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{{Short description|The 12th Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor of Manchukuo}}
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{{Infobox royalty
| image = Pu Yi, Qing dynasty, China, Last emperor.jpg
| caption = Puyi as Emperor of Manchukuo, wearing the Mǎnzhōuguó uniform.
| succession = 12th [[List of emperors of the Qing dynasty|Emperor of the Qing dynasty]]
| reign = 2 December 1908 –<br>12 February 1912
| reign-type = First reign
| predecessor = [[Guangxu Emperor]]
| successor = ''Office abolished''{{hairspace}}{{efn|The [[Qing dynasty]] was formally ended in 1912 by [[Xinhai Revolution]]. [[Sun Yat-sen]] succeeded Puyi as head of state through the office of [[Provisional Government of the Republic of China (1912)|Provisional President]].}}
| reg-type = Regents
| regent = [[Zaifeng, Prince Chun]] {{nowrap|{{small|(1908–11)}}}}<br/>[[Empress Dowager Longyu]] {{nowrap|{{small|(1911–12)}}}}
| reg-type1 = {{nowrap|[[Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet|Prime Ministers]]}}
| regent1 = [[Yikuang, Prince Qing]]<br/>[[Yuan Shikai]]
| reign2 = 1 July 1917 – 12 July 1917{{efn|Between 1 July 1917 and 12 July 1917, during the [[Manchu Restoration]], Puyi re-took the throne and proclaimed himself the restored Emperor of the [[Qing dynasty]], supported by [[Zhang Xun]], the self-proclaimed Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet. However, Puyi and Zhang Xun's proclamations in July 1917 were never recognized by [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] (at the time, the sole legitimate government of China), most of Chinese people or any foreign countries.}}
| reign-type2 = Second reign
| reg-type2 = Prime Minister
| regent2 = [[Zhang Xun]]
| succession3 = [[Emperor of Manchukuo]]
| reign3 = 1 March 1934 –<br>17 August 1945
| reg-type3 = Prime Minister
| regent3 = [[Zheng Xiaoxu]]<br/>[[Zhang Jinghui]]
| predecessor3 = ''Himself as [[Chief Executive]]''
| successor3 = ''Office abolished''
| succession4 = [[Chief Executive of Manchukuo]]
| reign4 = 18 February 1932 –<br>28 February 1934
| reg-type4 = Prime Minister
| regent4 = [[Zheng Xiaoxu]]
| predecessor4 = ''Office established''
| successor4 = ''Himself as [[Emperor]]''
| succession5= [[Aisin Gioro|Head of the House of Aisin Gioro]]
| reign-type5 = Period
| reign5 = 12 February 1912 –<br>17 October 1967
| predecessor5 = ''Himself as [[List of Emperors of the Qing Dynasty|Emperor]]''
| successor5 = [[Pujie]]
| birth_name = Aisin Gioro Puyi<br/>(愛新覺羅 溥儀)
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1906|02|07|df=y}}<br/>(光緒三十二年 正月 十四日)
| birth_place = [[Prince Chun Mansion]], [[Beijing]], [[Qing dynasty]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1967|10|17|1906|02|07|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Peking Union Medical College Hospital]], [[Beijing]], [[China]]
| burial_place = Hualong Imperial Cemetery, [[Yi County, Hebei]]
| spouse = {{Marriage|[[Empress Wanrong|Gobulo Wanrong]]|1922|1946|end=d}}<br/>{{Marriage|[[Li Shuxian]]|1962|1967}}
| spouse-type = Consorts
| consort =
| issue =
| issue-link =
| issue-pipe =
| issue-type =
| full name = Aisin Gioro Puyi{{efn|[[Aisin-Gioro]] is the clan's name in [[Manchu language|Manchu]], pronounced Àixīn Juéluó in [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin]]; Pǔyí is the Chinese given name as pronounced in Mandarin.}}<br />(愛新覺羅 溥儀)<br>[[Manchu language|Manchu]]: Aisin Gioro Pu I{{efn|[[Manchu language|Manchu]]: {{ManchuSibeUnicode|ᠠᡞᠰᡞᠨ ᡤᡞᠣᠷᠣ ᡦᡠ ᡞ|style=height:1.8em;word-wrap:normal}}.}}
| era name =
| era dates =
'''Qing Empire'''
* Xuantong<br />(宣統; 22 January 1909 – 12 February 1912, 1 July 1917 – 12 July 1917)<br/>[[Manchu language|Manchu]]: Gehungge Yoso{{efn|[[Manchu language|Manchu]]: {{ManchuSibeUnicode|lang=mnc|ᡬᡝᡥᡠᠩᡤᡝ ᠶᠣᠰᠣ|style=height:2em;word-wrap:normal;}}.}}<br/>[[Mongolian language|Mongolian]]: Хэвт ёс{{efn|[[Mongolian language|Mongolian]]: {{MongolUnicode|ᠬᠡᠪᠲᠦ ᠶᠣᠰᠣ<!-- http://trans.mglip.com/ -->|style=height:2.1em;word-wrap:normal;}}.}}
; Manchukuo
* Datong<br />(大同; 1 March 1932 – 28 February 1934)
* Kangde<br />(康德; 1 March 1934 – 17 August 1945)
| regnal name =
| posthumous name =
| temple name =
| house = [[Aisin Gioro]]
| house-type =
| father = [[Zaifeng, Prince Chun|Zaifeng]], [[Prince Chun (醇)|Prince Chun of the First Rank]]
| mother = [[Gūwalgiya Youlan]]
| religion =
| occupation =
| signature_type =
| signature =
| module =
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
|s = 溥仪
|t = 溥儀
|p = Pǔyí
|mi = {{IPAc-cmn|p|u|3|.|yi|2}}
|altname = Xuantong Emperor
|t2=宣統帝
|s2=宣统帝
|p2=Xuāntǒng Dì
|w2=Hsuan<sup>1</sup>tʻung<sup>3</sup> Ti<sup>4</sup>
|mi2 = {{IPAc-cmn|x|uan|1|t|ong|3|-|d|i|4}}
|j2=Syun<sup>1</sup>tung<sup>2</sup> Dai<sup>3</sup>
}}
{{Contains special characters|Manchu}}
'''Puyi''' ({{zh|t = 溥儀}}; 7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967) was the last [[Emperor of China]] as the twelfth and final [[List of emperors of the Qing dynasty|Emperor of the Qing dynasty]], China's last imperial dynasty. At the age of two, he was made the '''Xuantong Emperor''' (pronounced {{IPAc-cmn|x|uan|1|t|ong|3}}, {{zh|t = 宣統帝}}; [[Burmese language|Burmese]]: ဧကရာဇ်ရှန့်ထောင်; {{lang-mnc|m={{ManchuSibeUnicode|ᡤᡝᡥᡠᠩᡤᡝ<br />ᠶᠣᠰᠣ<br />ᡥᡡᠸᠠᠩᡩᡳ}}|v=gehungge yoso hūwangdi}}) in China and '''Khevt Yos Khaan''' in [[Mongolia under Qing rule|Mongolia]] from 1908 until his forced abdication on 12 February 1912, after the [[1911 Revolution]], though he would remain in the Forbidden Palace and continued a lavish lifestyle.
He was briefly [[Manchu Restoration|restored to the throne as emperor]] by the loyalist General [[Zhang Xun]] from 1 July to 12 July 1917. He was first married to [[Empress Wanrong]] in 1922 in an arranged marriage. In 1924, he was kicked out of the palace and found refuge in Tianjin, where he began to court both the warlords fighting for hegemony over China, and the Japanese who had long desired control of China. In 1932, after the [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria]], the [[puppet state]] of [[Manchukuo]] was established by [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] and he was chosen to become "[[Emperor of Manchukuo|Emperor]]" of the new state using the era-name of '''Datong''' ('''Ta-tung''').
In 1934, he was declared the '''Kangde Emperor''' (or '''Kang-te Emperor''') of [[Manchukuo]] and "ruled" until the end of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] in 1945. This third stint as Emperor saw him as a puppet of Japan; he signed most edicts the Japanese gave him, including one making slavery legal. During this period, he was largely cooped up in the [[Salt Tax Palace]], where he regularly ordered his servants beaten. His first wife's opium addiction consumed her during these years, and they were generally distant. He took on numerous concubines, as well as male lovers. With the fall of Japan, and thus Manchukuo, in 1945, Puyi fled the capital and was eventually captured by the USSR; he was extradited to the [[China|People's Republic of China]] after it was established in 1949. After his capture he would never see his first wife again; she would die of starvation in a Chinese prison in 1946.
Puyi was a defendant at the [[Tokyo Trials]], and imprisoned as a [[war criminal]] for 10 years. He escaped execution because [[Mao Zedong]] realized that Puyi was more valuable as a reformed commoner than a murdered emperor, unlike what the Soviets had done with [[Nicholas II of Russia|last emperor of Russia]]. After his "reeducation" in prison, he wrote his memoirs (with the help of a ghost writer) and became a titular member of the [[Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference]] and the [[National People's Congress]]. His time in prison greatly changed him, and he became much kinder and expressed deep regret for his actions while Emperor. In 1962 he married a commoner, [[Li Shuxian]], whom he had a deep affection for. He died in 1967, and was ultimately buried near the [[Western Qing tombs]] in a commercial cemetery.
==Names and titles==
Puyi is also known to have used an English given name, "Henry", which he chose from a list of English kings given to him by his English-language teacher, Scotsman [[Reginald Johnston]], after Puyi asked for an English name.<ref>''Pu Yi''. 1988, p. 113</ref><ref name="Henry Pu Yi"/>
===Titles===
{{Infobox royal styles
|royal name = Xuantong Emperor
|dipstyle = [[His Imperial Majesty]]
|offstyle = Your Imperial Majesty
|altstyle = [[Son of Heaven|Son of Heaven (天子)]]
|image = File:Imperial standard of the Qing Emperor.svg
}}
When he ruled as Emperor of the Qing Dynasty (and therefore Emperor of China) from 1908 to 1912 and during his brief restoration in 1917, Puyi's [[Chinese era name|era name]] was "Xuantong", so he was known as the "Xuantong Emperor" ({{zh|s=宣统皇帝|t=宣統皇帝|w=Hsüan<sup>1</sup>-t'ung<sup>3</sup> Huang<sup>2</sup>-ti<sup>4</sup>|p=Xuāntǒng Huángdì}}) during those two periods of time.
As Puyi was also the last ruling [[Emperor of China]] (not counting [[Yuan Shikai]]'s abortive restoration of the imperial title), he is widely known as "The Last Emperor" ({{zh|c=末代皇帝|p=Mòdài Huángdì|w=Mo<sup>4</sup>-tai<sup>4</sup> Huang<sup>2</sup>-ti<sup>4</sup>}}) in China and throughout the rest of the world. Some refer to him as "The Last Emperor of the Qing Dynasty" ({{zh|c=清末帝|w=Ch'ing<sup>1</sup> Mo<sup>4</sup>-ti<sup>4</sup>|p=Qīng Mò Dì}}).
Due to his abdication, Puyi is also known as "Xun Di" ({{zh|t=遜帝|p=Xùn Dì|l=Yielded Emperor}}) or "Fei Di" ({{zh|s=废帝|t=廢帝|p=Fèi Dì|l=Abrogated Emperor}}). Sometimes a "Qing" ({{zh|c=清|p=Qīng}}) is added in front of the two titles to indicate his affiliation with the Qing dynasty.
When Puyi ruled the [[puppet state]] of [[Manchukuo]] and assumed the title of Chief Executive of the new state, his era name was "Datong" (Ta-tung). As Emperor of Manchukuo from 1934 to 1945, his era name was "Kangde" (Kang-te), so he was known as the "Kangde Emperor" ({{zh|c=康德皇帝|p=Kāngdé Huángdì}}, {{lang-ja|Kōtoku Kōtei}}) during that period of time.
