The last emperor of China - Pu Yi - is a significant figure in the history of China. It was during his reign that the country began to gradually turn from a monarchist to a communist one, subsequently becoming a serious player in the international arena.
Meaning of name
In China, it was forbidden to pronounce the name of the emperor given to him at birth - this was a centuries-old tradition. The last emperor of China received a loud name corresponding to the monarch - "Xuantong" ("unifying").
Family
The last emperor of China was not actually an ethnic Chinese. His family Aisin Gioro ("Golden Family") belonged to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which at that time had ruled for more than five hundred years.
Father Pu Yi Aisingero Zaifeng, Prince Chun, held a high dignitary position in power (Second Grand Duke), but he was never an emperor. In general, Pu Yi's father neglected power and eschewed any political affairs.
Mother Pu Yi Yulan had a truly masculine character. Raised by her father-general, she controlled the entire imperial court and punished for the slightest offense. This applied to both servants and persons who were actually equal in status to Yulan. She could execute eunuch servants for any look that did not suit her, and once she even beatdaughter-in-law.
The direct ruler of China was Uncle Pu Yi, as well as Zaifeng's cousin - Zaitian, later called "Guangxu". It was his successor that the last emperor of China became.
Childhood
Pu Yi had to ascend the throne at the age of two. After that, the last emperor of China (years of life: 1906-1967) was transported to the Forbidden City - the residence of the ruling persons of China.
Pu Yizhe was a rather sensitive and emotional child, so moving to a new place and coronation did not cause him anything but tears.
And there was reason to cry. After Zaitian's death in 1908, it turned out that a two-year-old child inherited an empire mired in debt, poverty and in danger of collapse. The reason for this was quite simple: the domineering Yulan established itself in the idea that Zaitian was mentally damaged, and made it so that the son of the cousin of the reigning emperor, who was Pu Yi, was appointed his heir.
As a result, the boy was assigned to the father-regent, who did not shine with foresight or political ingenuity, and then his great-aunt Long Yu, who was no different from him. It is interesting that Pu Yi practically did not see his father either in childhood or in his youth.
It is worth noting that Pu Yi was, among other things, a he althy child (except for stomach problems), lively and cheerful. Most of the time in the Forbidden City, the young emperor spent playing with court eunuchs and also interacted with wet nurses who surrounded him until he was eight years old.
Special respectand Pu Yi was in awe of the so-called elder mother Duan Kang. It was this strict woman who taught little Poo Yi not to be a smartass and not to humiliate others.
Military coup and abdication
The last emperor of China, whose biography was extremely tragic, ruled negligibly little - a little more than three years (3 years and 2 months). After the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, Long Yu signed the act of abdication (in 1912).
The new government left for Pu Yi the imperial palace and other privileges that were due to such a high-ranking person. Probably, the respect for authority that the Chinese have in their DNA affected. All the more striking is the difference between the Chinese revolution and the Soviet one, where the ruling family of Emperor Nicholas II was treated according to the laws of dictatorship and without any hint of humanity.
Moreover, the new government left Pu Yi the right to education. The last emperor of China studied English from the age of fourteen, he also knew both Manchu and Chinese. By default, the commandments of Confucius were also attached. Pu Yi's English teacher, Reginald Johnston, made him a real Westerner and even gave him a European name - Henry. Interestingly, Pu Yi did not like his seemingly native languages and taught extremely reluctantly (he could only learn about thirty words a year), while he taught English with great attention and diligence together with Johnston.
Pu Yi married quite early, at the age of sixteen, the daughter of a high-ranking official Wan Rong. HoweverPu Yi was not satisfied with his legal wife, so he took Wen Xiu as his mistress (or concubine).
Nothing (and no one), disturbed by the emperor, lived in this way until 1924, when the People's Republic of China already equated him with the rest of the citizens. Pu Yi and his wife had to leave the Forbidden City.
Manchukuo
After being expelled from the hereditary fiefdom, Pu Yi went to the northeast of China - the territory controlled by Japanese troops. In 1932, a quasi-state called Manchukuo was established there. The last emperor of China became its nominal ruler. The history, however, of this temporarily occupied section of Chinese territory turned out to be quite predictable. Pu Yi had no real power in Manchukuo, as in communist China. He did not read any documents and signed them without looking, almost under the dictation of the Japanese "advisors". Like Nicholas II, Pu Yi was not created for the real management of the state, especially such a huge and problematic one. However, it was in Manchukuo that the last emperor of China could once again return to his usual life, which he led until the end of World War II.
The new residence of the "emperor" was the city of Chanchun. The territory of this quasi-state was quite serious - more than a million square kilometers, and a population of 30 million people. By the way, because of the non-recognition of Manchukuo by the League of Nations, Japan had to leave this organization, which later became the prototype of the UN. All the more curious is the fact that duringten years, until the end of World War II, a number of European and Asian countries established diplomatic relations with Manchukuo. For example, they were Italy, Romania, France, Denmark, Croatia, Hong Kong.
