Beijing, Pechili province, China: ruins of the sculptured terrace, Longevity Hill, the Garden of Clear Ripples. Photograph by John Thomson, 1871.

A lateral view of a gigantic building with double dog-leg steps, taken from a distance. Weeds growing through cracks in the pavement, rubble all around. With a lion-dog statue in the left foreground

The Garden of Clear Ripples was first laid out in 1750 under the Qianlong Emperor, and was completed in 1764. The Garden encompassed the architectural styles of various palaces throughout China, while its artificial lake was modelled on the West Lake in Hangzhou, and was named as Kunming Lake in attempt to associate it with the artificial lake built by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The Longevity Hill standing in the centre of the Garden was over 60 metres high and was built entirely using the earth excavated to make the Lake. The name 'Longevity' Hill was given by the Emperor in celebration of his mother’s birthday. In 1860 the Garden was looted and torched by British and French troops during the Arrow War. In 1886 the Empress Cixi ordered its restoration, renaming it the Garden of Nurtured Harmony. As her new summer resort, the Garden of Nurtured Harmony became widely known in the West as the Summer Palace

1871

1 photograph : glass photonegative, wet collodion ; glass approximately 20.5 x 25.5 cm (8 x 10 in.)

At Yuen-ming-Yuen, China Bears Thomson's negative number: "494"

China through the lens of John Thomson, 1868-1872, Beijing: Beijing World Art Museum, 2009, p. 68 (reproduced)

This is one of a collection of original glass negatives made by John Thomson. The negatives, made between 1868 and 1872, were purchased from Thomson by Sir Henry Wellcome in 1921

Wellcome Collection 19244i