==Biography==
===Emperor of China (1908–1912)===
[[File:溥儀, 繪畫肖像.jpg|thumb|left|Painting portrait of Puyi, 1908]]
Chosen by [[Empress Dowager Cixi]],<ref name="Politics in China: An Introduction">{{cite book| last=Joseph |first=William A. |title=Politics in China: An Introduction |year=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-533531-6 |page=45}}</ref> Puyi became emperor at the age of 2 years and 10 months in December 1908 after the [[Guangxu Emperor]], Puyi's half-uncle, died childless on 14 November. Titled the '''Xuantong Emperor''' ([[Wade-Giles]]: '''Hsuan-tung Emperor'''), Puyi's introduction to the life of an emperor began when palace officials arrived at his family residence to take him. On the evening of 13 November 1908, without any advance notice, a procession of eunuchs and guardsmen led by the palace chamberlain left the Forbidden City for the Northern Mansion to inform Prince Chun that they were taking away his two-year-old son Puyi to be the new emperor.<ref>Behr (1987), p. 62–63</ref> The toddler Puyi screamed and resisted as the officials ordered the [[eunuch]] attendants to pick him up.<ref name="The Last Emperor">{{cite book| last=Behr |first=Edward |title=The Last Emperor |year=1998 |publisher=Futura |pages=63, 80 |isbn=978-0-7088-3439-8}}</ref> Puyi's parents said nothing when they learned that they were losing their son.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.63">Behr, 1987 p.63</ref> As Puyi cried, screaming that he did not want to leave his parents, he was forced into a palanquin that took him back to the Forbidden City.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.63"/> Puyi's wet nurse Wang Wen-Chao was the only person from the Northern Mansion allowed to go with him, and she calmed the very distraught Puyi down by allowing him to suckle one of her breasts; this was the only reason she was taken along.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.63"/> Upon arriving at the Forbidden City, Puyi was taken to see Cixi.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.65">Behr (1987), p. 65</ref> Puyi later wrote:
<blockquote>I still have a dim recollection of this meeting, the shock of which left a deep impression on my memory. I remember suddenly finding myself surrounded by strangers, while before me was hung a drab curtain through which I could see an emaciated and terrifying hideous face. This was Cixi. It is said that I burst out into loud howls at the sight and started to tremble uncontrollably. Cixi told someone to give me some sweets, but I threw them on the floor and yelled "I want nanny, I want nanny", to her great displeasure. "What a naughty child", she said. "Take him away to play."<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.65"/></blockquote>
His father, [[Zaifeng, Prince Chun|Prince Chun]], became Prince Regent (摄政王). During Puyi's coronation in the [[Hall of Supreme Harmony]] on 2 December 1908, the young emperor was carried onto the Dragon Throne by his father.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.65"/> Puyi was frightened by the scene before him and the deafening sounds of ceremonial drums and music, and started crying. His father could do nothing except quietly comfort him: "Don't cry, it'll be over soon."<ref>Behr, 1987 p.66</ref>
[[File:Puyi (1922).jpg|thumb|Puyi in 1922]]
Puyi did not see his biological mother, [[Gūwalgiya Youlan|Princess Consort Chun]], for the next seven years. He developed a special bond with Wang and credited her as the only person who could control him. She was sent away when he was eight years old. After Puyi married, he would occasionally bring her to the Forbidden City, and later [[Manchukuo]], to visit him. After his special government pardon in 1959, she visited her adopted son and only then learned of her personal sacrifices to be his nurse.<ref>Pu Yi 1988, pp. 70–76</ref>
Growing up with scarcely any memory of a time when he was not indulged and revered, Puyi quickly became spoiled. The adults in his life, except for Wang, were all strangers, remote, distant, and unable to discipline him.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.74">Behr (1987), p. 74</ref> Wherever he went, grown men would kneel down in a ritual [[kowtow]], averting their eyes until he passed. Soon he discovered the absolute power he wielded over the eunuchs, and he frequently had them beaten for small transgressions.<ref name="The Last Emperor"/> As an emperor, Puyi's every whim was catered to while no one ever said no to him, making him into a sadistic boy who loved to have his eunuchs flogged.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.74-75">Behr (1987), p. 74–75</ref> The Anglo-French journalist [[Edward Behr (journalist)|Edward Behr]] wrote about Puyi's power as emperor of China, which allowed him to fire his air-gun at anyone he liked:
{{quote|The Emperor was Divine. He could not be remonstrated with, or punished. He could only be deferentially advised against ill-treating innocent eunuchs, and if he chose to fire air-gun pellets at them, that was his prerogative.|author=[[Edward Behr (journalist)|Edward Behr]]<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.74-75"/>}}
Puyi later said, "Flogging eunuchs was part of my daily routine. My cruelty and love of wielding power were already too firmly set for persuasion to have any effect on me."<ref name="Behr 1987 p.74" /> The British historian [[Alex von Tunzelmann]] wrote that most people in the West know Puyi's story only from the 1987 film ''[[The Last Emperor (film)|The Last Emperor]]'', which downplays Puyi's cruelty considerably.<ref name="Tunzelmann">{{cite news
| last = Tunzelmann
| first = Alex
| title = The Last Emperor: Life is stranger, and nastier, than fiction
| date=16 April 2009| url = https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/apr/15/the-last-emperor
| doi =
| accessdate = 2015-11-29| newspaper = The Guardian
}}</ref>
By age 7, Puyi had two sides to his personality: the sadistic emperor who loved to have his eunuchs flogged, expected everyone to kowtow to him and enjoyed puppet shows and dog fights, and the boy who slept at night with Wang, suckling her breasts and content to be loved for just once in the day.<ref>Behr (1987), p. 81</ref> Wang was the only person capable of controlling Puyi; once, Puyi decided to "reward" a eunuch for a well done puppet show by having a cake baked for him with iron filings in it, saying, "I want to see what he looks like when he eats it".<ref name="Behr 1987 p.74"/> With much difficulty, Wang talked Puyi out of this plan.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.74"/>
Everyday, Puyi had to visit five former imperial concubines, called his "mothers", to report on his progress. He hated his "mothers", not least because they prevented him from seeing his real mother until he was 13.<ref>Behr, 1987 p.75-76</ref> Their leader was the autocratic [[Empress Dowager Longyu]], who successfully conspired to have Puyi's beloved wet nurse Wang expelled from the Forbidden City when he was 8 on the grounds that Puyi was too old to be breast-fed.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.76">Behr, (1987), p. 76</ref> Puyi especially hated Longyu for that.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.76"/> Puyi later wrote, "Although I had many mothers, I never knew any motherly love."<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.76"/>
Puyi had a standard Confucian education, being taught the various Confucian classics and nothing else.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.78">Behr (1987), p. 78</ref> He later wrote: "I learnt nothing of mathematics, let alone science, and for a long time I had no idea where Beijing was situated".<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.78"/> When Puyi was 13, he met his parents and siblings, all of whom had to kowtow before him as he sat upon the Dragon Throne.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.79">Behr (1987), p. 79</ref> By this time, he had forgotten what his mother looked like.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.79"/> Such was the awe in which the Emperor was held that his younger brother [[Pujie]] never heard his parents refer to Puyi as "your elder brother" but only as the Emperor.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.79"/> Pujie told Behr his image of Puyi prior to meeting him was that of "a venerable old man with a beard. I couldn't believe it when I saw this boy in yellow robes sitting solemnly on the throne".<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.79"/> It was decided that Pujie would join Puyi in the Forbidden City to provide him with a playmate, but Puyi was notably angry when he discovered his brother was wearing yellow – the color of the Qing – as he believed that only Emperors had the right to wear yellow, and it had to be explained to him that all members of the Qing family could.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.79"/>
===Eunuchs and the Household Department===
The eunuchs were slaves who did all the work in the Forbidden City, such as cooking, gardening, cleaning, entertaining guests, and the bureaucratic work needed to govern a vast empire. They also served as the emperor's advisers.<ref>Behr, 1987 pp.72–73</ref> The eunuchs spoke in a distinctive high-pitched voice, and, to further prove that they were really eunuchs, they had to keep their severed penises and testicles in jars of brine they wore around their necks when working.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.73">Behr, 1987 p.73</ref> The Forbidden City was full of treasures that the eunuchs constantly stole and sold on the black market.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.73" /> The business of government and of providing for the emperor created further opportunities for corruption and virtually all the eunuchs engaged in theft and corruption of one sort or another.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.73" />
Puyi never had any privacy and had all his needs attended to at all times, having eunuchs open doors for him, dress him, wash him, and even blow air into his soup to cool it.<ref>Behr (1987), p. 72–75</ref> Puyi delighted in humiliating his eunuchs, at one point saying that as the "Lord of Ten Thousand Years" it was his right to order a eunuch to eat dirt: {{"'}}Eat that for me', I ordered, and he knelt down and ate it".<ref name="Behr 1987 p.74" /> At his meals, Puyi was always presented with a huge buffet containing every conceivable dish, the vast majority of which he did not eat, and every day he wore new clothing as Chinese emperors never reused their clothing.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.77-78">Behr (1987), p. 77–78</ref> The eunuchs had their own reasons for presenting Puyi with buffet meals and new clothing every day, as Puyi's used clothes made from the finest silk were sold on the black market, while the food he did not eat was either sold or eaten by the eunuchs themselves.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.77-78" />
After his wedding, Puyi began to take control of the palace. He described "an orgy of looting" taking place that involved "everyone from the highest to the lowest". According to Puyi, by the end of his wedding ceremony, the pearls and jade in the empress's crown had been stolen.<ref>Pu Yi 1988, p 132</ref> Locks were broken, areas ransacked, and on 27 June 1923, a fire destroyed the area around the Palace of Established Happiness. Puyi suspected it was arson to cover theft. The emperor overheard conversations among the eunuchs that made him fear for his life. In response, he evicted the eunuchs from the palace.<ref>Pu Yi 1988, p 136</ref> His brother, [[Pujie]], was rumored to steal treasures and art collections to sell to wealthy collectors on the black market. Puyi's next plan of action was to reform the Household Department. In this period, he brought in more outsiders to replace the traditional aristocratic officers to improve accountability. He appointed [[Zheng Xiaoxu]] as minister of Household Department and Zheng Xiaoxu hired [[Tong Jixu]], a former Air Force officer from the [[Beiyang Army]], as his chief of staff to help with the reforms. The reform efforts did not last long before Puyi was forced out of the Forbidden City by [[Feng Yuxiang]].<ref>PuYi 1978, pp. 137–142</ref>
===Abdication===
On 10 October 1911, the army garrison in Wuhan [[Wuchang Uprising|mutinied]], sparking a widespread revolt in the Yangtze river valley and beyond, demanding the overthrow of the Qing dynasty that had ruled China since 1644.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.68">Behr 1987 p.68</ref> The strongman of late imperial China, General [[Yuan Shikai]], was dispatched by the court to crush the revolution, but was unable to, as by 1911 public opinion had turned decisively against the Qing, and many Chinese had no wish to fight for a dynasty that was seen as having lost the Mandate of Heaven.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.68"/> Puyi's father, [[Zaifeng, Prince Chun|Prince Chun]], served as a regent until 6 December 1911, when [[Empress Dowager Longyu]] took over following the [[Xinhai Revolution]].<ref name="he Last Emperors: A Social History of Qing Imperial Institutions">{{cite book|last=Rawski|first=Evelyn S|title=The Last Emperors: A Social History of Qing Imperial Institutions|year=2001|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-22837-5|page=287,136}}</ref>
Empress Dowager Longyu endorsed the "[[Monarchy of China#Imperial Edict of the Abdication of the Qing Emperor|Imperial Edict of the Abdication of the Qing Emperor]]" (清帝退位詔書) on 12 February 1912 under a deal brokered by [[Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet|Prime Minister]] Yuan Shikai with the imperial court in [[Beijing]] and the Republicans in southern China.<ref name="Manchus & Han: Ethnic Relations and Political Power in Late Qing and Early Republican China, 1861-1928">{{cite book|last=Rhoads|first=Edward J M|title=Manchus & Han: Ethnic Relations and Political Power in Late Qing and Early Republican China, 1861–1928|year=2001|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=978-0-295-98040-9|pages=226, 227}}</ref>
Under the "Articles of Favourable Treatment of the Great Qing Emperor after His Abdication" (清帝退位優待條件), signed with the new [[Republic of China (1912-49)|Republic of China]], Puyi was to retain his imperial title and be treated by the government of the Republic with the [[Protocol (diplomacy)|protocol]] attached to a foreign monarch. This was similar to Italy's [[Law of Guarantees]] (1870) which accorded the [[Pope]] certain honors and privileges similar to those enjoyed by the [[King of Italy]].<ref name="God in Freedom: Studies in the Relations Between Church and State">{{cite book |last=Luzzatti |first=Luigi |title = God in Freedom: Studies in the Relations Between Church and State |year=2010 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing, LLC |isbn = 978-1-161-41509-4 |pages = 423, 424 |author2=Arbib-Costa, Alfonso }}</ref> Puyi and the imperial court were allowed to remain in the northern half of the [[Forbidden City]] (the Private Apartments) as well as in the [[Summer Palace]]. A hefty annual subsidy of four million silver [[tael]]s was granted by the Republic to the imperial household, although it was never fully paid and was abolished after just a few years. Puyi himself was not informed in February 1912 that his reign had ended and China was now a republic and continued to believe that he was still Emperor for some time.<ref>Behr, 1987 p.81-82</ref> In 1913, when the [[Empress Dowager Longyu]] died, President [[Yuan Shikai]] arrived at the Forbidden City to pay his respects, which Puyi's tutors told him meant that major changes were afoot.<ref name="Behr p. 84">Behr p. 84</ref>
