Puyi (last emperor of China) Add a review

Puyi (Chinese: 溥儀; pinyin: Pǔ Yí; Wade–Giles: P'u-i; 7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967) was the last emperor of China, having reigned as the Xuantong Emperor of the Qing dynasty (1908–1912, with a brief restoration in 1917) and later as the Kangde Emperor of Manchukuo, a Japanese puppet state during World War II. After the war, he was held as a war criminal in the Soviet Union and China until 1959, when the Chinese Communist Party granted him amnesty and presented him as a model of successful reeducation.

In 1908, chosen by Empress Dowager Cixi to succeed the childless Guangxu Emperor, Puyi ascended the throne at age two with his father Prince Chun as regent. Following the Xinhai Revolution, Empress Dowager Longyu signed the abdication edict on Puyi's behalf; in return, the Articles of Favorable Treatment allowed him to retain his imperial title and remain in the Forbidden City. From 1 to 12 July 1917, the loyalist general Zhang Xun restored him to the throne. In 1924, warlord Feng Yuxiang expelled him from the palace, and Puyi took refuge in Tianjin.

Following the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, Puyi was installed as president of Manchukuo in 1932 and he was crowned emperor of Manchukuo in 1934. At the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945, he was captured by the Soviet Red Army, testified at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal in 1946, and he was repatriated to the People's Republic of China in 1950. After his release in 1959, Puyi published an autobiography (ghostwritten by Li Wenda) and he worked as a gardener before he became a researcher at the Central Research Institute of Culture and History. In 1964, he was selected as a member of 4th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. After the Cultural Revolution broke out in 1966, he was protected by Zhou Enlai, and he died in 1967 without issue.