一组尘封的老照片，掀起了庚子年那段不堪回首的记忆THE EIGHT-POWER ALLIED FORCES

联军炮火后的紫禁城

光绪二十六年(1900年),英、法、美、俄、德、意、日、奥等八国组成侵华联军,发动了旨在镇压义和团、进一步瓜分中国的战争。清朝军队不堪一击,慈禧太后及光绪皇蒂、皇后被迫逃往西安联军攻陷北京后,烧杀、抢劫、奸,无恶不作他们攻城时首先纵火炮轰,使许多官邸、府院、城垣、宫苑遭到严重毁坏;入城后又公开特许军除抢劫三天,此后的烧杀抢劫更是无时间断。西苑仪銮殿是慈荐的寝宫,联军帅瓦德西将这里当作司合部,侵略者对殿内珍宝尽行抢劫后,又一把大火使大殿化灰烬。联军进入紫禁城后,会举行庆祝活动,坐在皇帝宝座上拍照,为所欲为。对义和团,侵略者进行了血腥镇压。无论何时何地,不管是是假,只要稍有可疑之人,便被指定义和团民,遭到斩首、枪决,几日内殉难者即达数千人之多。本文所收八国联军种种活动的照片,可能都是当时联军为炫耀“战功”而拍摄,撤离后留存宫内的。这些珍贵的原始材料,形象地说明古都北京会经蒙受的奇耻大辱,有助于我们更好地总结历史,引以为鉴。

The Eight-Power Allied Forces, aggressive troops sent by Britain, the United States, Germany, France, Tsarist Russia, Japan, Italy and Austria in 1900, launched the war to suppress the anti-imperialist Yihetuan Movement of the Chinese people and to carve up further the territory of China. The troops of the Qing government could not withstand a single blow. Empress Dowager Cixi, Emperor Guangxu and his empress were forced to run away to Xi'an After the fall of Beijing city, the Allied Forces burned, killed, looted, raped and stopped at nothing in doing evil. Before entering the city the wantonly bombarded and set on fire, so much so that many official residences, mansions of prince, city walls and imperial gardens were seriously damaged. After entering the city, the troops were specially promised to have three holidays as to commit all kinds of outrages. Cixi's domitory Yi an Dian(Imperial Regalia Office) in Xi Yuan was used as the headquarters of the Allied Forces. The aggressors not only looted all treasures in Yi n Dian, but burned down the Office. When they held their celebration activities in the Forbidden City, they had pictures taken on the imperial hone, doing whatever they liked The aggressors carried out a bloody suppression of Yi He Tuan. So long as one was suspected to be a member of Yi He Tuan, he would be beheaded or executed by shooting, no matter who he was. Within a few days several thousand people were murdered for this, no matter true or The picrures showing the activities of the Eight-Power Allied Forces were probably taken at that time for parading theirachievements in and were left behind when they evacuated the Beijing City. These precious firsthand data vividly record the galling shame and humiliation that the ancient capital Beijing sustained, and they have also contributed to a better conclusion of history, from which we can draw lessons