Puyi soon learned that the real reasons for the Articles of Favorable Settlement was that President [[Yuan Shikai]] was planning on restoring the monarchy with himself as the Emperor of a new dynasty, and wanted to have Puyi as a sort of custodian of the Forbidden City until he could move in.<ref name="Behr p. 84-85">Behr p. 84-85</ref> Puyi first learned of Yuan's plans to become Emperor when he brought in army bands to serenade him whenever he had a meal, and he started on a decidedly imperial take on the presidency.<ref name="Behr p. 84"/> Puyi spent hours staring at the Presidential Palace across from the Forbidden City and cursed Yuan whenever he saw him come and go in his automobile.<ref name="Behr p. 84"/> Puyi loathed Yuan as a "traitor" and decided to sabotage his plans to become Emperor by hiding the Imperial Seals, only to be told by his tutors that he would just make new ones.<ref name="Behr p. 84-85"/> In 1915, Yuan proclaimed himself as emperor, but had to abdicate in the face of popular opposition.<ref>Behr p. 85</ref>
===Brief restoration (1917)===
{{see also|Manchu Restoration}}
In 1917 the warlord [[Zhang Xun (Qing loyalist)|Zhang Xun]] restored Puyi to the throne from July 1 to July 12.<ref name="Modern China: A Guide to a Century of Change">{{cite book|last=Hutchings|first=Graham|title=Modern China: A Guide to a Century of Change|year=2003|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-01240-0|page=346}}</ref> Zhang Xun ordered his army to keep their [[Queue (hairstyle)|queue]]s to display loyalty to the emperor. However, then-Premier of the Republic of China [[Duan Qirui]], ordered a [[Caudron Type D]] plane, piloted by Pan Shizhong (潘世忠) with bombardier Du Yuyuan (杜裕源) from [[Beijing Nanyuan Airport|Nanyuan airfield]] to drop three bombs over the Forbidden City as a show of force against Zhang Xun, causing the death of a eunuch, but otherwise inflicting minor damage.<ref>Stone of Heaven, Levy, Scott-Clark p 184</ref><ref>https://kknews.cc/zh-cn/military/lm6arxb.html</ref><ref>https://www.sohu.com/a/363336978_120497496</ref> This is the first aerial bombardment recorded by the [[Chinese Air Force (disambiguation)|Chinese Air Force]], and the restoration failed due to extensive opposition across China.<ref name="Science and Football III">{{cite book|last1=Bangsbo|first1=Jens|last2=Reilly |first2=Thomas |last3=Williams |first3=A. Mark |title=Science and Football III |journal=Journal of Sports Sciences|year=1996|volume=17|issue=10|pages=755–6|publisher=Taylor & Francis|doi=10.1080/026404199365489|isbn=978-0-419-22160-9|pmid=10573330}}</ref>
===Life in the Forbidden City===
Sir [[Reginald Johnston]], a Scotsman, arrived in the Forbidden City as Puyi's tutor on 3 March 1919.<ref>Behr 1987 p.97</ref> President [[Xu Shichang]] believed the monarchy would eventually be restored, and to prepare Puyi for the challenges of the modern world had hired Johnston to teach Puyi "subjects such as political science, constitutional history and English".<ref name="Li 2009 p. 113">Li 2009 p. 113</ref> Johnston was allowed only five texts in English to give Puyi to read: ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]'' and translations into English of the "[[Four Books and Five Classics|Four Great Books]]" of [[Confucianism]]; the ''[[Analects]]'', the ''[[Mencius (book)|Mencius]]'', the ''[[Great Learning]]'' and the ''[[Doctrine of the Mean]]''.<ref name="Li 2009 p. 113"/> But he disregarded the rules, and taught Puyi about world history with a special focus on British history.<ref name="Li 2009 p. 114">Li 2009 p. 114</ref> Johnston also told Puyi so much about his native Scotland that Puyi eventually expressed the desire to visit the "Scotland the Brave" that his tutor spoke of with such pride and love.<ref name="Li 2009 p. 114"/> Besides history, Johnston taught Puyi philosophy and about what he saw as the superiority of monarchies to republics.<ref name="Li 2009 p. 114"/> Puyi remembered that his tutor's piercing blue eyes "made me feel uneasy ... I found him very intimidating and studied English with him like a good boy, not daring to talk about other things when I got bored ... as I did with my other Chinese tutors".<ref>Behr 1987 p.97.</ref>
As the only person capable of controlling Puyi, Johnston had much more influence than his title of English tutor would suggest, as the eunuchs began to rely on him to steer Puyi away from his more capricious moods.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 97</ref> When the 14-year-old Puyi had some western-style clothing purchased to wear from a theater company, Johnston flew into a rage, saying that Puyi was wearing cheap clothing unworthy of an emperor, and had him buy expensive clothes from a western-style department store, saying, "If you wear clothes from a second-hand shop, you won't be a gentleman, you'll be ..."; Puyi noted he was unable to finish his sentence.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 98">Behr 1987 p. 98</ref> Under Johnston's influence, Puyi started to insist that his eunuchs address him as "Henry" and later his wife Wanrong as "Elizabeth" as Puyi began to speak "[[Chinglish]]", a mixture of Mandarin and English that became his preferred mode of speech.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 98"/> Puyi recalled of Johnston: "I thought everything about him was first-rate. He made me feel that Westerners were the most intelligent and civilized people in the world and that he was the most learned of Westerners" and that "Johnston had become the major part of my soul".<ref>Behr 1987 p. 98-99</ref> In May 1919, Puyi noticed the protests in Beijing generated by the [[May 4th movement]] as thousands of Chinese university students protested against the decision by the great powers at the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris peace conference]] to award the former German concessions in Shandong province together with the former German colony of [[Qingdao]] to Japan.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 105">Behr 1987 p. 105</ref> For Puyi, the May 4th movement, which he asked Johnston about, was a revelation as it marked the first time in his life that he noticed that people outside the Forbidden City had concerns that were not about him.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 105"/>
Puyi could not speak Manchu; he only knew a single word in the language, ''yili'' ("arise"). Despite studying Manchu for years, he admitted that it was his "worst" subject among everything he studied.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_qtgoTIAiKUC&pg=PA484&dq=arise+yili+puyi&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WbuYU7DGHcuVyASAmoA4&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=arise%20yili%20puyi&f=false Elliott 2001], p. 484.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=RZNxAAAAMAAJ&q=arise+yili+puyi&dq=arise+yili+puyi&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3LyYU8m4BYicyATQ3IK4DA&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAg Puyi & Jenner 1987], p. 56.</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ivYsAgAAQBAJ&q=arise+yili+puyi&pg=PT69|title=The Last Manchu|isbn=9781626367258|last1=Yi|first1=Henry Pu|date=2010-03-01}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=WpsMAQAAMAAJ&q=The+last+Qing+emperor+claimed+that+the+only+Manchu+phrase+he+ever+learned+to+speak+was+Hi,+%22+Arise!&dq=The+last+Qing+emperor+claimed+that+the+only+Manchu+phrase+he+ever+learned+to+speak+was+Hi,+%22+Arise!&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2mEQVISWFYXbsASOvIHoBA&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAA Elliott 1009], p. 66.</ref> According to the journalist [[Syed Mohammad Ali|S. M. Ali]], Puyi spoke Mandarin when interviewed but Ali believed he could understand English.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=0AJlAAAAMAAJ&q=puyi+spoke+mandarin&dq=puyi+spoke+mandarin&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7buYU6b0OtKNyASEyoHICA&ved=0CDwQ6AEwBA Ali & Ally & Islam 1997], p. 392.</ref> Johnston also introduced Puyi to the new technology of cinema, and Puyi was so delighted with the movies, especially [[Harold Lloyd filmography|Harold Lloyd films]], that he had a film projector installed in the Forbidden City despite the opposition of the eunuchs who disliked foreign technology in the Forbidden City.<ref>Behr, 1987 p.102</ref> Johnston was also the first to argue that Puyi needed glasses, as he was extremely near-sighted, and after much argument with Prince Chun, who thought it was undignified for an Emperor to wear glasses, finally prevailed.<ref>Behr, 1987 p.101-102</ref> Johnston, who spoke fluent Mandarin, closely followed the intellectual scene in China, and introduced Puyi to the "new-style" Chinese books and magazines, which so inspired Puyi that he wrote several poems that were published anonymously in "New China" publications.<ref>Li 2009 p. 118</ref> In 1922, Johnston had his friend, the writer [[Hu Shih]], visit the Forbidden City to teach Puyi about recent developments in Chinese literature.<ref>Li 2009 p. 120</ref> Under Johnston's influence, Puyi embraced the bicycle as a way to exercise, cut his queue and grew a full head of hair, and wanted to go to study at Oxford, Johnston's ''alma mater''.<ref name="Li 2009 p.117">Li 2009 p. 117</ref> Johnston also introduced Puyi to the telephone, which Puyi soon became addicted to, phoning people in Beijing at random just to hear their voices on the other end.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 100</ref> Johnston also pressured Puyi to cut down on the waste and extravagance in the Forbidden City, noting that all the eunuchs had to be fed.<ref>Behr 1987 p 92</ref> Johnston convinced Puyi that he could open doors for himself and did not need eunuchs standing idly all the time by the main doors of the palaces just to open them if he should happen along.<ref>Behr 1987 p 92.</ref> Puyi cut off his queue so he would look like a Western gentleman and under Johnston's advice embraced the bicycle as the best way to move about in the Forbidden City, retaining a lifelong enthusiasm for cycling, though it is doubtful that the eunuchs working as gardeners much appreciated Puyi's habit of riding through the flowers.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 99-100</ref>
===Marriage===
In March 1922, the Dowager Consorts decided that Puyi should be married, and gave him a selection of photographs of aristocratic teenage girls to choose from.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 107</ref> Puyi chose [[Wenxiu]] as his wife, but was told that she was acceptable only as a [[concubine]], so he would have to choose again.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 107-108</ref> Puyi then chose [[Gobulo Wanrong]], the daughter of one of Manchuria's richest aristocrats, who had been educated in English by American missionaries in Tianjin, who was considered to be an acceptable empress by the Dowager Consorts.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 108">Behr 1987 p. 108</ref> On 15 March 1922, the betrothal of Puyi and Wanrong was announced in the newspapers. On 17 March, Wanrong took the train to Beijing, and on 6 April, Puyi went to the Qing family shrine to inform his ancestors that he would be married to her later that year.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 108"/> Puyi did not meet Wanrong until their wedding.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 108"/>
In an interview in 1986, Prince Pujie told Behr: "Puyi constantly talked about going to England and becoming an Oxford student, like Johnston."<ref>Behr 1987 p.108-109</ref> On 4 June 1922, Puyi attempted to escape from the Forbidden City, having decided that he wanted to go to study at Oxford, and planned to issue an open letter to "the people of China" renouncing the title of Emperor before leaving for Oxford.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 109">Behr 1987 p. 109</ref> The escape attempt failed when Johnston vetoed it and refused to call a taxi, and Puyi was too frightened to live on the streets of Beijing on his own.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 109-110</ref> Pujie said of Puyi's escape attempt: "Puyi's decision had nothing to do with the impending marriage. He felt cooped up, and wanted out."<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 109"/> Johnston later recounted his time as Puyi's tutor between 1919 and 1924 in his 1934 book ''Twilight in the Forbidden City'', one of the main sources of information about Puyi's life in this period, though Behr cautioned that Johnston painted an idealised picture of Puyi, avoiding all mention of Puyi's sexuality, merely average academic ability, erratic mood swings, and eunuch-flogging.<ref>Behr 1987 p 91-95</ref> Pujie told Behr of Puyi's moods: "When he was in a good mood, everything was fine, and he was a charming companion. If something upset him, his dark side would emerge."<ref>Behr 1987 p 102</ref>
On 21 October 1922, Puyi's wedding to Princess Wanrong began with the "betrothal presents" of 18 sheep, 2 horses, 40 pieces of satin, and 80 rolls of cloth, marched from the Forbidden City to Wanrong's house, accompanied by court musicians and cavalry.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 111</ref> Following Manchu traditions where weddings were conducted under moonlight for good luck, an enormous procession of palace guardsmen, eunuchs, and musicians carried the Princess Wanrong in a red sedan chair called the Phoenix Chair from her house to the Forbidden City under a full moon.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 112">Behr 1987 p. 112</ref> Wanrong was taken to the Palace of Earthly Peace within the Forbidden City, where Puyi sat upon the Dragon Throne and Wanrong kowtowed to him six times to symbolize her submission to her husband.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 112"/>
Wanrong wore a mask in accordance with Chinese tradition and Puyi, who knew nothing of women, remembered: "I hardly thought about marriage and family. It was only when the Empress came into my field of vision with a crimson satin cloth embroidered with a dragon and a phoenix over her head that I felt at all curious about what she looked like."<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 113">Behr 1987 p. 113</ref> After the wedding was complete, Puyi, Wanrong, and his secondary consort Wenxiu (whom he married the same night) went to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, where everything was red – the color of love and sex in China – and where emperors had traditionally consummated their marriages.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 113"/> Puyi, who was sexually inexperienced and timid, fled from the bridal chamber, leaving his wives to sleep in the Dragon Bed by themselves.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.114">Behr 1987 p.114</ref> Of Puyi's failure to consummate his marriage on his wedding night, Behr wrote:
<blockquote>It was perhaps too much to expect an adolescent, permanently surrounded by eunuchs, to show the sexual maturity of a normal seventeen-year-old. Neither the Dowager consorts nor Johnston himself had given him any advice on sexual matters – this sort of thing simply was not done, where emperors were concerned: it would have been an appalling breach of protocol. But the fact remains that a totally inexperienced, over-sheltered adolescent, if normal, could hardly have failed to be aroused by Wan Jung's [Wanrong's] unusual, sensual beauty. The inference is, of course, that Pu Yi was either impotent, extraordinarily immature sexually, or already aware of his homosexual tendencies.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.114"/></blockquote>
