He’s a crook!
As I was reading about the Boxer Rebellion and the destruction of the Beijing’s Old Summer Palace 圓明園, I came across the name Elgin. So I thought to myself, this can’t possibly be the same Sir Thomas Elgin who is responsible for the marbles of Parthenon Frieze being in the British Museum, couldn’t it?
It turned out that it his son, James Elgin who’s the person who gave the order to destroy 圓明園. Growing up, I never really feel the same anger for the destruction of 圓明園 as my mom does. Today, I realised that it was very much due to ignorance and lack of reading.
But, is he the real crook, or just a scapegoat?
Try to explain this to my British fiance, eh?
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