Last Emperor of China Is Born
Henry Pu Yi, born on February 7, 1906, was the last emperor of China, representing the end of the Manchu dynasty that had ruled since 1644. His early life unfolded in a rapidly changing China, weakened by years of foreign intervention and internal strife, culminating in the abdication forced upon him during the Republican Revolution of 1911. Crowned as a child in 1908, Pu Yi's reign was brief and largely symbolic, as his uncle had died in custody, and he was under the regency of his father, Prince Chun. After his abdication in 1912, he remained in the Forbidden City but was later used as a political pawn by local warlords.
In the 1920s, he fell under Japanese influence, eventually being installed as the puppet emperor of Manchukuo, a Japanese-controlled state, in 1932. His reign there lasted until World War II, when the regime collapsed following the Soviet invasion in 1945. Pu Yi was taken to Russia and later returned to China, where he faced imprisonment by the communist government for nearly a decade. After his release in 1959, he lived a modest life as a gardener until his death on October 16, 1967. Pu Yi's life reflects the tumultuous transition of China from imperial rule to a modern state, marked by foreign occupation and internal conflict.
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Last Emperor of China Is Born
Last Emperor of China Is Born
The last emperor of China, Henry Pu Yi, was born on February 7, 1906. He was the last of the Manchu dynasty, which had ruled China since 1644. Originally, the Manchus were warlike barbarians from Manchuria in the northeast part of the country. They conquered China and seized the throne from its native imperial dynasty, which had grown decadent and weak. By the 20th century the Manchus had declined themselves, as had their nation. Centuries of isolation and stagnation had left China easy prey to foreign powers, especially those of the West. The Opium Wars with the British (1839–43 and 1856–60), disadvantageous trading with Britain, France, Germany, and the United States, and war with Japan in 1894–95 had weakened China economically and militarily. This was the world into which Pu Yi was born, one where the once-proud Chinese Empire was now largely under the thumb of foreigners.
The real ruler of China at Pu Yi's birth was the Dowager Empress Cixi (or Tzu Hsi). She had deposed and imprisoned the previous emperor, Kuang Hsu, for attempting to subvert her de facto control over the government, and now she chose his nephew, Pu Yi, to be the next emperor. Pu Yi was barely a toddler when he was crowned in 1908 and given the imperial name Xuantong (or Hsuan Tong). His uncle, the previous emperor, had conveniently died in prison, possibly poisoned by order of the empress.
Since Pu Yi was still a child, his father, Prince Chun, ruled as Regent of the country in his stead. The infant emperor was raised in the Forbidden City, a walled enclave of palaces in the center of Beijing, the capital of China. In 1911 the Republican Revolution swept the country and Pu Yi was forced to abdicate on February 12, 1912. With his abdication the Manchus were forever removed from power, and China would never be an empire again. Nevertheless, Pu Yi and his entourage were permitted to remain in the Forbidden City, where they enjoyed a life of luxury. The new government was weak and beset by local warlords, who would eventually take possession of the Forbidden City and use Pu Yi as a puppet in their political machinations. Control over Pu Yi meant control over the imperial person, the millennia-old symbol of Chinese authority and tradition. However, in 1924 the warlord Feng Yu-hsiang, who had communist sympathies and little use for traditional symbols, took possession of the Forbidden City and forced Pu Yi to leave.
Pu Yi made his way to Tianjin, a coastal city largely under Japanese control. Once again he became a puppet, this time to Japanese ambitions in Manchuria. Manchuria bordered Japanese-controlled Korea, and as a Manchu, Pu Yi would provide a veneer of legitimacy for Japanese rule. Pu Yi also got along well with the aggressive and expansionist leaders of the Japanese army. In 1931 Japan invaded and conquered Manchuria, which they renamed Manchukuo, and in 1932 they installed Pu Yi as leader of this new client state. In 1934 he was crowned Emperor of Manchukuo and given the imperial name K'ang Te, meaning, ironically, tranquility and virtue.
In 1945 the Manchukuo regime collapsed as the Soviets invaded during the closing months of World War II. The Soviets flew Pu Yi and a small entourage to Russia, where he lived comfortably in exile. In 1950 they sent him back to China, where the pro-Soviet government of the People's Republic of China was now in power. The Chinese communists imprisoned Pu Yi for nine years. He was released in 1959 and spent the rest of his days as a humble gardener in Beijing. Pu Yi died on October 16, 1967.