Wanrong's younger brother Rong Qi remembered how Puyi and Wanrong, both teenagers, loved to race their bicycles through the Forbidden City, forcing eunuchs to get out of the way, and told Behr in an interview: "There was a lot of laughter, she and Puyi seemed to get on well, they were like kids together."<ref>Behr 1987 p.115</ref> In 1986, Behr interviewed one of Puyi's two surviving eunuchs, an 85-year-old man who was reluctant to answer the questions asked of him, but finally said of Puyi's relationship with Wanrong: "The Emperor would come over to the nuptial apartments once every three months and spend the night there ... He leave early in the morning on the following day and for the rest of that day he would invariably be in a very filthy temper indeed."<ref>Behr 1987 p.115-116</ref>
Puyi rarely left the Forbidden City, knew nothing of the lives of ordinary Chinese people, and was somewhat misled by Johnston, who told him that the vast majority of the Chinese wanted a Qing restoration.<ref name="Li 2009 p.117" /> Johnston, a Sinophile scholar and a romantic conservative with an instinctive preference for monarchies, believed that China needed a benevolent autocrat to guide the country forward.<ref name="Li 2009 p.117"/> He was enough of a traditionalist to respect that all major events in the Forbidden City were determined by the court astrologers.<ref>Behr 1987 p 94.</ref> Johnston disparaged the superficially Westernized Chinese republican elite who dressed in top hats, frock coats, and business suits as inauthentically Chinese and praised to Puyi the Confucian scholars with their traditional robes as the ones who were authentically Chinese.<ref name="Li 2009 p.117"/>
As part of an effort to crack down on corruption by the eunuchs inspired by Johnston, Puyi ordered an inventory of the Forbidden City's treasures, which caused the Hall of Supreme Harmony to go up in flames in a case of arson on the night of 26 June 1923, as the eunuchs tried to cover up the extent of their theft.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 121">Behr 1987 p. 121</ref> Johnston reported that the next day he "found the Emperor and Empress standing on a heap of charred wood, sadly contemplating the spectacle".<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 121"/> The treasures reported lost in the fire included 2,685 golden statues of Lord Buddha, 1,675 golden altar ornaments, 435 porcelain antiques, and 31 boxes of sable furs, though it is likely that most if not all of these had been sold on the black market before the fire.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 122</ref>
Puyi finally decided to expel all of the eunuchs from the Forbidden City to end the problem of theft, only agreeing to keep 50 after the Dowager Consorts complained that they could not function without them.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 122-123</ref> After expelling the eunuchs, Puyi turned the grounds where the Hall of Supreme Harmony had once stood into a tennis court, as he and Wanrong loved to play.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 123">Behr 1987 p. 123</ref> Wanrong's brother Rong Qi recalled: "But after the eunuchs went, many of the palaces inside the Forbidden City were closed down, and the place took on a desolate, abandoned air."<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 123"/> After the [[1923 Great Kantō earthquake|Great Kantō earthquake]] on 1 September 1923 destroyed the cities of Tokyo and Yokohama, Puyi donated jade antiques worth some £33,000 to pay for disaster relief, which led a delegation of Japanese diplomats to visit the Forbidden City to express their thanks.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 124.</ref> In their report about the visit, the diplomats noted that Puyi was highly vain and malleable, and could be used by Japan, which marked the beginning of Japanese interest in Puyi.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 124</ref>
===Expulsion from the Forbidden City (1924)===
On October 23, 1924, a [[Beijing Coup|coup]] led by the warlord [[Feng Yuxiang]] took control of Beijing. Feng, the latest of the warlords to take Beijing, was seeking legitimacy and decided that abolishing the unpopular Articles of Favorable Settlement was an easy way to win the crowd's approval.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.129">Behr 1987 p.129</ref> Feng unilaterally revised the "Articles of Favourable Treatment" on November 5, 1924, abolishing Puyi's imperial title and privileges and reducing him to a private citizen of the Republic of China. Puyi was expelled from the [[Forbidden City]] the same day.<ref name="Pioneers of Modern China: Understanding the Inscrutable Chinese">{{cite book|last=Choy|first=Lee Khoon|title=Pioneers of Modern China: Understanding the Inscrutable Chinese|year=2005|publisher=World Scientific Publishing Company|isbn=978-981-256-464-1|pages=350–353}}</ref> He was given three hours to leave.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.129"/> He spent a few days [[Prince Chun Mansion|at the house]] of his father [[Zaifeng, Prince Chun|Prince Chun]], and then temporarily resided in the Japanese embassy in Beijing.<ref name="Henry Pu Yi"/> Puyi left his father's house together with Johnston and his chief servant Big Li without informing Prince Chun's servants, who followed them in another car while two policemen joined on the sides of Puyi's car, leading to a wild car chase through Beijing as Puyi's chauffeur tried to lose the servants' car before Puyi was able to slip into a jewelry store and into a carriage that took him to the Japanese legation.<ref>Behr 1987 p.147-148</ref> Puyi had originally wanted to go to the British Legation, but the Japanophile Johnston had insisted that he would be safer with the Japanese.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.149">Behr 1987 p.149</ref> For Johnston, the Japanese system where the Japanese people worshipped their emperor as a living god was much closer to his ideal political system than the British system of a constitutional monarchy, and he constantly steered Puyi in a pro-Japanese direction.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.149"/> Puyi's adviser [[Lu Zongyu]], who was secretly working for the Japanese, suggested that Puyi move to Tianjin, which he argued was safer than Beijing, though the real reason was that the Japanese felt that Puyi would be easier to control in Tianjin without the embarrassment of having him live in the Japanese Legation, which was straining relations with China.<ref>Behr 1987 p.153-155</ref> On 23 February 1925, Puyi left Beijing for Tianjin wearing a simple Chinese gown and skullcap as he was afraid of being robbed on the train.<ref>Behr 1987 p.154-155</ref>
===Residence in Tianjin (1925–1931)===
[[File:Jing yuan mansion tianjin.jpg|thumb|right|Garden of Serenity in Tianjin]]
In February 1925, Puyi moved to the [[Concessions in Tianjin|Japanese Concession]] of [[Tianjin]], first into the Zhang Garden (張園),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visitourchina.com/guide/quietness_garden.htm|title=Quietness Garden|work=visitourchina.com}}</ref> and in 1927 into the former residence of [[Lu Zongyu]] known as the Garden of Serenity ({{zh|p=jìng yuán|s=静园|t=靜園}}).<ref name="Hygienic Modernity: Meanings of Health and Disease in Treaty-Port China">{{cite book|last=Rogaski|first=Ruth|title=Hygienic Modernity: Meanings of Health and Disease in Treaty-Port China|url=https://archive.org/details/hygienicmodernit0000roga|url-access=registration|year=2004|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-24001-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/hygienicmodernit0000roga/page/262 262]}}</ref> A British journalist, Henry Woodhead, called Puyi's court a "doggy paradise" as both Puyi and Wanrong were dog lovers who owned several very spoiled dogs while Puyi's courtiers spent an inordinate amount of time feuding with one another.<ref>Behr 1987 p.157-158</ref> Woodhead stated that the only people who seemed to get along at Puyi's court were Wanrong and Wenxiu, who were "like sisters".<ref>Behr 1987 p.158</ref> Tianjin was, after Shanghai, the most cosmopolitan Chinese city, with large British, French, German, Russian and Japanese communities. As an emperor, Puyi was allowed to join several social clubs that normally only admitted whites.<ref>Behr 1987 p.155-159</ref> During this period, Puyi and his advisers [[Chen Baochen]], [[Zheng Xiaoxu]], and [[Luo Zhenyu]] discussed plans to restore Puyi as Emperor. Zheng and Luo favoured enlisting assistance from external parties, while Chen opposed the idea. In June 1925, the warlord [[Zhang Zuolin]] visited Tianjin to meet Puyi.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.160">Behr 1987 p.160</ref> "Old Marshal" Zhang, an illiterate former bandit, ruled Manchuria, a region equal in size to Germany and France combined, which had a population of 30 million and was the most industrialized region in China. Zhang kowtowed to Puyi at their meeting and promised to restore the House of Qing if Puyi made a large financial donation to his army.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.160"/> As Zhang walked with Puyi to his car at end of their meeting, he noticed a Japanese spy who had followed Puyi and said in a very loud voice, "If those Japanese lay a finger on you, let me know and I'll sort them out", which was Zhang's way of warning Puyi in a "roundabout way" not to trust his Japanese friends.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.161">Behr 1987 p.161</ref> Zhang fought in the pay of the Japanese, but by this time his relations with the [[Kwantung Army]] were becoming strained. In June 1927, Zhang captured Beijing and Behr observed that if Puyi had had more courage and returned to Beijing, he might have been restored to the Dragon Throne.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.161"/>
Puyi's court was prone to factionalism and his advisers were urging him to back different warlords, which gave him a reputation for duplicity as he negotiated with various warlords, which strained his relations with Marshal Zhang.<ref>Behr 1987 p.161-162</ref> At various times, Puyi met General [[Zhang Zongchang]], the "Dogmeat General", and the Russian ''émigré'' General [[Grigory Mikhaylovich Semyonov|Grigory Semyonov]] at his Tianjin house; both of them promised to restore him to the Dragon Throne if he gave them enough money, and both of them kept all the money he gave them for themselves.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.162">Behr 1987 p.162</ref> Puyi remembered Zhang as "a universally detested monster" with a face bloated and "tinged with the livid hue induced by opium smoking".<ref>Fenby 2004 p.102.</ref> Semyonov in particular proved himself to be a talented con man, claiming as an ''ataman'' to have several Cossack Hosts under his command, to have 300 million roubles in the bank, and to be supported by American, British, and Japanese banks in his plans to restore both the House of Qing in China and the House of Romanov in Russia.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.162"/> Semyonov claimed that he was only asking for Puyi's financial support because of a temporary cash flow problem, and promised that once his Cossacks took Beijing he would repay all the money Puyi loaned him.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.162"/> Puyi gave Semyonov a loan of 5,000 British pounds, which Semyonov never repaid.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.162"/> Another visitor to the Garden of Serenity was General [[Kenji Doihara]], a Japanese Army officer who was fluent in Mandarin and a man of great charm who manipulated Puyi via flattery, telling him that a great man such as himself should go conquer Manchuria and then, just as his Qing ancestors did in the 17th century, use Manchuria as a base for conquering China.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 179</ref>
In 1928, during the [[Northern Expedition|Great Northern Expedition]] to reunify China, troops loyal to a warlord allied with the Kuomintang [[Looting of the Eastern Mausoleum|sacked the Qing tombs]] outside of Beijing after the [[Kuomintang]] and its allies took Beijing from the army of Marshal Zhang who retreated back to Manchuria.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.167-168">Behr 1987 p.167-168</ref> The news that the Qing tombs had been plundered and the corpse of the Dowager Empress Cixi had been desecrated greatly offended Puyi, who never forgave the Kuomintang as he held [[Chiang Kai-shek]] personally responsible for the sacking of the Qing tombs; the sacking also showed his powerlessness.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.167-168"/> During his time in Tianjin, Puyi was besieged with visitors asking him for money, including various members of the vast Qing family, old Manchu bannermen, journalists prepared to write articles calling for a Qing restoration for the right price, and eunuchs who had once lived in the Forbidden City and were now living in poverty.<ref>Behr 1987 p 174.</ref> Puyi himself was often bored with his life, and engaged in maniacal shopping to compensate, recalling that he was addicted to "buying pianos, watches, clocks, radios, Western clothes, leather shoes, and spectacles".<ref>Behr 1987 p 175.</ref>
Puyi's first wife Wanrong began to smoke opium during this period, which Puyi encouraged as he found her more "manageable" when she was in an opium daze.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.176">Behr 1987 p.176</ref> His marriage to Wanrong began to fall apart as they spent more and more time apart, meeting only at mealtimes.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.176"/> Wanrong complained that her life as an "empress" was extremely dull as the rules for an empress forbade her from going out dancing as she wanted, instead forcing her to spend her days in traditional rituals that she found to be meaningless, all the more so as China was a republic and her title of empress was symbolic only.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.176"/> The westernized Wanrong loved to go out dancing, play tennis, wear western clothes and make-up, listen to jazz music, and to socialize with her friends, which the more conservative courtiers all objected to.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.176"/> She resented having to play the traditional role of a Chinese empress, but was unwilling to break with Puyi.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.176"/> Puyi's butler was secretly a Japanese spy, and in a report to his masters described Puyi and Wanrong one day spending hours screaming at one another in the gardens with Wanrong repeatedly calling Puyi a "eunuch"; whether she meant that as a reference to sexual inadequacy is unclear.<ref>Behr 1987 p.176-177</ref> In 1928, Puyi's concubine [[Wenxiu]] declared that she had had enough of him and his court and simply walked out, filing for divorce.<ref>Behr 1987 p.177</ref> After Wenxiu left, a regular visitor to the court was Puyi's cousin [[Yoshiko Kawashima|Eastern Jewel]], described by Tunzelmann as "... an urbane leather-clad cross-dressing spy princess".<ref name="Tunzelmann"/>
===Captive in Manchuria (1931–1932)===
In September 1931 Puyi sent a letter to [[Jirō Minami]], the Japanese Minister of War, expressing his desire to be restored to the throne.<ref name="Two Homelands"/> On the night of 18 September 1931, the [[Mukden Incident]] began when the Kwantung Army blew up a section of railroad belonging to the Japanese-owned [[South Manchuria Railway|South Manchurian Railroad company]], which was blamed on the warlord Marshal [[Zhang Xueliang]], the "Young Marshal" who took over Manchuria in 1928 when his father, the "Old Marshal", was assassinated by the Kwantung Army.<ref>Behr 1987 p.181</ref> Using this incident as an excuse, the Kwantung Army began a general offensive with the aim of conquering all of Manchuria with heavy artillery being used to blast Zhang's barracks in Mukden.<ref>Behr 1987 p.182</ref> Puyi was visited by [[Kenji Doihara]], head of the espionage office of the Japanese [[Kwantung Army]], who proposed establishing Puyi as head of a Manchurian state.
