The truth of burning Yuanmingyuan

We know that the British and French allied forces robbed the Yuanmingyuan and set it on fire. In fact, this is not true.

Many years ago, there was a movie called Burning Yuanmingyuan, which said that the British burned Yuanmingyuan for no reason. In fact, the excuse of the British and French allied forces burning Yuanmingyuan can be publicly exposed, and the so-called reasons they used to cover up the crime should be resolutely refuted. However, in China's historical works, he kept it a secret, and only mentioned it in a few words at most, as if afraid to reveal any secrets.

People call it the second opium war; To borrow Samuel Meade's words, the war; In Huntington, in American words, this is essentially a clash of civilizations. At that time, the main focus of the fierce negotiations between the Manchu government and Britain and France was the first item for envoys to Beijing, and the Qing side was listed as the first important thing in the negotiations. As for what people value today; For example, opening foreign trade ports, allowing foreigners to travel in the mainland, negotiating tariffs, protecting missionaries, paying reparations, and consular jurisdiction. For the emperor who risked his life to seize power, it was a trivial matter that could be disposed of at will. The two sides quickly reached an agreement on these trivial matters. Later, the emperor also offered more concessions to western businessmen, such as tariff exemption, in exchange for the request of Britain and France to cancel their envoys in Beijing.

In explaining these historical facts, we need to learn from the traditional status quo of China; Talk about the concept of unifying the world. According to this concept, China is the center of the world, the emperor is the master of the world, and all countries are vassals of China. Everyone should kowtow to the emperor as a sign of obedience. However, this idea must be recognized by people in different places. Therefore, China's traditional diplomatic theme is to make foreigners kowtow, which led to the establishment of a set of Fei Zhengqing's name. The complete diplomatic model of tribute system can also be called kowtow diplomacy more vividly; The trouble now is that Edie won't kowtow. They will stay in Beijing for a long time. The appearance of the special envoy in Beijing will inevitably attract the emperor's audience, but the ceremony of not bowing to the emperor will actually promote the concept of bankruptcy of the unified world, which has long been widely accepted. The combination of ruling thoughts similar to Confucianism became the main source of the legitimacy of China's ancient autocratic system. If this change is left unchecked, it will gradually exhaust the source of legitimacy. If some people-though barbarians of dogs and sheep-can openly refuse to kowtow to the emperor himself, can others follow suit? If we infer from this, the status of American imperialism as the master of the world will collapse. How long can he sit in the golden hall? In addition, the residence of Beijingers is considered to be related to ancient state supervision. According to the understanding of the Manchu government at that time, foreign envoys in Beijing could collect taxes at will, interfere in government decrees, relocate to Beijing, build tall buildings in the capital and deploy various weapons. In short, they can do whatever they want like emperors. My father. China can't be a foreign prisoner.

So refusing to let the envoy stay in Beijing became the first line of defense for the emperor to maintain kowtow diplomacy. When the first line of defense was broken by the powerful firepower of the British and French allied forces, the emperor handed over the articles of CITIC and set up a second line of defense. Even if western envoys are in Beijing, they can't be handed over to Emperor CITIC. I didn't meet them, so naturally I won't win. Does not involve kowtowing or not. Not long ago, after the former American envoy arrived in Beijing, the Qing side insisted that others accept the credentials on behalf of the emperor. This was an important diplomatic victory, which convinced Zeng Manchu government that they could hold the second line of defense. However, at the last moment of the Tongzhou negotiations near Beijing, the British side insisted on personally handing over the credentials to the emperor by note, which broke through the emperor's second line of defense and reached the emperor's third and last line of defense.

At that time, the Qing government was at home and abroad. Taiping Heavenly Kingdom defeated Jiangnan Camp, captured Changzhou and Suzhou, and threatened Shanghai. The British and French allied forces are assembled in Tongzhou and may attack Beijing at any time. However, the Manchu government was determined not to give in to kowtow. Their card is that western envoys either kowtow to the emperor or don't hand over their credentials. Their tone is extremely tough and there is no room for compromise. If no agreement can be reached, the Manchu government will make a final resistance regardless of its own weaknesses and adjust its troops to prepare for the war.

At that time, the British side proposed to submit credentials only in accordance with the practice of western international law, without considering the special national conditions of the Manchu government. When the Manchu government offered to kowtow to the emperor, they refused on the grounds that all countries were equal. They did not kowtow to maintain the notarization rule of the legitimacy of the Manchu government, just as the emperor did not notarize the legitimacy of the western government. Instead, they suspected that the emperor refused to accept the credentials, which contained a huge conspiracy and insisted on giving them in person.

