Notre Dame fire attracts wave of sympathy in China, but some web users revive old grievances over destruction of Old Summer Palace
- Some social media users regard devastation in Paris as karmic payback for destruction of imperial palace during the second opium war
- But many others lament damage to historic cathedral as state broadcaster warns people not to be ‘narrow-minded and pathetic’
The fire that swept through Notre Dame cathedral on Monday prompted a global outpouring of sympathy and grief – but some Chinese internet users used the destruction to resurrect a long-held historic grievance.
During the second opium war in October 1860, British and French troops marched into Beijing’s Old Summer Palace, known as the Garden of Perfect Brightness (or Yuanming Yuan), before burning it to the ground to avenge the torture and execution of two British envoys and the Anglo-Indian troops who escorted them.
The destruction was accompanied by widespread looting by both British and French troops.
The palace was regarded as the home of the most beautiful collection of architecture and art in the country and its destruction has long been regarded as a shameful wound by many Chinese.
“Honestly, I feel bad that 800-year-old architecture was set ablaze and it was a loss for the whole of mankind, but I find it hard to sympathise with the French people,” wrote one Weibo user, who called himself “minister of martial orders”.
“This easily reminded me of the Yuanming Yuan being burned down by the British and French armies, which was more valuable than Notre Dame. There is a karmic cycle and who has heaven ever forgiven?”