The Empress Wanrong was firmly against Puyi's plans to go to Manchuria, which she called treason, and for a moment Puyi hesitated, leading Doihara to send for Puyi's cousin, the very pro-Japanese [[Yoshiko Kawashima|Eastern Jewel]], to visit him to change his mind.<ref name="Behr p. 190-191">Behr p. 190-191</ref> Eastern Jewel, a strong-willed, flamboyant, openly bisexual woman noted for her habit of wearing male clothing and uniforms, had much influence on Puyi.<ref name="Behr p. 190-191"/> In the [[Tientsin Incident (1931)|Tientsin Incident]] during November 1931, Puyi and Zheng Xiaoxu traveled to Manchuria to complete plans for the puppet state of [[Manchukuo]]. Puyi left his house in Tianjin by hiding in the trunk of a car.<ref>Behr 1987. p.192.</ref> The Chinese government ordered his arrest for treason, but was unable to breach the Japanese protection.<ref name="Henry Pu Yi"/> Puyi boarded a Japanese ship, the ''Awaji Maru'', that took him across the East China Sea, and when he landed in Port Arthur (modern Lüshun) the next day, he was greeted by the man who was to become his minder, General [[Masahiko Amakasu]], who escorted him to the train that took them to a resort owned by the South Manchurian Railroad company.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.193">Behr 1987 p.193</ref> Amakasu was a fearsome man who told Puyi how in the [[Amakasu Incident]] of 1923 he had the feminist [[Noe Itō]], her lover the anarchist [[Sakae Ōsugi]], and a six-year-old boy, Munekazu Tachibana, who happened to be there, strangled to death as they were "enemies of the Emperor", and he likewise would kill Puyi if he should prove to be an "enemy of the Emperor".<ref name="Behr 1987 p.193"/> The American historian Louise Young described Amakasu as a "sadistic" man who enjoyed torturing and killing people.<ref>Young 1998 p. 16.</ref> Behr commented that Amakasu's boasting about killing a six-year-old boy should have enlightened Puyi about the sort of people he had just allied himself with.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.193"/> Chen Baochen returned to [[Beijing]], where he died in 1935.<ref name="Political Leaders of Modern China: A Biographical Dictionary">{{cite book|last=Leung|first=Edwin Pak-Wah|title=Political Leaders of Modern China: A Biographical Dictionary |year=2002 |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0-313-30216-9|pages=10,127,128}}</ref>
Once he arrived in Manchuria, Puyi discovered that he was a prisoner and was not allowed outside the Yamato Hotel, ostensibly to protect him from assassination.<ref>Behr 1987 p.194</ref> Wanrong had stayed in Tianjin, and remained opposed to Puyi's decision to work with the Japanese, requiring her friend Eastern Jewel to visit numerous times to convince her to go to Manchuria.<ref>Behr 1987 p.195-196</ref> Behr commented that if Wanrong had been a stronger woman, she might have remained in Tianjin and filed for divorce, but ultimately she accepted Eastern Jewel's argument that it was her duty as a wife to follow her husband, and six weeks after the Tientsin incident, she too crossed the East China Sea to Port Arthur with Eastern Jewel to keep her company.<ref>Behr 1987 p.196</ref>
In early 1932, General [[Seishirō Itagaki]] informed Puyi that the new state was to be a republic with him as Chief Executive; the capital was to be Changchun; his form of address was to be "Your Excellency", not "Your Imperial Majesty"; and there were to be no references to Puyi ruling with the "[[Mandate of Heaven]]", all of which displeased Puyi.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.198-199">Behr 1987 p.198-199</ref> The suggestion that Manchukuo was to be based on popular sovereignty with the 34 million people of Manchuria "asking" that Puyi rule over them was completely contrary to Puyi's ideas about his right to rule by the Mandate of Heaven.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.198-199"/> The Lytton Commission appointed by the League of Nations was due to arrive in Manchuria soon to examine the Chinese complaint made to the League Council that Japan had committed aggression by seizing Manchuria, and presenting Manchukuo as an exercise in Wilsonian self-determination was calculated by the Kwantung Army to appeal better than archaic arguments about the Mandate of Heaven.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.199">Behr 1987 p.199</ref> Furthermore, the Japanese were fearful of international isolation, and contended that they had not violated the [[Nine-Power Treaty]] of 1922 because the Kwantung Army had supposedly responded to the demands of the local people to break away from China.<ref name="auto">Iriye, 1987 p. 17.</ref> The United States had already announced the [[Stimson Doctrine]] of refusing to "recognize any treaty or agreement" that Japan might impose on China which "may be brought about by means contrary to the covenants and obligations of the Pact of Paris [the [[Kellogg–Briand Pact]]]".<ref>Iriye, 1987 p. 16.</ref> The Japanese contention was that China "was not an organized state" but instead a lawless region ruled by warlords; Japan would observe all of its treaty commitments, but would react if the local people asked for Japanese help.<ref>Iriye, 1987 p. 16-17.</ref> The Japanese historian [[Akira Iriye]] wrote that this argument about self-determination and freedom for the people of Manchuria was meant to make "an egregious violation of China's territorial and administrative integrity ... compatible with the Washington treaties".<ref name="auto"/>
Itagaki suggested to Puyi that in a few years Manchukuo might become a monarchy and that Manchuria was just the beginning, as Japan had ambitions to take all of China; the obvious implication was that Puyi would become the Great Qing Emperor again.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.198-199"/> When Puyi objected to Itagaki's plans, he was told that he was in no position to negotiate as Itagaki had no interest in his opinions on these issues.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.199"/> Unlike Doihara, who was always very polite and constantly stroked Puyi's ego, Itagaki was brutally rude and brusque, addressing Puyi like he was barking out orders to a particularly dim-witted common soldier.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.199"/> Itagaki had promised Puyi's chief adviser [[Zheng Xiaoxu]] that he would be the Manchukuo prime minister, an offer that appealed to his vanity enough that he persuaded Puyi to accept the Japanese terms, telling him that Manchukuo would soon become a monarchy and history would repeat itself, as Puyi would conquer the rest of China from his Manchurian base just as the Qing did in 1644.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.199"/> In Japanese propaganda, Puyi was always celebrated both in traditionalist terms as a Confucian "Sage King" out to restore virtue and as a revolutionary who would end the oppression of the common people by a program of wholesale modernization.<ref>Young 1998 p.286</ref>
===Puppet ruler of Manchukuo (1932–1945)===
{{Infobox royal styles
|royal name = Kangde Emperor
|dipstyle = [[His Imperial Majesty]]
|offstyle = Your Imperial Majesty
|image = Flag of the Emperor of Manchukuo.svg
}}
On the night of 24 February 1932, when Puyi accepted the offer to be [[Chief Executive of Manchukuo]], a party was thrown with [[Geisha|''geishas'']] imported for the celebration, during which Itagaki become very drunk, and forgetting that the ''geisha'' are entertainers, not prostitutes, made outrageous sexual advances toward them, fondling their breasts and vaginas and telling Puyi that as a general he could do anything he wanted to them.<ref name="auto1">Behr 1987 p.212</ref> During the party, while Itagaki boasted to Puyi that now was a great time to be a Japanese man, Puyi was much offended when none of the ''geisha'' knew who he was.<ref name="auto1"/>
On 1 March 1932, the Japanese installed Puyi as the Chief Executive of Manchukuo, a [[puppet state]] of the [[Empire of Japan]], under the [[Chinese era name|reign title]] '''Datong''' ([[Wade-Giles]]: '''Ta-tung'''; 大同). One contemporary commentator, [[Wen Yuan-ning]], quipped that Puyi had now achieved the dubious distinction of having been "made emperor three times without knowing why and apparently without relishing it."<ref>Wen Yuan-ning, "Emperor Malgré Lui", in Wen Yuan-ning and others, ''Imperfect Understanding: Intimate Portraits of Modern Chinese Celebrities'', edited by Christopher Rea. Amherst, NY: Cambria Press, 2018, p. 117.</ref>
Puyi believed [[Manchukuo]] was just the beginning, and that within a few years he would again reign as [[Emperor of China]], having the yellow imperial dragon robes used for coronation of Qing emperors brought from Beijing to [[Changchun]].<ref>Behr 1987 p 225-227</ref> At the time, [[Propaganda in Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II|Japanese propaganda]] depicted the birth of Manchukuo as a triumph of [[Pan-Asianism]], with the "[[Five Races Under One Union (Manchukuo)|five races]]" of Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Manchus, and Mongols coming together, which marked nothing less than the birth of a new civilization and a turning point in world history.<ref>Behr 1987 p.218</ref> A press statement issued on 1 March 1932 stated: "The glorious advent of Manchukuo with the eyes of the world turned on it was an epochal event of far-reaching consequence in world history, marking the birth of a new era in government, racial relations, and other affairs of general interest. Never in the chronicles of the human race was any State born with such high ideals, and never has any State accomplished so much in such a brief space of its existence as Manchukuo".<ref>Behr 1987 p. 218</ref>
On 8 March 1932, Puyi made his ceremonial entry into Changchun, sharing his car with Zheng, who was beaming with joy, Amakasu, whose expression was stern as usual, and Wanrong, who looked miserable.<ref>Behr 1987 p.213</ref>
Puyi also noted he was "too preoccupied with my hopes and hates" to realize the "cold comfort that the Changchun citizens, silent from terror and hatred, were giving me".<ref>Behr 1987 p.214</ref> Puyi's friend, the British journalist Woodhead, who covered his arrival in Manchuria, wrote, "outside official circles, I met no Chinese who felt any enthusiasm for the new regime", and that the city of Harbin was being terrorized by Chinese and Russian gangsters working for the Japanese, making Harbin "lawless ... even its main street unsafe after dark".<ref>Behr 1987 p.215</ref> In an interview with Woodhead, Puyi said he planned to govern Manchukuo "in the Confucian spirit" and that he was "perfectly happy" with his new position.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 225</ref> [[Luigi Barzini Jr.|Luigi Barzini]], an Italian journalist from the ''[[Corriere della Sera]]'' newspaper, wrote: "I was unable to interview this pale, tired prince who doesn't like to talk, who is always plunged in his meditations and who maybe regrets his life as a simple, studious citizen. He has a fixed stare behind his black-framed glasses. When we were introduced, he responded with a friendly nod. But his smile lasted only a second. We could only await the word of the Master of Ceremonies to give us permission to bow ourselves out. A Japanese colonel, our guide, showed us the triumphal arches, the electric light decorations and endless flags. But all this, say the shopkeepers, is 'made in Osaka'".<ref>Behr 1987 p. 217</ref>
On 20 April 1932, the Lytton Commission arrived in Manchuria to begin its investigation of whether Japan had committed aggression.<ref>Behr 1987 p 218</ref> Puyi was interviewed by [[Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton|Lord Lytton]], and recalled thinking that he desperately wanted to ask Lytton for political asylum in Britain, but as General Itagaki was sitting right next to him at the meeting, he told Lytton that "the masses of the people had begged me to come, that my stay here was absolutely voluntary and free".<ref>Behr 1987 p 219-220.</ref> After the interview, Itagaki told Puyi: "Your Excellency's manner was perfect; you spoke beautifully".<ref>Behr 1987 p 220.</ref> The diplomat [[Wellington Koo]], who was attached to the Lytton Commission as its Chinese assessor, received a secret message saying "... a representative of the imperial household in Changchun wanted to see me and had a confidential message for me".<ref>Behr 1987 p 223</ref> The representative, posing as an antique dealer, "... told me he was sent by the Empress: She wanted me to help her escape from Changchun. He said she found life miserable there because she was surrounded in her house by Japanese maids. Every movement of hers was watched and reported".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 223">Behr 1987 p 223.</ref> Koo said he was "touched" but could do nothing to help Wanrong escape, which her brother Rong Qi said was the "final blow" to her, leading her into a downward spiral.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 223"/> Right from the start, the Japanese occupation had sparked much resistance by guerrillas, whom the Kwantung Army called "bandits". General Doihara was able in exchange for a multi-million bribe to get one of the more prominent guerrilla leaders, the Hui Muslim general [[Ma Zhanshan]], to accept Japanese rule, and had Puyi appoint him Defense Minister.<ref name="auto2">Behr 1987 p.226.</ref> Much to the intense chagrin of Puyi and his Japanese masters, Ma's defection turned to be a ruse, and only months after Puyi appointed him Defense Minister, Ma took his troops over the border to the Soviet Union to continue the struggle against the Japanese.<ref name="auto2"/>
[[File:伪满皇帝溥仪颁发的即位诏书。伪满皇宫博物院.jpg|thumb|Pu Yi's edict of ascending the throne]]
