An old and rare map of Yuanmingyuan, also known as the Old Summer Palace in Beijing, was donated to the administration of the former imperial resort on Monday.

Drawn in 1933, the one-square-meter colored map is considered the first of its kind in the history of Yuanmingyuan, according to a scientific survey of architectural ruins and topography within the compound. It has been well preserved with clear details and information, including mountains, rivers, ruins and houses.

The map was collected by Kang Mu, a Beijing resident whose family bought it in 1956 at a price of 0.4 yuan ($0.06). Kang still has the invoice for the map. 

Covering over 350 hectares, Yuanmingyuan was first built in 1707. It was the imperial resort during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and has been generally considered the peak of Chinese garden art. In 1860, it was ransacked and burned down by invading Anglo-French forces, and gradually fell into ruins in subsequent decades.

According to the map, a large-scale research project on the site was launched in 1931. Though most architectural remains above the ground in Yuanmingyuan were hardly recognizable, researchers organized by the then-government in Beijing referred to detailed underground surveys to get a specific layout of its former splendor.

A plan to protect the ruins was even drafted in the 1930s, according to Liu Yang, deputy director of the Beijing History, Geography, and Folk Custom Society, but it never came to fruition due to later wars. Some of the ruins were further destroyed in the 1940s, and the map thus became a foundation for modern studies and the restoration of its basic landscape to a historically accurate state.

According to archives of the Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park, only three such 1933 edition maps have survived, including one in the National Library of China. 

The administration of the park says it will digitize the donated piece and share the information with researchers.

(With input from China Daily)