In fact, in the 200-year history of the Qing Dynasty, there were precedents that allowed westerners not to kowtow to the emperor, and there were records that the emperor shook hands with them, but that was before the legitimacy of the Qing Dynasty, and his rule was widely questioned. With the gradual loss of this legitimacy, any small matter, such as kowtowing, as long as it seems to prove the legitimacy of the emperor and the Manchu rule, has become a major interest for it. The emperor was afraid that making concessions on this matter would be like a hole in a dam, which would eventually cause the river to burst its banks and destroy the Qing Dynasty. So, when he got the report that the British refused to kowtow, he felt that all three lines of defense had been breached, and he couldn't I couldn't stand it. No way back, he immediately decided to go to war.

The direct cause of the breakdown of Tongzhou negotiations; First of all, it was not until the post-war Manchu government realized that this was just a common practice in western countries, which was not the case. I didn't mean to embarrass the emperor in particular. Moreover, although the British and French Coalition forces insisted on submitting their credentials in person during the negotiations, they did not intend to go to war on this matter. There is no conspiracy behind both sides. So the real reason for this war is to pursue kowtow diplomacy; The conflict between the Manchu government and Britain and France, which followed the norms of international law, originated from two incompatible concepts, namely, the unified world and national equality, and was a knowledge background composed of different civilizations. It is this difference in civilization that makes the two sides completely unable to understand each other's behavior, and can only guess each other's motives and purposes according to the so-called interest analysis, and finally draw a wrong conclusion.

According to the current understanding, various disputes between China and Britain are very normal in state-to-state relations and should be resolved through bilateral consultations and negotiations. It is advertised as coagulation, comrades-in-arms, brothers, and it seems that the relationship between countries is ridiculous. However, although the Manchu dynasty was defeated in the first Sino-British War, it still refused to recognize the equal status of Britain and the United States and refused to negotiate with them. In their eyes, China is the only country in the world, and other countries are vassals of China, so they are not qualified to be equal to China. In Guangzhou, Ye refused to answer all the requests of the British side to negotiate and amend the contract, and even the British negotiators were not present. However, British representatives sent letters everywhere along the coast of China, and even went north to Baihe to ask for negotiations with China, but they were all pushed to Guangzhou. The British side naturally felt teased. Jiang Tingfu wrote: In short, outsiders simply can't get in. They know that war is the only way to amend the treaty. Later, when the British consul in Guangzhou and the governor of Hong Kong were unfortunately filled in by toug.

In all fairness, the absurd behavior of kowtowing diplomacy of the Manchu government has also been criticized by China historians, but these criticisms are based on the code of conduct of western international law. Why did China accept the western norms of international law? From the viewpoint of China's unification of the world, the principle that all countries are equal in western international law is ridiculous. Therefore, judging a country's diplomatic behavior has two sets of values. It is superficial to measure the foreign policy of the Manchu government with the code of conduct of western international law and criticize those ideas and behaviors that do not conform to it, and there is always a feeling of being wise after the event. Just as Ah Q criticized the city people for mistaking the bench for a bench, it is not enough to rely on the non-Zhuang standard. The reason is that international law is correct, not only because it is an international law, but also because it is a popular law today. We also need proof and criticism, both of which need a more basic premise and standard. On such a basic premise and standard, we can not only judge the current situation of the Manchu government; Kowtow diplomacy; Whether our thoughts and actions are wrong also proves whether the standards of international law are correct. If necessary, even such premises and standards need to be proved by more basic premises and standards. Through such gradual steps, we will reach an end, which is the basis for us to prove whether all the concepts and behaviors of the country are correct. Therefore, more specifically, it is necessary to unify the world and kowtow to diplomacy; The behavior of criticism needs to go deep into the relevant countries and individuals at the level of power relations. It needs to explain the theory of state formation and actually analyze the theoretical basis of the legitimacy of the whole rule, which is far from what superficial moral criticism can do. I only mention it here, not in detail.

After the breakdown of the Tongzhou talks, according to the prior arrangement, the Qing side detained 39 members of the British-French negotiating delegation headed by Parkes on the spot and sent them back to Beijing to take the blame and go to jail. The charges set by Parkes and others perfectly illustrate the absurdity of the idea of unifying the world that the Manchu dynasty insisted on. They think that all countries in the world are vassals of the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, the attack of British and French allied forces on China is not regarded as aggression, invasion or war, but as rebellion; The Manchu government's war against Britain and France in the United States was justly declared as "suppression of barbarians;" Find the inverse.

The Qing government always regarded Parkes as the commander-in-chief of the British and French allied forces. According to the traditional strategy of stealing before the king, they also negotiated in Tongzhou for the purpose of luring Parkes, hoping that after Parkes was captured, the British and French allied forces would be leaderless and chaotic, and then seize the opportunity to suppress it on a large scale and win. At noon that day, 4,000 British and French troops fought with nearly 10,000 people from the elite Sanglinqin department of the Qing army in Zhangjiawan, Tongzhou, and the Qing army was defeated. A few days later, the two sides fought again at Baliqiao in Tongzhou, and about 6,000 British and French troops defeated about 30,000 elite Qing troops. When the emperor heard the news, he was shocked and shamelessly announced: Today, I arrived in Tongzhou under the command of the Sixth Division. I want to contact heaven to attack. Then he fled the Yuanmingyuan and never dared to return to Beijing.

