The Old Summer Palace on the photos 珍贵老照片，还原圆明园

廖琪雯

For Chinese people， the name Yuan- mingyuan， or the Old Summer Palace in Beijing， resonates （回荡）through history.

First constructed in 1707， this former royal resort of the Qing Dynasty， covering roughly 350 hectares in the northwest of Beijing， witnessed （见证）the rule of six emperors， and is generally considered to represent the ancient Chinese gardening art， as its name indicates一"the garden of perfect brightness#.

To imagine its original splendor， people usually refer to a series of paintings， now in France， drawn by royal court artists in 1744 that depict 40 major scenes in Yuanmingyuan. But Liu Yang wants to change this and allow people to have a better understanding of the majesty of the place. Working in the administration section of the park since 2004， he has been devoted to searching for old photos taken in Yuanmingyuan. "Yuanmingyuan is so important， but its image is vague （模糊的）for us，# Liu tellsChina Dailyin an interview in his office. "It's difficult for researchers because there are few relevant files. I want to be the one to collect them.#

In February， more than 300 old photos of Yuanmingyuan， which were collected from overseas by Liu， were publicly released. These photos immediately became a hot topic on social media. "They can be key clues to learn about Yuanmingyuan's past， but there's still a long way for our research to go to decode （解碼）the information in the photos，# the 40-year-old man says. "They even greatly change our old under?standing of history，# Liu says. "It's a journey full of surprises.#

So far， the understanding is that the earliest known photos of Yuanmingyuan were taken in 1873. "We don't know how many old photos of Yuanmingyuan remain in today's world. Maybe I've found most of them，# Liu says. "But maybe there are 4，000 remaining， or even more. One thing is for sure： as long as photos are recovered， our understanding of Yuanmingyuan will be refreshed.#

"We have to respect history. People cannot forget what was done by the Anglo-French forces， and that is the root of all the misery. But we also need to keep in mind that Yuan- mingyuan finally became ruins because of a time when there was a lack of care. That should urge people today to better protect it，# he says.