Old Scenes of the Summer Palace

Author: Chen Yu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-07-01
Features: "Where are the swallows singing in the mountains? How can the unparalleled scenery of Kunming be counted!" In those days, Emperor Qianlong was deeply infatuated with the Qingyi Garden, which was the predecessor of the renowned Summer Palace. Three hundred years have passed since then. The world outside the garden has long seen dynasties rise and fall, changing the course of history, while within the ancient garden's shadows and lakes, these separations and reunions, rises and falls, are merely ordinary occurrences. A glimpse into the old garden reveals these changes as trivial. Layer upon layer of old photographs and postcards, every detail about the Summer Palace, behind the yellowed pages, an aging empire, a once glorious nation, and a Beijing city gradually transformed beyond recognition. Leaning on the railings, a gentle sigh, a detailed introduction:
Chronicles of Major Events
Before the Qing Dynasty, this area was known as "Wangshan" and "Wangshan" during the Yuan Dynasty. Along the coast and nearby were temples and small gardens. Later, it was also referred to as "West Lake," a famous tourist destination in the suburbs of Beijing. Since 1749, Emperor Qianlong ordered the dredging and expansion of West Lake, altering the terrain of Wangshan's eastern foothills. He also built the "Great Nourishing Grace and Longevity Temple" on the ruins of Wangshan's Yuan Dynasty temple, in honor of Empress Dowager Nurgultu. Simultaneously, gardens and architectural structures were constructed along the western shore of West Lake and on the islands and embankments of the lake. In 1750, an imperial edict changed the name of Wangshan to "Wanshou Mountain" and that of West Lake to "Kunming Lake." In 1751, the area of Wanshou Mountain and Kunming Lake was officially named "Qingyi Garden." Emperor Qianlong wrote the "Record of Wanshou Mountain and Kunming Lake." In 1761, he wrote the "Record of Wanshou Mountain and Qingyi Garden." During the reigns of Emperors Jiaqing and Daoguang (1796–1850), apart from minor modifications and renaming of certain buildings, the garden retained its original appearance from Qianlong's era.
In September 1860 (the 10th year of the Xianfeng reign), the Anglo-French forces invaded Beijing, and Emperor Xianfeng fled to Chengde's Summer Palace. On October 5, the allied forces occupied Haidian. On October 17, Commander Lord Elgin ordered the burning of the Old Summer Palace. After 18 days, Qingyi Garden and the other gardens in the "Three Mountains and Five Gardens" were looted and destroyed. From 1885 to 1894, Empress Dowager Cixi used naval funds to repair the damaged Qingyi Garden. On the first day of the second month of the 14th year of the Guangxu reign (1888), an imperial edict issued in the name of Emperor Zaitian renamed "Qingyi Garden" to "Summer Palace." In 1898, Emperor Zaitian declared the "Reform Movement" and implemented the "New Policies." On September 21, Empress Dowager Cixi launched a coup. The reform movement failed, Zaitian was imprisoned, and Empress Dowager Cixi resumed her regency. In 1900, the Boxer Movement erupted in Northern China. In May, the Boxers entered Beijing and besieged the foreign legations. Empress Dowager Cixi, in the name of Zaitian, issued an edict declaring war on foreign powers. In August, the Eight-Nation Alliance marched on Beijing, and Cixi and Zaitian fled to Xi'an. After August 30, Russian, Italian, and British troops successively occupied the Summer Palace.
In 1901, the Qing court signed the "Boxer Protocol" with the foreign powers, and the alliance withdrew from Beijing. In 1902, Cixi and Zaitian returned to Beijing and immediately allocated substantial funds to repair the Summer Palace, which had been damaged by the alliance. In 1904, Cixi held a grand celebration for her 70th birthday in the Summer Palace. In 1908, Zaitian and Cixi died, and the three-year-old Puyi ascended the throne. In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution broke out, establishing the Republic of China. On February 12, 1912, Empress Dowager Longyu formally declared the abdication of the Qing Dynasty, which had ruled China for over 260 years, on behalf of the Qing court. According to the "Terms of Favorable Treatment for the Qing Imperial Family" agreed upon between the Republic of China government and the Qing imperial family, Puyi was allowed to retain the title of emperor after abdicating, to "temporarily reside in the palace and later move to the Summer Palace." At this time, the Summer Palace was still managed by the Qing Imperial Household Department. In September of that year, Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing, leaders of the Xinhai Revolution, visited the Summer Palace.
