This month marks the 160th anniversary of the destruction of the Yuanmingyuan. In this episode, David and I talk about the events leading up to the looting and razing of the gardens and the shifting meaning of "National Humiliation" in China today.
Barbarians at the Gate: The Destruction of the Yuanmingyuan
Pence Peeves Peking, MoFA Mocks Mike
Massacre and Memory: 80 Years Later, the Battle over Nanjing Rages On
Xi Writes Himself into the Narrative of China’s Modern Rejuvenation
Friends With (few) Benefits
Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money: A Short History of the Opium War
Artefacts: Taking heads
The Burning of the Yuanmingyuan: 150 Years Later
The multiplicity of meanings associated with the Yuanmingyuan (The Old Summer Palace) and the complicated circumstances of its destruction make for fascinating history as well as an opportunity for the CCP's educational minions to leech that history of any real substance -- other than as a crude device to teach 'patriotism.'