Puyi (last emperor of China) Add a review

Puyi (7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967) was the last emperor of China, reigning as the eleventh monarch of the Qing dynasty from 1908 to 1912 when he was forced to abdicate. Later, he sided with Imperial Japan and was made ruler of Manchukuo—Japanese-occupied Manchuria—in hopes of regaining power as China's emperor. After over 10 years of imprisonment for war crimes following the end of World War II, Puyi worked for a number of years as a street sweeper and gardener in Beijing.

When the Guangxu Emperor died without an heir, Empress Dowager Cixi picked two year old Puyi, the nephew of the late emperor, to succeed him as the Xuantong Emperor. Puyi's father, Zaifeng, Prince Chun, served as regent before Puyi was forced to abdicate as a result of the Xinhai Revolution, which ended two millennia of imperial rule and established the Republic of China.

Empress Dowager Longyu signed the Imperial Edict of the Abdication of the Qing Emperor on Puyi's behalf, and in return the royal family was offered the Articles of Favorable Treatment, which allowed him to retain his imperial title and continue to live in the Forbidden City. From 1 to 12 July 1917, Puyi was briefly restored to the Qing throne by the loyalist general Zhang Xun. In 1924, he was expelled from the capital by warlord Feng Yuxiang after a coup, after which he found refuge in Tianjin and began to court both various warlords and the Japanese, who had long desired control of China.

After the Japanese invaded Manchuria and established the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932, they installed Puyi as the state's chief executive. In 1934, Puyi was declared emperor of Manchukuo under the era name "Kangde". He largely resided in the Manchukuo Imperial Palace in Changchun, where he was closely watched by the Japanese as a puppet ruler. At the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945, Puyi fled the capital and was captured by the Soviet Red Army. On 16 August 1946, he testified at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, and in 1950, was repatriated to the People's Republic of China. Puyi was then imprisoned and re-educated as a war criminal until his release in 1959.

After his release, Puyi published an autobiography (ghostwritten by Li Wenda) under the pressure of the Communist government and became a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He died in 1967 and was ultimately buried near the Western Qing tombs in a commercial cemetery. Puyi married five times, but had no children.