[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Billy

All the park was destroyed by the American and English United Army in 1860. So it is a ruin park today.

No Americans, Billy.

In 1860, during the Second Opium War, the British and French expeditionary forces looted the Old Summer Palace. Later, on October 18 1860, the British general Lord Elgin - with protestations from the French (who in fact began the looting) - purposely ordered to set fire to the huge complex which burned to the ground. It took 3,500 British troops to set the entire place ablaze and took three whole days to burn. More than 300 eunuchs and palace maids were burned to death. Elgin intended the destruction of the palace as a way to punish the Emperor and the Qing Government, in retaliation for the imprisonment, torture, and murder of over 20 western prisoners of war, among them two British envoys who had been under protection of a flag of truce and a correspondent for The Times. It is believed that some died by the death by a thousand cuts . The burning of the Gardens of Perfect Brightness is still a very sensitive issue in China today.