? the "Vista of the Square Teapot"
on the northeast bank of the Sea of Fortune (Fuhai); ? the
Green Mountain Hut near the northwestern gate; ? the Jade
Islet of Sages in the middle of the Sea of Fortune; ? the
Magnanimity of the Seas and Hills in the West Lake of the
Garden of Eternal Spring; ? Sravasti City, modeled after the
capital of the ancient Indian state of Kosala, which was a
repository for statues of the Buddha. The ruins of the high
walls of this "city" can still be traced today;
and ? the Source of Culture Pavilion (Wenyuange), which housed
the collection of books known as the Complete Library in the
Four Branches of Literature. Besides the remains of the pavilion,
one will also notice numerous specimens of Taihu Lake stone
lying abandoned in a pool in its courtyard. In addition, other
scattered stone fragments and the flagstones from stone paths
can be found in various spots throughout the surrounding hills
and meandering streams.
 The
most striking ruin in the whole garden is the complex of Western-style
buildings, the construction of which began in 1746, the 10th
year of Emperor Qianlong' s reign. Situated near the northern
wall of the Garden of Eternal Spring, these buildings were
designed by the Jesuits Castiglione and Benoit. They included
the Observatory and Hall of Tranquility, which were decorated
with fine fountains and pools in the style of Versailles.
In addition, their roofs and walls were embellished with glazed
tiles in brilliant colors.
It is hoped that before long the splendor of the garden will
be restored and that this exquisite cultural relic, once the
private playground of emperors, will be open to visitors from
all over the world.
In 1977, the Beijing municipality established a committee
to undertake the renovation of the Yuanmingyuan Garden, the
first organization of its kind to be set up since the destruction
of the garden. Some of the stone carvings removed from the
garden are now being returned from places such as Beijing
University.
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