The [[Hirohito|Emperor Shōwa]] wanted to see if Puyi was reliable before giving him an imperial title, and it was not until October 1933 that General Doihara told him he was to be an emperor again, causing Puyi to go, in his own words, "wild with joy", though he was disappointed that he was not given back his old title of "Great Qing Emperor".<ref>Behr 1987 p 226-227</ref> At the same time, Doihara informed Puyi that "the Emperor [of Japan] is your father and is represented in Manchukuo as the Kwantung army which must be obeyed like a father".<ref>Behr 1987 p 227</ref> Right from the start, Manchukuo was infamous for its high crime rate, as Japanese-sponsored gangs of Chinese, Korean, and Russian gangsters fought one another for the control of Manchukuo's opium houses, brothels, and gambling dens, with the Russian gangs having a particular interest in going after Jewish businessmen in Manchukuo for extortion and kidnapping.<ref>Stephen, 1978 p.64-65 & 78–79.</ref> There were nine different Japanese or Japanese-sponsored police/intelligence agencies operating in Manchukuo, who were all told by Tokyo that Japan was a poor country and that they were to pay for their own operations by engaging in organized crime.<ref>Stephen, 1978 p.64-65.</ref> The Italian adventurer [[Amleto Vespa]] remembered that General [[Kenji Doihara]] told him Manchuria was going to have to pay for its own exploitation.<ref>Behr 1987 p.207</ref> In 1933, [[Simon Kaspé]], a French Jewish pianist visiting his father in Manchukuo, who owned a hotel in Harbin, was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by an anti-Semitic gang from the [[Russian Fascist Party]]. The Kaspé case became an international ''cause célèbre'', attracting much media attention around the world, ultimately leading to two trials in Harbin in 1935 and 1936, as the evidence that the Russian fascist gang who had killed Kaspé was working for the ''[[Kempeitai]]'', the military police of the [[Imperial Japanese Army]], had become too strong for even Tokyo to ignore.<ref name="auto3">Stephan, 1978 p.166</ref> In Asia, the rule of law is seen as one of the marks of "civilization", which is why the Japanese and Manchukuo media had spent so much time disparaging the chaotic and corrupt legal system run by the "Young Marshal", [[Zhang Xueliang]]; Puyi was portrayed as having (with a little help from the Kwantung Army) saved the people from the chaos of rule by the Zhang family.<ref name="auto4">Dubois 2008 p.306.</ref> Manchukuo's high crime rate, and the much publicized Kaspé case, made a mockery of the claim that Puyi had saved the people of Manchuria from a lawless and violent regime.<ref name="auto4"/>
[[File:Manchukuo Enthronement Medal.jpg|thumb|150px|Manchukuo Enthronement Commemorative Medal]]
On 1 March 1934 he was crowned [[Emperor of Manchukuo]], under the reign title '''Kangde''' (Wade–Giles: '''Kang-te'''; 康德) in Changchun. A sign of the true rulers of Manchukuo was the presence of General [[Masahiko Amakasu]] during the coronation; ostensibly there as the film director to record the coronation, Amakasu served as Puyi's minder, keeping a careful watch on him to prevent him from going off script.<ref>Behr 1987 p 213.</ref> Wanrong was excluded from the coronation: her addiction to opium, anti-Japanese feelings, dislike of Puyi, and growing reputation for being "difficult" and unpredictable led Amakasu to the conclusion that she could not be trusted to stay on script.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 228">Behr 1987 p 228.</ref> Though submissive in public to the Japanese, Puyi was constantly at odds with them in private. He resented being "Head of State" and then "Emperor of Manchukuo" rather than being fully restored as a Qing Emperor. At his enthronement, he clashed with Japan over dress; they wanted him to wear a Manchukuo-style uniform whereas he considered it an insult to wear anything but traditional Manchu robes. In a typical compromise, he wore a Western military uniform to his enthronement<ref>Pu Yi 1988, p 275</ref> (the only Chinese emperor ever to do so) and a dragon robe to the announcement of his accession at the [[Temple of Heaven]].<ref>Pu Yi 1988, p 276</ref> Puyi was driven to his coronation in a Lincoln limousine with bulletproof windows followed by nine Packards, and during his coronation scrolls were read out while sacred wine bottles were opened for the guests to celebrate the beginning of a "Reign of Tranquility and Virtue".<ref>Fenby 2004 p.243</ref> The invitations for the coronation were issued by the Kwantung Army and 70% of those who attended Puyi's coronation were Japanese.<ref>Behr 1987 p.228.</ref>
The Japanese chose as the capital of Manchukuo the industrial city of [[Changchun]], which was renamed Hsinking. Puyi had wanted the capital to be Mukden (modern [[Shenyang]]), which had been the Qing capital before the [[Qing conquest of the Ming|Qing conquered China]] in 1644, but was overruled by his Japanese masters.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 214">Behr 1987 p 214.</ref> Puyi hated Hsinking, which he regarded as an undistinguished industrial city that lacked the historical connections with the Qing that Mukden had.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 214"/> As there was no palace in Changchun, Puyi moved into what had once been the office of the Salt Tax Administration during the Russian period, and as result, the building was known as Salt Tax Palace, which is now the [[Museum of the Imperial Palace of the Manchu State]].<ref name="Behr 1987 p 214"/> Puyi lived as a virtual prisoner in Salt Tax Palace, which was heavily guarded by Japanese troops, and could not leave without permission.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 253">Behr 1987 p 253.</ref> Shortly after Puyi's coronation, Prince Chun arrived at the Hsinking railroad station for a visit, and this time Wanrong promised to behave as no Japanese were involved in the ceremonies, and thus she was allowed out of Salt Tax Palace.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 228"/> As Prince Chun got off the train, the [[Manchukuo Imperial Guards]] were there to greet him while Puyi was dressed in his uniform as commander-in-chief, wearing Japanese, Chinese, and Manchukuo decorations while Wanrong wore the traditional dress of a Chinese empress and kowtowed to her father-in-law.<ref>Behr 1987 p 228-229.</ref>
Prince Chun told his son that he was an idiot if he really believed that the Japanese were going to restore him to the Dragon Throne, and warned him that he was just being used.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 229">Behr 1987 p 229.</ref>
The Japanese embassy issued a note of diplomatic protest at the welcome extended to Prince Chun, stating that the Hsinking railroad station was under the Kwantung Army's control, that only Japanese soldiers were allowed there, and that they would not tolerate the Manchukuo imperial guard being used to welcome visitors at the Hsinking railroad station again.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 229"/> In this period, Puyi frequently visited the provinces of Manchukuo to open factories and mines, took part in the birthday celebrations for the Showa Emperor at Kwantung Army headquarters and, on the Japanese holiday of Memorial Day, formally paid his respects with Japanese rituals to the souls of the Japanese soldiers killed fighting the "bandits" (as the Japanese called all the guerrillas fighting against their rule of Manchuria).<ref name="Behr 1987 p 229"/> Following the example in Japan, schoolchildren in Manchukuo at the beginning of every school day kowtowed first in the direction of Tokyo and then to a portrait of Puyi in the classroom.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 229"/> Puyi found this "intoxicating".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 229"/> Puyi visited a coal mine and in his rudimentary Japanese thanked the Japanese foreman for his good work, who burst into tears as he thanked the emperor; Puyi later wrote that "''The treatment I received really went to my head''."<ref>Behr 1987 p 229-230.</ref>
Whenever the Japanese wanted a law passed, the relevant decree was dropped off at Salt Tax Palace for Puyi to sign, which he always did.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 244">Behr 1987 p 244</ref> Puyi signed decrees expropriating vast tracts of farmland to be given to Japanese colonists and a law declaring certain thoughts to be "thought crimes", leading Behr to note: "''In theory, as 'Supreme Commander', he thus bore full responsibility for Japanese atrocities committed in his name on anti-Japanese 'bandits' and patriotic Chinese citizens''."<ref name="Behr 1987 p 244"/> Behr further noted the "Empire of Manchukuo", billed as an idealistic state where the "five races" of the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Manchus, and Mongols had come together in Pan-Asian brotherhood, was in fact "''one of the most brutally run countries in the world – a textbook example of colonialism, albeit of the Oriental kind''".<ref>Behr 1987 p 202</ref> Manchukuo was a sham, and was a Japanese colony run entirely for Japan's benefit.<ref>Behr 1987 p 203-204</ref> American historian [[Carter J. Eckert]] wrote that the differences in power could be seen in that the Kwantung Army had a "massive" headquarters in downtown Hsinking while Puyi had to live in the "small and shabby" Salt Tax Palace close to the main railroad station in a part of Hsinking with numerous small factories, warehouses, and slaughterhouses, the chief prison, and the red-light district.<ref>Eckert 2016 p. 162</ref>
In 1935, to solve Japan's overpopulation problem, a plan was announced in Tokyo to settle five million Japanese farmers and their families in Manchukuo between 1936 and 1956, and in the first stage of the plan 20,000 Japanese families moved to Manchukuo every year, continuing until 1944, when American submarine attacks reduced the shipping available to move colonists into Manchukuo.<ref>Behr 1987 p 203</ref> By 1939, the total Japanese population in Manchukuo was about 837,000 men, women, and children; comprising the Japanese who had been brought in as rural colonists plus those who had come to Manchukuo to work as civil servants, businessmen, and for the [[South Manchuria Railway Company]], the largest corporation in Asia at the time, together with their families.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 204">Behr 1987 p 204</ref> To provide farmland for the Japanese settlers, the ethnic Chinese and ethnic Korean farmers already living on the land were evicted to make way for the colonists.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 204"/> The Kwantung Army used those who resisted eviction for bayonet practice.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 204"/> Furthermore, Manchukuo was meant to be the industrial powerhouse of the Japanese empire, and right from the start, the Japanese started to build factories and mines on a vast scale while the Chinese workers were ruthlessly exploited.<ref>Behr 1987 p 204-205</ref> The American historian Mark Driscoll described the economic system introduced by [[Nobusuke Kishi]], Manchukuo's Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce in 1935–1939 and a future prime minister of Japan, as a "necropolitical" system where the Chinese workers were treated as dehumanized cogs in a vast industrial machine.<ref>{{cite news
| title = The Unquiet Past Seven decades on from the defeat of Japan, memories of war still divide East Asia
| newspaper = The Economist
|date=12 August 2015| url = https://www.economist.com/news/essays/en/asia-second-world-war-ghosts
| accessdate = 2015-09-09}}</ref> Behr commented that Puyi knew from his talks in Tianjin with General [[Kenji Doihara]] and General [[Seishirō Itagaki]] that he was dealing with "ruthless men and that this might be the regime to expect".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 211">Behr 1987 p 211</ref> Puyi later recalled that: "I had put my head in the tiger's mouth" by going to Manchuria in 1931.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 211"/>
[[File:Chu Kudō with Emperor Puyi.jpg|thumb|right|Puyi (right) as Emperor of Manchukuo. On the left is [[Chū Kudō]].]]
From 1935 to 1945, Kwantung Army senior staff officer [[Yoshioka Yasunori]] (吉岡安則)<ref name="Yasunori Yoshioka, Lieutenant-General (1890–1947)">{{cite web|title= Yasunori Yoshioka, Lieutenant-General (1890–1947) |url=http://www.generals.dk/general/Yoshioka/Yasunori/Japan.html|work=The Generals of WWII – Generals from Japan|publisher=Steen Ammentorp, Librarian DB., M.L.I.Sc.|accessdate=17 August 2010}}</ref> was assigned to Puyi as Attaché to the Imperial Household in Manchukuo. He acted as a spy for the Japanese government, controlling Puyi through fear, intimidation, and direct orders.<ref>Pu Yi 1988, p 284-320</ref> There were many attempts on Puyi's life during this period, including a 1937 stabbing by a palace servant.<ref name="Henry Pu Yi"/> During Puyi's reign as Emperor of Manchukuo, his household was closely watched by the Japanese, who increasingly took steps toward the full [[Japanisation]] of Manchuria, to prevent him from becoming too independent. He was feted by the Japanese populace during his visits there, but had to remain subservient to Emperor Hirohito.<ref>Pu Yi 1988, p 281</ref> It is unclear whether the adoption of ancient Chinese styles and rites, such as using "His Majesty" instead of his real name, was the product of Puyi's interest or a Japanese imposition of their own imperial house rules.{{citation needed|date = February 2017}}
In 1935, Puyi visited Japan, sailing from Dalian to Yokohama on the warship ''[[Japanese battleship Hiei|Hiei]]'', and while he met the Shōwa Emperor at a Tokyo railroad station, a moment of unintentional comedy occurred when Puyi attempted to take off a too tight white glove before shaking the Emperor's hand, which he had to struggle with for some time while everyone else struggled not to laugh.<ref>Behr 1987 p 231.</ref> The Second Secretary of the Japanese Embassy in Hsinking, Kenjiro Hayashide, served as Puyi's interpreter during this trip, and later wrote what Behr called a very absurd book, ''The Epochal Journey to Japan'', chronicling this visit, where he managed to present every banal statement made by Puyi as profound wisdom, and claimed that he wrote an average of two poems per day on his trip to Japan, despite being busy with attending all sorts of official functions.<ref>Behr 1987 p 230-231.</ref> A typical passage from the book records that Puyi was seasick while travelling to Japan, but that "the Ruler's great joy at seeing Their Imperial Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan ... removed all thoughts of fatigue from the voyage".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 231">Behr 1987 p 231</ref> Hayashide had also written a booklet promoting the trip in Japan, which claimed that Puyi was a great reader who was "hardly ever seen without a book in his hand", a skilled calligrapher, a talented painter, and an excellent horseman and archer, able to shoot arrows while riding, just like his Qing ancestors.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 231"/> The Shōwa Emperor took this claim that Puyi was a hippophile too seriously and presented him with a gift of a horse for him to review the Imperial Japanese Army with; in fact, Puyi was a hippophobe who adamantly refused to get on the horse, forcing the Japanese to hurriedly bring out a carriage for the two emperors to review the troops.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 232">Behr 1987 p 232</ref>