On April 24, 1913, the Military Affairs Commission of the Republic of China government implemented a limited visitation policy to the Summer Palace, citing "the increasing requests from people both within and outside the country to visit the Summer Palace." In 1914, the Military Affairs Commission of the Republic of China government and the Imperial Household Department of the Qing court agreed to open the Summer Palace for tours with the intention of raising funds, issuing tickets for entry. That same year, Puyi ordered the reduction of officials and the incorporation of the Old Summer Palace into the management of the Summer Palace.
On May 23, 1924, Puyi appointed his British teacher, Charles Henry Alcock, to manage the Summer Palace. In November of the same year, after Puyi was expelled from the palace, the "Committee for the Restoration of the Imperial Household" organized by the Republic of China government took over and sealed the furnishings of the Summer Palace's halls and pavilions. In 1926, General Wang Huaiqing of the Beijing Garrison returned the Summer Palace to the Imperial Household Office, which established the "Imperial Household Office Management Office for the Summer Palace."
On July 1, 1928, the Summer Palace was taken over by the Ministry of the Interior of the Nanjing government, officially becoming a park. At that time, the entrance fee was one yuan, which could buy 50 pounds of wheat. On December 13, 1948, the People's Liberation Army took control of the Summer Palace. Thereafter, representatives of the People's Liberation Army and the Kuomintang government held negotiations in Jingfu Pavilion on the eastern foothills of Wanshou Mountain.
In 1951, the stone balustrades along the Kunming Lake were reinforced, and accumulated domestic waste over the years was cleared. Subsequently, the central building of Qingyi Garden, the Foshan Pavilion, was repaired. The garden workers also used saved funds to repair the Dehe Garden, Tingpeng Hall, Hanxu Hall, Yulan Hall, and Paiyun Hall.
In 1959, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Summer Palace underwent another large-scale renovation. In 1960, thousands of garden workers, government officials, and school teachers participated in voluntary labor to dredge the rear lake, repair, and beautify the rear mountain. The Xiequ Garden was also repaired.
In the early days of the Cultural Revolution, the Summer Palace was temporarily renamed "People's Park," the Great Buddha in the Foshan Pavilion suffered damage, and the painted corridor was covered with graffiti. After the 1970s, the Summer Palace underwent major renovations of buildings such as Jingfu Pavilion, Xiqiu Pavilion, Tingpeng Hall, Yunsong Nest, Shao Wo, Nanhu Island, and the Stone Boat. Most of these were completely rebuilt. The brick carvings on the top of the Stone Boat were replicated according to the original patterns.
In 1986, nearly 500,000 people in Beijing voted to select the "Summer Palace and Huihai" as one of the 16 scenic spots of Beijing. From 1987 to 1990, a project was carried out to repair the Muaijie (Suzhou Street) in the rear lake. In winter 1990 and spring 1991, the Beijing Municipal Government decided to carry out the first dredging of Kunming Lake in 240 years. 180,000 people participated in voluntary labor. This Kunming Lake dredging project removed 652,600 cubic meters of silt, covering an area of 1.2 million square meters, with an average depth of excavation of 57 centimeters. It also cleared 205 artillery shells and repaired 5,700 meters of lake embankments.
In 1992, the Jingming Pavilion on the Western Causeway was restored. On July 13, 1991, the Beijing Municipal People's Government issued the "Regulations on Strictly Controlling Construction Projects in the Area of the Summer Palace and the Old Summer Palace" in the form of "Beijing Municipal People's Government Decree No. 20 of 1991," to protect the landscape and architecture of the Summer Palace and the Old Summer Palace area (which refers to Jingming Garden on Yuquan Mountain, the Summer Palace, the Old Summer Palace, Yan Yuan, Tsinghua Yuan, and the surrounding streets).
In 1996, the Daning Hall in the eastern part of the rear mountain was rebuilt (it was open in conjunction with Suzhou Street during peak season). On December 12, 1998, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee recognized the Summer Palace as "World Cultural Heritage." In 2000, the Summer Palace celebrated its 250th anniversary.
Excerpts
Historical photographs of the Summer Palace are scarce and difficult to find. Even those collected are scattered and incomplete, and it is hard to determine their exact dates. Here, we present a complete set of 24 tourist photographs of the Summer Palace from the Republican era, likely taken and issued between the victory of the War of Resistance against Japan and the founding of the People's Republic of China, a span of four years.