Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The Haiyantang (pinyin: Haiyantang) was a water clock fountain that included 12 bronze Chinese zodiac figures. The animal figurehead sculptures were looted during the destruction of the Old Summer Palace by British and French expeditionary forces during the Qing dynasty Second Opium War in 1860. The 12 bronze figureheads were part of the Haiyantang water clock situated in the Garden of Eternal Spring (pinyin: Changchun Yuan). The 12 bronze figureheads represented the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac with the main bodies carved out of stone and heads cast from bronze. The animals spouted water to tell the time in a fountain created for the Qianlong emperor. The design of the figures is attributed to the Jesuit Giuseppe Castiglione. The recovered Chinese collection are housed at the Poly Art Museum in Beijing. The Rabbit and Rat are part of designer Yves Saint Laurent's collection housed in France, and sold to an anonymous bidder by auction house Christie's on 25 February 2009.

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