Prince Puyi: China's Last Dynasty

​Aisin-Gioro Puyi was born on February 7th, 1906, to his father, Zaifeng, Prince Chun, and mother, Youlan. In December 1908, Puyi was crowned the emperor of the Qing Dynasty at the age of two following the death of the Guangxu Emperor, who died childlessly. Puyi was split from his family, and only his wet nurse Wang Lianshou was allowed to follow him to the Forbidden City. Puyi spent most of his time with eunuchs (castrated servants), who did everything from tutoring him to clothing him. The older Puyi became, the more he realized the power he held over these eunuchs. He recounts in his autobiography that he used to shoot them with his air gun and even ordered a eunuch to eat dirt to test his loyalty (Behr, 74). Nurse Wang was the only person who could restrain Puyi. However, when Puyi was eight, Empress Dowager Longyu, the de facto ruler of the Qing dynasty, expelled Wang from the Forbidden City. Puyi, reportedly, started crying himself to sleep after she left (Behr, 76). To get more news about last empress of china wanrong, you can visit shine news official website.
On October 10th, 1911, revolutionaries led an armed rebellion against the Qing government. The revolutionary forces created a provisional government in Nanjing and pressured the Qing leaders to accept abdication terms. Puyi could no longer serve as emperor, and the imperial court had to revoke its power, but they were permitted to stay in the Forbidden City and maintained by the Republic. Puyi was not aware of the abdication until the death of Empress Dowager Longyu in 1913. Former Qing Prime Minister Yuan Shikai, who became the President of the Republic of China, visited the Forbidden City to pay his respects. It was then that Puyi judged from Yuan’s demeanor that Yuan held more authority than him. In 1915, Yuan declared himself the emperor of China but abdicated after 83 days following popular opposition (Puyi, 85). He died in June 1916.
Following the death of Yuan Shikai, the Chinese began splitting into independent groups led by local military generals, which marked the beginning of the warlord era. In July 1917, warlord Zhang Xun, a Qing loyalist, restored Puyi to the throne. However, Puyi’s second reign quickly ended following three small bombs on the Forbidden City. Members of the Republic of China launched the attack as a show of force against Zhang. The Qing army quickly surrendered to the Republican forces.
In 1919, Sir Reginald Fleming Johnston was appointed Puyi’s new tutor. Before Johnston, Puyi had a Confucian education where he only learned Chinese classics. In his autobiography, Puyi stated that he never learned mathematics or science and did not know where Beijing was in China (Behr, 78). Johnston not only taught Puyi English but introduced him to modern technology such as the telephone and cinema. Johnston also recommended that Puyi wear spectacles despite the opposition from the imperial court and his father. Puyi became obsessed with Western culture, particularly British traditions. He even adopted the name “Henry” and insisted his eunuchs address him by that name (Behr, 98).
In March 1922, the noble court began preparing for Puyi’s marriage. He was told to select a woman out of several pictures of daughters from noble Qing aristocratic families to choose as a consort. Puyi initially chose Wenxiu from a Bordered Yellow Banner family, but the noble court rejected that decision because she was only twelve years old. Puyi then decided to marry Wanrong, the Xuantong Empress of the Manchu Plain White Banner Gobulo clan and made Wenxiu a secondary consort.
On October 23rd, 1924, warlord Feng Yuxiang led a coup in Beijing and took control of the Republic of China. He evicted Puyi and the noble court from the Forbidden City in May, forcing Puyi to flee to Tianjin, where the Japanese took him in. Puyi grew bored in the Japanese concession and began buying lavish items such as pianos, watches, and radios as entertainment (Behr, 175). During this period, Wanrong started smoking opium, which grew to become an addiction. She could not complete basic tasks in the palace and grew to resent Puyi. Wenxiu, feeling ever more neglected by Puyi, escaped Tianjin, and she filed for divorce in 1931, which Puyi accepted (Behr, 177).
Following Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in September 1931, General Doihara Kenji, the perpetrator of the Mukden Incident, visited Puyi in Tianjin and proposed establishing him as the Emperor of Manchukuo. Members of the noble court and Wanrong repeatedly tried to convince Puyi to reject Doihara’s proposal. However, Puyi’s cousin, Aisin Gioro Xianyu, a Japanese spy better known as Kawashima Yoshiko, convinced him to accept Japan’s terms (Behr, 197). On March 1st, 1932, Puyi was installed as the head of Manchukuo.
Although General Doihara had promised Puyi an empire in Manchuria, what awaited him was a puppet state that he held little to no control over. The Japanese instituted Puyi as the Chief Executive and moved him to what was previously an office of the Salt Tax Administration in Changchun, known as Salt Tax Palace. Although the Japanese had remodeled the building, it was far smaller than what Doihara had initially promised (Behr, 214). The Japanese eventually crowned Puyi as an emperor in 1934. However, instead of being the emperor of a restored Qing Dynasty, he was the Emperor of Manchukuo.

Wanrong’s condition grew worse after moving to Manchukuo. By 1938, she was smoking roughly two ounces of opium every day, nearly a lethal quantity (Behr, 247). She also began having secret affairs with servants of the palace and eventually bore a child (Behr, 256). The Japanese, troubled by this news, decided to kill the baby to prevent Puyi from having an illegitimate child as an heir. The baby was euthanized on delivery in 1935 (Behr, 256).

Although Puyi became emperor, he was still a puppet of the Japanese government and held no legitimate authority. His only task was to sign and enforce Japanese policies in Manchukuo. The outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War made it clear to Puyi that the Japanese had no intention of restoring the Qing Dynasty. When the Japanese Army conquered Nanjing and Shanghai, the Japanese created new puppet governments instead rather than adding more territory to Puyi’s Manchukuo regime.