The arrested British and French negotiators were taken to Beijing for interrogation. According to a British diplomat who was imprisoned at that time, the heavy prison door was opened and I was taken in. The door rumbled behind me. At this time, I found myself among a group of about seventy or eighty rough-looking prisoners. As you usually see in China prison, most of these prisoners are extremely aggressive because of illness and unsanitary environment. Naturally, they all stared at me as a newcomer with anxious eyes. The jailer put me on a padded wooden board for prisoners to sleep on and tied me firmly to the beam above my head with another thick chain. This chain is long and heavy. First, it is wrapped around the neck and fixed on the foot. Hands are tightly bound by two crossed chains and handcuffs. The prisoners here are mostly low-class people who have committed serious crimes, including murderers and thieves. The living conditions in the prison are extremely bad, the prisoners are haggard and sick, and prisoners often die. These western diplomats also suffered cruel psychological torture in prison. The Manchu government informed Parkes and others that China was determined to fight to the end. They will be executed immediately and have two hours to write a suicide note. After writing the suicide note, Parkes and others said that the execution date was changed to the next day, but there was no execution the next day. The execution date is delayed again and again, and the psychological pressure of those sentenced to death is increasing. The Qing government exerted great psychological pressure on them in order to force them to yield and then reopen negotiations with them in prison.

Although Parkes and others were not executed in the end, one month later, when the Manchu government was forced to release them, of the 39 prisoners, 2 1 was tortured to death, and 18 survived. Britain and France were completely angered, which can be said to be furious. In retaliation, British envoy Erkin intends to burn down the Forbidden City. Later, in order to take care of Manchu's face, I re-elected Yuanmingyuan.

186010 June18, about 3,500 men from the first British division were ordered to set fire to Yuanmingyuan.

A few days before the burning of Yuanmingyuan, the British and French allied forces demanded that the Qing side hand over the security representative of Andingmen in Beijing; British and French forces entered the city in four batches, with their headquarters in imperial academy. When the British and French allied forces entered Beijing, Qing soldiers lined up on both sides of the street and knelt down to meet the enemy. The residents of Beijing are watching the city. This behind-the-scenes is dismissed as numbness; Usually in good faith. For Emperor Xianfeng at that time, burning Yuanmingyuan was his personal shame. He was born and raised in Sri Lanka and has always regarded it as a sacred place like the Forbidden City. He heard the bad news that Yuanmingyuan was burned, vomited blood on the spot, relapsed his old illness, and died in Jehol in less than a year. However, for the people of China at that time, the feeling of the emperor seemed a little far away from them. They struggle for life every day, hoping for a peaceful day. They live in humiliation every day, and they won't-I won't feel humiliated any more, let alone understand and sympathize with the humiliation suffered by the emperor. They poured into the unguarded Royal Forbidden Park and took everything they could find.

The humiliation of the emperor was later described as the humiliation of the people, and Yuanmingyuan became a symbol of the humiliation of the people and the country. This is a big joke. What does the emperor's experience have to do with the people of China? What is the relationship between Western ministers kowtowing to the emperor or not kowtowing to the emperor and the people of China? The emperor did not hesitate to fight for what he thought was humiliation, but at the expense of national interests and people's lives. Besides inflicting greater humiliation on itself, China finally lost 6,543,800+0.5 million square kilometers of territory in this war, which was for China. Conquer barbarians; And the price paid to Russia, such a painful loss can never be made up. In the modern history of China, it was the most expensive and boring war.

As Professor Jiang Tingfu wrote in 1930s: What war were we fighting with Britain and France at that time? The US ambassador to Beijing, the mainland military parade and the Yangtze River trade are the focus of disputes between the two sides. It is t

In the fourth year of Xianfeng, western trading countries sent representatives to Tianjin to negotiate and amend the treaty peacefully. China is a little more flexible, and the other party will be satisfied. The Qing court rejected everything, favored Ye and others, and advocated tough diplomacy. At that time, Ye confessed two little things in England and France. How different is the diplomacy between Xianfeng period and the Republic of China in recent years?

After having a general understanding of the burning of Yuanmingyuan, our indignation is not only directed at Britain and France. The detention and mistreatment of British and French diplomats by the U.S. imperialists not only violated western international law, but also violated the laws of China since ancient times. Decapitation will not be the code of conduct when the two countries go to war. Even in China, few people follow this rule. Lord Elgin is in China. He hates people who trample on this ancient civilization. He ordered the burning of Yuanmingyuan, which is a historical tragedy. However, compared with the 6.5438+0.5 million square kilometers of land lost by China in that war, the Summer Palace is nothing.