Oddly enough, during the reign of Pu Yi, the economy of Manchukuo went uphill. This happened thanks to the large financial investments of Japan in this region: the extraction of minerals (ore, coal) increased, agriculture and heavy industry developed faster.
Also, Pu Yi was very friendly with the Japanese Emperor Hirohito. To meet him, Pu Yi visited Japan twice.
Soviet captivity
In 1945, the Red Army pushed back the Japanese troops from their eastern borders and entered Manchukuo. It was planned that Pu Yi would be urgently sent to Tokyo. However, Soviet troops landed in Mukden, and Pu Yi was taken by plane to the USSR. He was tried for "war crimes" or rather for being a puppet of the Japanese government.
Initially, the last emperor of China was in Chita, where he was charged and taken into custody. From Chita, he was transported to Khabarovsk, where he was kept in a camp for prisoners of war of higher ranks. There, Pu Yi had a small plot of land where he could garden.
At the Tokyo trial, Pu Yi acted as a witness and testified against Japan. He did not want to return to China under any circumstances.circumstances, so seriously considered moving to the US or the UK. The Chinese aristocrat was afraid of the new Chinese government led by Mao Zedong. He had money to move, since all the jewelry remained with him. In Chita, Pu Yi even tried to send a letter through a Soviet intelligence officer, which was addressed to US President Gary Truman, but this did not happen.
Return to China
In 1950, the Soviet authorities extradited Pu Yi to China. There, the former emperor was tried under the article "for war crimes." There were no concessions for him, of course. Pu Yi became an ordinary prisoner without any privileges. Nevertheless, he very calmly accepted all the hardships of prison life.
While imprisoned, Pu Yi spent half of his working time making pencil boxes, and the other half studying communist ideology based on the works of K. Marx and V. Lenin. Together with other prisoners, Pu Yi participated in the construction of a prison stadium, a factory, and also actively landscaped the territory.
In prison, Pu Yi also experienced a separation from his third wife, Li Yuqin.
After nine years in prison, Pu Yi was pardoned for good behavior and ideological re-education.
Last years of life
Freed, Pu Yi began to live in Beijing. He got a job at the Botanical Garden, where he cultivated orchids. Here, interestingly, being in Soviet captivity helped, where Pu Yi was also close to the ground.
He no longer claimed or demanded anything. In communicationwas polite, courteous, distinguished by modesty.
The role of an ordinary Chinese citizen did not upset Pu Yi very much. He did what was close to his heart and worked on his biography called "From Emperor to Citizen".
In 1961, Pu Yi joined the CCP and became a member of the National Archives. At the age of 58, in addition to his position in the archive, he became a member of the Political Advisory Council of the PRC.
At the end of his life, Pu Yi met his fourth (and last) wife, with whom he lived until the end of his days. Her name was Li Shuaxian. She worked as a simple nurse and could not boast of a noble origin. Li was much younger than Pu Yi, only 37 years old in 1962. But despite the serious difference in age, the couple lived for five happy years, until Pu Yi died of liver cancer in 1967.
It is interesting that Li Shuaxian was Pu Yi's only Chinese wife. For a native of Manchuria, this is, of course, an unprecedented case.
Funeral expenses Pu Yi took over the CCP, thereby expressing respect for the last emperor of China. The body was cremated.
Pu Yi had no children from any of the four wives.
Li Shuaxian passed away in 1997, outliving her husband by thirty years.
Pu Yi in cinema
The story of Pu Yi turned out to be so exciting that the painting "The Last Emperor" was created based on its motives. The film about the last emperor of China was shot by Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci in 1987.
Film critics liked the story in whichthe last emperor of China is involved: the film received almost maximum ratings.
The picture was a huge success: it won nine Oscars, four Golden Globes, as well as Cesar, Felix and Grammy awards and an award from the Japan Film Academy.
That's how the last emperor of China, the film about which was such a success, was immortalized in world art.
Hobbies
From childhood, Pu Yi was fascinated by the outside world. He was attracted by the observation of animals, which he sincerely loved. Little Pu Yi liked to play with camels, watch how ants live in an organized manner, and breed earthworms. In the future, the passion for nature only became stronger when Pu Yi became an employee of the botanical garden.
Meaning of Pu Yi example in history
The example of Pu Yi is very characteristic of the historical process of the late 19th - early 20th century. His empire, like a number of European ones, could not stand the test of the new time and was unable to respond to its current challenges.
The last emperor of China, Pu Yi, whose biography was complex and tragic, turned out to be in some way a hostage of history.
If China's economic condition weren't so dire and the internal feud between dignitaries so strong, perhaps Pu Yi could eventually become the most European of Asian monarchs. However, things turned out differently. Over time, Pu Yi fit well into the Communist Party and began to defend its interests.
