Editing Second Opium War (section)

===Burning of the Old Summer Palaces===
After taking Tianjin on 23 August 1860, the imperial emissary and word arrived that the British had kidnapped the prefect of Tianjin. Parkes was arrested in retaliation on 18 September.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Albert H. Yee |title=A People Misruled: Hong Kong and the Chinese Stepping Stone Syndrome |date=1989 |publisher=API Press |page=59}}</ref> Also captured were a number of British and French officers, Sikh soldiers, and a [[Thomas William Bowlby|journalist from The Times]]. Parkes and the others were imprisoned, tortured, and interrogated.<ref name="Hibbert">{{cite book |last1=Hibbert |first1=Christopher |title=The Dragon Wakes |year=1988 |publisher=Penguin Book |isbn=0-14-006646-2}}</ref>{{page needed|date=January 2022}}

The prisoners had been tortured by having their limbs bound with rope until their flesh was lacerated and became infected with maggots, and by having dung and dirt forced into their throats. Several were executed by beheading, their corpses fed to animals. Captured [[coolie]]s who had worked for the allies were buried up to their necks and left to dogs.<ref name="Hibbert" />{{page needed|date=January 2022}}

[[File:Second Opium War British Beijing 1860.jpg|300px|thumb|right|British taking [[Beijing]]]]
The Anglo-French forces clashed with [[Sengge Rinchen]]'s Mongol cavalry on 18 September [[Battle of Zhangjiawan|at the battle of Zhangjiawan]] before proceeding toward the outskirts of Beijing for a decisive battle in [[Tongzhou District, Beijing|Tongzhou]] (also romanized as Tungchow).{{sfn|Hsü|2000|pp=214–215}} On 21 September, at [[Battle of Palikao|Baliqiao (Eight Mile Bridge)]], Sengge Rinchen's 10,000 troops, including the elite Mongol cavalry, were annihilated after doomed frontal charges against concentrated firepower of the Anglo-French forces. The French army arrived at the Summer Palace outside Beijing on 6 October, followed by the British a day later.<ref name="Hibbert" />{{rp|276}}

With the Qing army devastated, the [[Xianfeng Emperor]] fled the capital and left behind his brother, [[Prince Gong (Qing dynasty)|Prince Gong]], to take charge of peace negotiations. Xianfeng first fled to the [[Chengde Mountain Resort|Chengde Summer Palace]] and then to [[Rehe Province]].{{sfn|Hsü|2000|p=215}} Anglo-French troops began looting the [[Summer Palace]]<ref>E. W. R. Lumby, "Lord Elgin and the Burning of the Summer Palace." ''History Today'' (July 1960) 10#7 pp 479–480.</ref> (Yiheyuan) and [[Old Summer Palace]] (Yuanmingyuan) immediately (as they were full of valuable artwork).<ref>M'Ghee, Robert. (1862). [https://books.google.com/books?id=wLneD9rxVeoC&q=loch+how+we+got+to+pekin  ''How we got to Pekin: A Narrative of the Campaign in China of 1860,'' pp. 202–216].</ref>

After the release of Parkes and the surviving prisoners on 8 October, the extent of their mistreatment became apparent. The destruction of the [[Forbidden City]] was discussed, as proposed by Lord Elgin, to discourage the Qing Empire from using kidnapping as a bargaining tool, and to exact revenge on the mistreatment of their prisoners.<ref name="Endacott">{{cite book |title= A biographical sketch-book of early Hong Kong|last= Endacott|first= G. B.|author-link=George Beer Endacott|author2=Carroll, John M. |year= 2005|orig-year= 1962|publisher= [[Hong Kong University Press]]|isbn=978-962-209-742-1}}</ref>{{page needed|date=November 2021}} However, an attack on Beijing was ruled out, as this had already been presented as threat for other terms. Elgin decided on burning the Summer Palace. In a letter, he explained that the burning of the palace was the punishment "which would fall, not on the people, who may be comparatively innocent, but exclusively on the Emperor, whose direct personal responsibility for the crime committed is established".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Elgin |first1=James Earl of |title=Letters and Journals of James, Eighth Earl of Elgin |date=2018 |publisher=Outlook Verlag |location=[Place of publication not identified] |isbn=978-3-7340-5487-7 |page=343}}</ref>

On 18 October, British soldiers burnt the Old Summer Palace, the French refusing to assist. The razing of the buildings took two days, with imperial property in the vicinity also destroyed.<ref name="Hibbert" />{{rp|282}} Most accounts say that the Old Summer Palace was burnt for three days and three nights.