After his return to Hsinking, Puyi hired an American public relations executive, George Bronson Rea, to lobby the U.S. government to recognize Manchukuo.<ref>Behr 1987 p 233.</ref> In late 1935, Rea published a book, ''The Case for Manchukuo'', in which Rea castigated China under the Kuomintang as hopelessly corrupt, and praised Puyi's wise leadership of Manchukuo, writing Manchukuo was "''... the one step that the people of the East have taken towards escape from the misery and misgovernment that have become theirs. Japan's protection is its only chance of happiness''".<ref>Behr 1987 p 234.</ref> Rea continued to work for Puyi until the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but he failed [[Wiktionary:signally#English|signally]] in lobbying Washington to recognize Hsinking. At the second trial relating to the long-running Kaspé case in Harbin in March–June 1936, the Japanese prosecutor argued in favor of the six defendants, calling them "Russian patriots who raised the flag against a world danger – communism".<ref name="auto3"/> Much to everyone's surprise, the Chinese judges convicted and sentenced the six Russian fascists who had tortured and killed Kaspé to death, which led to a storm as the [[Russian Fascist Party]] called the six men "martyrs for Holy Russia", and presented to Puyi a petition with thousands of signatures asking him to pardon the six men.<ref name="auto3"/> Puyi refused to pardon the Russian fascists, but the verdict was appealed to the Hsinking Supreme Court, where the Japanese judges quashed the verdict, ordering the six men to be freed, a decision that Puyi accepted without complaint.<ref>Stephan, 1978 p.167</ref> The flagrant miscarriage of justice of the Kaspé case, which attracted much attention in the Western media, did much to tarnish the image of Manchukuo and further weakened Puyi's already weak hand as he sought to have the rest of the world recognize Manchukuo.<ref name="auto3"/>
In 1936, Ling Sheng, an aristocrat who was serving as governor of one of Manchukuo's provinces and whose son was engaged to marry one of Puyi's younger sisters, was arrested after complaining about "intolerable" Japanese interference in his work, which led Puyi to ask Yoshioka if something could be done to help him out.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 232"/> The Kwantung Army's commander General [[Kenkichi Ueda]] visited Puyi to tell him the matter was resolved as Ling had already been convicted by a Japanese court-martial of "plotting rebellion" and had been executed by beheading, which led Puyi to cancel the marriage between his sister and Ling's son.<ref>Behr 1987 p 233</ref> During these years, Puyi began taking a greater interest in [[traditional Chinese law]] and religion<ref>Pu Yi 1988, p 307</ref> (such as [[Confucianism]] and [[Buddhism]]), but this was disallowed by the Japanese. Gradually his old supporters were eliminated and pro-Japanese ministers put in their place.<ref>Pu Yi 1988, p 298</ref> During this period Puyi's life consisted mostly of signing laws prepared by Japan, reciting prayers, consulting oracles, and making formal visits throughout his state.<ref name="Henry Pu Yi">{{cite journal|last=Blakeney|first=Ben Bruce|title=Henry Pu Yi |journal=Life Magazine|date=19 July 1945|pages=78–86}}</ref>
Puyi was extremely unhappy with his life as a virtual prisoner in the Salt Tax Palace, and his moods became erratic, swinging from hours of passivity staring into space to indulging his sadism by having his servants beaten.<ref>Behr 1987 p 243-245.</ref> The fact that the vast majority of Puyi's "loving subjects" hated him obsessed Puyi, and as Behr observed it was "''... the knowledge that he was an object of hatred and derision that drove Puyi to the brink of madness''".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 245">Behr 1987 p 245.</ref> Puyi always had a strong cruel streak, and he imposed harsh "house rules" on his staff; servants were flogged in the basement for such offenses as "irresponsible conversations".<ref>Behr 1987 p 245</ref> The phrase "Take him downstairs" was much feared by Puyi's servants as he had at least one flogging performed a day, and everyone in the Salt Tax Palace was caned at one point or another except the Empress and Puyi's siblings and their spouses.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 245"/> Puyi's experience of widespread theft during his time in the Forbidden City led him to distrust his servants and he obsessively went over the account books for signs of fraud.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 246">Behr 1987 p 246.</ref> Big Li, Puyi's chief servant, told Behr:
{{quote|It got so that everyone was covertly watching Puyi all the time, to try and find out what mood he was in. Puyi was completely paranoid: if you were caught eyeing him, he would bark: "What's the matter? Why are you looking at me that way?" But if one tried to look away, he would say: "Why are you avoiding me? What have you got to hide?"|source=Big Li<ref name="Behr 1987 p 245"/>}}
To further torment his staff of about 100, Puyi drastically cut back on the food allocated for his staff, who suffered from hunger; Big Li told Behr that Puyi was attempting to make everyone as miserable as he was.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 247">Behr 1987 p 247.</ref> Besides tormenting his staff, Puyi's life as Emperor was one of lethargy and passivity, which his ghostwriter Li Wenda called "a kind of living death" for him.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 243">Behr 1987 p 243.</ref>
The Emperor did not normally get up until noon, had brunch at about 2 pm before going back to bed for another rest, then played tennis or table tennis, rode his bicycle or car aimlessly around the grounds of the palace or listened to his vast collection of Chinese opera records.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 245"/> He became a devoted Buddhist, a mystic and a vegetarian, having statues of the Buddha put up all over the Salt Tax Palace for him to pray to while banning his staff from eating meat.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 246"/> Puyi's Buddhism led him to ban his staff from killing insects or mice, but if he found any insects or mice droppings in his food, the cooks were flogged.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 246"/> When Puyi went into the gardens to meditate before a statue of the Buddha, there always had to be complete silence, and as there were two loud Japanese cranes living in the garden, the emperor always had his servants flogged if the cranes made a sound.<ref>Behr 1987 p 246</ref> One day, when out for a stroll in the gardens, Puyi found that a servant had written in chalk on one of the rocks: "''Haven't the Japanese humiliated you enough?''"<ref>Behr 1987 p 254</ref> When Puyi received guests at the Salt Tax Palace, he gave them long lectures on the "glorious" history of the Qing as a form of masochism, comparing the great Qing Emperors with himself, a miserable man living as a prisoner in his own palace.<ref>Behr 1987 p 255</ref> The Empress Wanrong retreated in seclusion as she became addicted to opium, and her father stopped visiting the Salt Tax Palace as he could not bear to see what she had become.<ref>Behr 1987 p 247-248.</ref> Wanrong, who detested her husband, liked to mock him behind his back by performing skits before the servants by putting on dark glasses and imitating Puyi's jerky movements.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 216">Behr 1987 p 216.</ref> During his time in Tianjin, Puyi had started wearing dark glasses at all times, as during the interwar period wearing dark glasses in Tianjin was a way of signifying one was a homosexual or bisexual.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 216"/>
On 3 April 1937, Puyi's younger full brother Prince [[Pujie]] was proclaimed heir apparent after marrying Lady [[Hiro Saga]], a distant cousin of the Japanese Emperor [[Hirohito]]. The Kwantung Army general [[Shigeru Honjō]] had politically arranged the marriage. Puyi thereafter would not speak candidly in front of his brother and refused to eat any food Lady Saga provided, believing she was out to poison him.<ref>Behr 1987 p 235.</ref> Puyi was forced to sign an agreement that if he himself had a male heir, the child would be sent to Japan to be raised by the Japanese.<ref>Pu Yi 1988, p 288-290</ref> Puyi initially thought Lady Saga was a Japanese spy, but came to trust her after the Sinophile Saga discarded her ''[[kimono]]s'' for ''[[cheongsam]]s'' and repeatedly assured him that she came to the Salt Tax Palace because she was Pujie's wife, not as a spy.<ref name="auto5">Behr 1987 p 248.</ref> Behr described Lady Saga as "intelligent" and "level-headed", and noted the irony of Puyi snubbing the one Japanese who really wanted to be his friend.<ref name="auto5"/> A sign of improved relations came when Puyi gave Lady Saga a diamond-encrusted watch as a belated wedding present.<ref name="auto5"/> Later in April 1937, the 16-year-old Manchu aristocrat [[Tan Yuling]] moved into the Salt Tax Palace to become Puyi's concubine, but though Puyi seems to have liked her, it remains unclear whether he had sex with her.<ref>Behr 1987 p 249.</ref> Lady Saga tried to improve relations between Puyi and Wanrong by having them eat dinner together, which was the first time they had shared a meal in three years.<ref name="auto5"/> Wanrong refused to eat with chopsticks, instead using her fingers, regarded as "savage" behavior in Asia; Wanrong said she was past caring what others thought about her.<ref name="auto5"/> Puyi tried to joke away Wanrong's unhappiness by saying that it was "Mongol night" and everyone was going to be like a Mongol "savage" by eating with their fingers, but Lady Saga noted his jesting fell flat.<ref name="auto5"/>
Based on his interviews with Puyi's family and staff at the Salt Tax Palace, Behr wrote that it appeared Puyi had an "attraction towards very young girls" that "bordered on pedophilia" and "that Pu Yi was bisexual, and – by his own admission – something of a sadist in his relationships with women".<ref>Behr 1987 p 19.</ref> Puyi was very fond of having handsome teenage boys serve as his pageboys and Lady Saga noted he was also very fond of sodomizing them.<ref>Behr 1987 p 244–245 & 248–250.</ref> Lady Saga wrote in her 1957 autobiography ''Memoirs of A Wandering Princess'':
{{quote|Of course I had heard rumours concerning such great men in our history, but I never knew such things existed in the living world. Now, however, I learnt that the Emperor had an unnatural love for a pageboy. He was referred to as "the male concubine". Could these perverted habits, I wondered, have driven his wife to opium smoking?|author=Lady [[Hiro Saga]]<ref>Behr (1987), p. 249</ref>}}
When Behr questioned him about Puyi's sexuality, Prince Pujie said he was "biologically incapable of reproduction", a polite way of saying someone is gay in China.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 250">Behr 1987 p 250.</ref> When one of Puyi's pageboys fled the Salt Tax Palace to escape his homosexual advances, Puyi ordered that he be given an especially harsh flogging, which caused the boy's death and led Puyi to have the floggers flogged in turn as punishment.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 247"/>
In June 1937, some off-duty members of the [[Manchukuo Imperial Guards]] fell into a trap when they objected to Japanese colonists jumping the queue for rowboats in a Hsinking park, leading to a brawl.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 236">Behr 1987 p 236</ref> The ''Kempeitai'' had expected this and were waiting; they arrested the guardsmen, who were then beaten, forced to strip naked in public, and finally convicted by the courts of "anti-Manchukuo activities".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 236"/> As a result, the Manchukuo Imperial Guard lost their right to bear any weapons except pistols.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 236"/> To further add to the message, Amakasu told Puyi that the Manchukuo Prime Minister, [[Zhang Jinghui]], a man Behr called "a venal, cringing Japanese flunky" and whom Puyi despised, should be his role model.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 236"/> In July 1937, when the Sino-Japanese war began, Puyi issued a declaration of support for Japan.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> In August 1937, Kishi wrote up a decree for Puyi to sign calling for the use of slave labour to be conscripted both in Manchukuo and in northern China, stating that in these "times of emergency" (i.e. war with China), industry needed to grow at all costs, and slavery was necessary to save money.<ref>Driscoll 2010 p.275</ref> Driscoll wrote that just as African slaves were taken to the New World on the "[[Middle Passage]]", it would be right to speak of the "Manchurian Passage" as vast numbers of Chinese peasants were rounded up to be slaves in Manchukuo's factories and mines.<ref>Driscoll 2010 p. xii.</ref> From 1938 until the end of the war, every year about a million Chinese were taken from the Manchukuo countryside and northern China to be slaves in Manchukuo's factories and mines.<ref>Driscoll 2010 p. 276.</ref>
All that Puyi knew of the outside world was what General Yoshioka told him in daily briefings.<ref name="ReferenceA">Behr 1987 p 244.</ref> When Behr asked Prince Pujie how the news of the [[Rape of Nanking]] in December 1937 affected Puyi, his brother replied: "We didn't hear about it until much later. At the time, it made no real impact."<ref>Behr 1987 p 242.</ref> On 4 February 1938, the strongly pro-Japanese and anti-Chinese [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]] became the German foreign minister, and under his influence German foreign policy swung in an anti-Chinese and pro-Japanese direction.<ref name="auto6">Iriye, 1987 p.51</ref> On 20 February 1938, Adolf Hitler announced that Germany was recognizing Manchukuo.<ref name="auto6"/> In one of his last acts, the outgoing German ambassador to Japan [[Herbert von Dirksen]] visited Puyi in the Salt Tax Palace to tell him that a German embassy would be established in Hsinking later that year to join the embassies of Japan, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Italy and Nationalist Spain, the only other countries that had recognized Manchukuo. In 1934, Puyi had been excited when he learned that El Salvador had become the first nation other than Japan to recognize Manchukuo, but by 1938 he did not care much about Germany's recognition of Manchukuo.
In May 1938, Puyi was declared a god by the Religions Law, and a cult of emperor-worship very similar to Japan's began with schoolchildren starting their classes by praying to a portrait of the god-emperor while imperial rescripts and the imperial regalia became sacred relics imbued with magical powers by being associated with the god-emperor.<ref name="auto7">Dubois 2008 p.309</ref> Puyi's elevation to a god was due to the Sino-Japanese war, which caused the Japanese state to begin a program of totalitarian mobilization of society for total war in Japan and places ruled by Japan.<ref name="auto7"/> His Japanese handlers felt that ordinary people in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan were more willing to bear the sacrifices for total war because of their devotion to their god-emperor, and it was decided that making Puyi a god-emperor would have the same effect in Manchukuo.<ref name="auto7"/> After 1938, Puyi was hardly ever allowed to leave the Salt Tax Palace, while the creation of the puppet regime of President [[Wang Jingwei]] in November 1938 crushed Puyi's spirits, as it ended his hope of one day being restored as the Great Qing Emperor.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 243"/> Puyi became a hypochondriac, taking all sorts of pills for various imagined ailments and hormones to improve his sex drive and allow him to father a boy, as Puyi was convinced that the Japanese were poisoning his food to make him sterile.<ref>Behr 1987 p 249 & 255.</ref> He believed the Japanese wanted one of the children Pujie had fathered with Lady Saga to be the next emperor, and it was a great relief to him that their children were both girls (Manchukuo law forbade female succession to the throne).<ref name="auto5"/>
By 1940, the Japanisation of Manchuria had become extreme, and an altar to the Shinto goddess [[Amaterasu]] was built on the grounds of Puyi's palace. The origins of the altar are unclear, with the postwar Japanese claiming that Puyi aimed for a closer connection to the Japanese Emperor as a means of resisting the political machinations of the Manchukuo elites, while Puyi in his Chinese Communist-published autobiography claims that he was forced to submit to this by the Japanese. During his visit to Japan in 1940 for [[National Foundation Day|''Kigensetsu'']], which was marked with especially lavish celebrations that year to mark the supposed 2,600th anniversary of the founding of the Empire of Japan by the mythical [[Emperor Jimmu]] on 11 February 660 BC, Puyi during his meeting with the Showa Emperor read out a statement given to him by General Yoshioka asking for permission to worship the Shinto gods and to establish Shintoism as the state religion of Manchukuo.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 250"/> The Showa Emperor replied "I must comply with your wishes" and gave him three relics, namely a bronze mirror, a sword and a piece of jade (reproductions of the [[Imperial Regalia of Japan]]) to take home with him to be the center of Shinto worship in Manchukuo.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 250"/> Puyi later wrote "''I thought Beijing antique shops were full of such objects. Were these a great god? Were those my ancestors? I burst into tears on the drive back''."<ref name="Behr 1987 p 250"/> Since in the Japanese state religion of Shintoism the Japanese Emperor was worshiped as a living god, worshiping at the Shinto shrine in the Salt Tax Palace also meant worshiping the Showa Emperor as a god, which starkly underlined Puyi's subordination to the Showa Emperor.<ref>Behr 1987 p 250-251.</ref> In any case, Puyi's wartime duties came to include sitting through Chinese-language Shinto prayers. Hirohito was surprised when he heard of this, asking why a [[Temple of Heaven]] had not been built instead.<ref>児島襄『満洲帝国 II』文藝春秋、1983</ref> After his second visit to Japan, Puyi announced in a press statement that Japan and Manchukuo were "unified in virtue and heart", praised the Shinto Sun Goddess Amaterasu for her "divine intervention" in 1931 that supposedly made Manchukuo possible, and hailed the Showa Emperor as a living god as the House of Yamato were all alleged to be the direct descendants of Amaterasu.<ref name="auto8">Eckert 2016 p.139-140.</ref> Already at the Manchukuo Military Academy that was training officers for the Manchukuo army, the cadets were being taught to serve the "two emperors" with the cadets kowtowing to portraits of both the emperors of Manchukuo and Japan.<ref name="auto8"/>
In 1940 Wanrong, also known as "Elizabeth Jade Eyes", engaged in an affair with Puyi's chauffeur Li Tiyu that left her pregnant.<ref>Behr 1987 p 255-256</ref> To punish her, as Wanrong gave birth to her daughter, she had to watch much to her horror as the Japanese doctors poisoned her newly born child right in front of her.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 256">Behr 1987 p 256</ref> Afterwards, Wanrong was totally broken by what she had seen, and lost her will to live, spending as much of her time possible in an opium daze to numb the pain.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 256"/> Puyi had known of what was being planned for Wanrong's baby, and in what Behr called a supreme act of "cowardice" on his part, "did nothing".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 256"/> Puyi's ghostwriter for ''Emperor to Citizen'', Li Wenda, told Behr that when interviewing Puyi for the book that he could not get Puyi to talk about the killing of Wanrong's child, as he was too ashamed to speak of his own cowardice.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 256"/>
In December 1941, Puyi followed Japan in declaring war on the United States and Great Britain, but as neither nation had recognized Manchukuo there were no reciprocal declarations of war in return.<ref>Behr 1987 p 244 & 252.</ref> During the war, Puyi was an example and role model for at least some in Asia who believed in the Japanese [[Pan-Asianism|Pan-Asian]] propaganda. [[U Saw]], the Prime Minister of Burma, was secretly in communication with the Japanese, declaring that as an Asian his sympathies were completely with Japan against the West.<ref name="auto9">Weinberg, 2005 p.322</ref> U Saw further added that he hoped that when Japan won the war that he would enjoy exactly the same status in Burma that Puyi enjoyed in Manchukuo as part of the [[Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere]], saying that as an Asian it was his fondest wish that Japan would do everything that it had done in Manchukuo in Burma.<ref name="auto9"/> The American historian [[Gerhard Weinberg]] sarcastically wrote that U Saw and the rest of Burmese nationalists who saw the Japanese as liberators from the British were not endowed with "great intelligence" as U Saw enjoyed far more power as prime minister under the British than Puyi did as Emperor under the Japanese, but they got their wish to have what was done to people of Manchukuo done to their own people, observing: "The use of military and civilian prisoners for bayonet practice and assorted other cruelties provided the people of Southeast Asia with a dramatic lesson on the new meaning of ''Bushido'', the code of the Japanese warrior."<ref name="auto9"/>
During the war, Puyi became estranged from his father, as his half-brother [[Jin Youzhi|Pu Ren]] stated in an interview:
{{quote|... after 1941 Puyi's father had written him off. He never visited Puyi after 1934. They rarely corresponded. All the news he got was through intermediaries, or occasional reports from Puyi's younger sisters, some of whom were allowed to see him.|source= [[Jin Youzhi|Pu Ren]]<ref>Behr 1987 p 54.</ref>}}
Puyi himself complained that he had issued so many "slavish" pro-Japanese statements during the war that nobody on the Allied side would take him in if he did escape from Manchukuo.<ref>Behr 1987 p 254.</ref> In June 1942, Puyi made a rare visit outside of the Salt Tax Palace when he conferred with the graduating class at the Manchukuo Military Academy, and awarded the star student Takagi Masao a gold watch for his outstanding performance; despite his Japanese name, the star student was actually Korean and under his original Korean name of [[Park Chung-hee]] became the dictator of South Korea in 1961.<ref>Eckert, 2016 p.351.</ref> In August 1942, Puyi's concubine Tan Yuling fell ill and died after being treated by the same Japanese doctors who murdered Wanrong's baby.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 256"/> Puyi testified at the [[International Military Tribunal for the Far East|Tokyo war crimes trial]] of his belief that she was murdered, saying "''The glucose injections were not administered. There was much to and from activity that night, Japanese nurses and doctors speaking with Yoshioka, then going back to the sickroom''."<ref name="Behr 1987 p 256"/> Puyi kept a lock of Tan's hair and her nail clippings for the rest of his life as he expressed much sadness over her loss.<ref>Behr 1987 p 256-257</ref> Puyi refused to take a Japanese concubine to replace Tan and, in 1943, took a Chinese concubine, [[Li Yuqin]], the 16 year-old daughter of a waiter.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 257">Behr 1987 p 257</ref> Lady Saga later observed that when Li had arrived at the Salt Tax Palace, she was badly in need of a bath and delousing.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 257"/> Puyi liked Li, but his main interest continued to be his pageboys, as he later wrote: "''These actions of mine go to show how cruel, mad, violent and unstable I was''."<ref name="Behr 1987 p 257"/>
For much of World War II, Puyi, confined to the Salt Tax Palace, believed that Japan was winning the war, and it was not until 1944 that Puyi first began to get an inkling that Japan was losing the war when the Japanese press began to report "heroic sacrifices" in Burma and on Pacific islands while air raid shelters started to be built in Manchukuo.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 258">Behr 1987 p 258</ref> Puyi's nephew Jui Lon told Behr: "''He desperately wanted America to win the war''."<ref name="Behr 1987 p 253"/> Big Li in an interview with Behr said: "''When he thought it was safe, he would sit at the piano and do a one-finger version of the [[The Stars and Stripes Forever|Stars and Stripes]].''"<ref name="Behr 1987 p 253"/> In mid-1944, Puyi finally acquired the courage to start occasionally tuning in his radio to Chinese broadcasts and to Chinese-language broadcasts by the Americans, where he was shocked to learn that Japan had suffered so many defeats on land, sea, and the air since 1942.<ref>Behr 1987 p 258.</ref> The commander of the Kwantung Army, General [[Tomoyuki Yamashita]], left Manchukuo for the Philippines in July 1944 and told Puyi at their final meeting: "I shall never come back", predicting that he would die for the Emperor in the Philippines.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 258"/> Yamashita was the famous "Tiger of Malaya" who had captured Singapore in 1942, inflicting one of the greatest defeats on the Allies in the Pacific theatre, and his gloomy prediction about his pending defeat and death in the Philippines was unsettling to Puyi.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 258"/>
Puyi had to give a speech before a group of Japanese infantrymen who had volunteered to be "human bullets", promising to strap explosives on their bodies and to stage suicide attacks in order to die for the Showa Emperor.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 258"/> Puyi commented as he read out his speech praising the glories of dying for the Emperor: "''Only then did I see the ashen grey of their faces and the tears flowing down their cheeks and hear their sobbing''."<ref name="Behr 1987 p 258"/> Puyi commented that he felt at that moment utterly "terrified" at the death cult fanaticism of ''[[Bushido]]'' ("the way of the warrior") which reduced the value of human life down to nothing, as to die for the Emperor was the only thing that mattered; he observed that the Japanese infantrymen all had families and friends who cared for them, and had quite possibly been bullied by their officers into becoming "human bullets".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 259">Behr 1987 p 259</ref> Yoshioka tried to reassure Puyi by saying that the "human bullets" were crying "manly Japanese tears"{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}}<!--This sounds like a slang English phrase rather than a phrase used by a senior Japanese general in the Japanese language or Mandarin. Is it unreasonable to ask for a reproduction of the original Japanese or Mandarin quotation here? There is an over-reliance on using one source in this part of the article.--> as deep down they wanted to die for the Emperor, but Puyi later stated he was not convinced by this argument.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 259"/>
On 9 August 1945, the Kwantung Army's commander General [[Otozō Yamada]] arrived at the Salt Tax Palace to tell Puyi that the Soviet Union had declared war on Japan and the Red Army had entered Manchukuo.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 259"/> Yamada was assuring Puyi that the Kwantung Army would easily defeat the Red Army when the air raid sirens sounded and the Red Air Force began a bombing raid, forcing all to hide in the basement.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 260">Behr 1987 p 260</ref> While Puyi prayed to the Buddha, Yamada fell silent as the bombs fell, destroying a Japanese barracks next to the Salt Tax Palace.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 260"/> In the [[Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation]], 1,577,725 Soviet and Mongol troops stormed into Manchuria in a combined arms offensive with tanks, artillery, cavalry, aircraft and infantry working closely together that overwhelmed the Kwantung Army, who had not expected a Soviet invasion until 1946 and were short of both tanks and anti-tank guns.<ref>Stephan 1978 p.324.</ref>
To try and stop the Soviet tanks, the Japanese sent out the "human bullets" as infantrymen packed with explosives, who tried to throw themselves into the treads of the tanks; usually they were shot down before getting anywhere close to the tanks.<ref>Stephan 1978 p.327.</ref> Puyi was especially terrified to hear that the Mongolian People's Army had joined Operation August Storm, as he believed that the Mongols would torture him to death if they captured him.<ref>Behr, 1987 p. 260</ref> The next day, Yamada told Puyi that the Soviets had already broken through the defense lines in northern Manchukuo, but the Kwantung Army would "hold the line" in southern Manchukuo and Puyi must leave at once.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 260"/> The staff of the Salt Tax Palace were thrown into panic as Puyi ordered all of his treasures to be boxed up and shipped out; in the meantime Puyi observed from his window that soldiers of the [[Manchukuo Imperial Army]] were taking off their uniforms and deserting.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 260"/> To test the reaction of his Japanese masters, Puyi put on his uniform of Commander-in-Chief of the Manchukuo Army and announced "We must support the holy war of our Parental Country with all our strength, and must resist the Soviet armies to the end, to the very end".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 260"/> With that, Yoshioka fled the room, which showed Puyi that the war was lost.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 260"/> At one point, a group of Japanese soldiers arrived at the Salt Tax Palace, and Puyi believed they had come to kill him, but they merely went away after seeing him stand at the top of the staircase.<ref>Behr, 1987 p.260-261</ref> Most of the servants and all of the cooks at the Salt Tax Palace had already fled, forcing Puyi to eat biscuits as his remaining servants hastily packed up all of the Qing treasures at the Salt Tax Palace.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 261">Behr 1987 p 261</ref> Puyi found that his phone calls to the Kwantung Army HQ went unanswered as most of the officers had already left for Korea, his minder Amakasu committed suicide by swallowing a cyanide pill, and the people of Changchun booed him when his car, flying imperial standards, took him to the railroad station.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 261"/>
Late on the night of 11 August 1945, a train carrying Puyi, his court, his ministers and the Qing treasures left Changchun.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 262">Behr 1987 p 262</ref> The train was frequently diverted as a result of Soviet bombing, and everywhere Puyi went, he saw thousands of panic-stricken Japanese settlers fleeing south in vast columns across the roads of the countryside.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 262"/> At every railroad station, hundreds of Japanese colonists attempted to board his train; Puyi remembered them "weeping as they begged Japanese gendarmes to let them pass" while the gendarmes forced them back.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 262"/> At several stations, Japanese soldiers and gendarmes fought one another to board the train.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 262"/> General Yamada boarded the train as it meandered south and told Puyi "... the Japanese Army was winning and had destroyed large numbers of tanks and aircraft", a claim that nobody aboard the train believed.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 262"/> On 15 August 1945, Puyi heard on the radio [[Jewel Voice Broadcast|the address of the Showa Emperor]] announcing that Japan had surrendered, as the Emperor declared with notable understatement that "''the war has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage''".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 263">Behr 1987 p 263</ref> In his address, the Showa Emperor described the Americans as having used a "most unusual and cruel bomb" that had just destroyed the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; this was the first time that Puyi heard of the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]], which the Japanese had not seen fit to tell him about until then.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 263"/>
The next day, Puyi abdicated as Emperor of Manchukuo and declared in his last decree that Manchukuo was once again part of China.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 263"/> As the Soviets had bombed all of the train stations and Puyi's train was running low on coal, the train returned to Changchun.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 264">Behr 1987 p 264</ref> Once there, Puyi planned to take a plane to escape, taking with him his brother Pujie, his servant Big Li, Yoshioka, and his doctor while leaving Wanrong, his concubine Li Yuqin, Lady Hiro Saga and Lady Saga's two children behind.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 264"/> The decision to leave behind the women and children was made by the misogynistic Yoshioka who saw the lives of women and children as worthless compared to the lives of men, and vetoed Puyi's attempts to take them on the plane to Japan.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 264"/> As Puyi left for the [[Changchun Longjia International Airport|airport]], he saw Wanrong for the last time in his life, later saying that both she and Li were "blubbering".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 265">Behr 1987 p 265</ref>
Puyi asked for Lady Saga, the most mature and responsible of the three women, to take care of Wanrong, who was hopelessly addicted to opium by this point, giving Lady Saga precious antiques and cash to pay for their way south to [[Korea]].<ref>Behr 1987 p 265 & 267</ref> On 16 August Puyi took a small plane to [[Shenyang Taoxian International Airport|Mukden]], where another larger plane was supposed to arrive to take them to Japan, but instead a [[Soviet Air Forces|Soviet Air Force]] landed.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 265"/> Puyi and his party were all promptly taken prisoner by the Red Army, who initially did not know who Puyi was.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 265"/><ref name="Li Shuxian, 73, Widow of Last China Emperor">{{cite news|last=Mydans|first=Seth|title=Li Shuxian, 73, Widow of Last China Emperor|newspaper=The New York Times|date=11 June 1997}}</ref> The opium-addled Wanrong together with Lady Saga and Li were captured by Chinese Communist guerrillas on their way to Korea, after one of Puyi's brothers-in-law informed the Communists who the women were.<ref>Behr 1987 p 268.</ref> Wanrong, the former empress, was put on display in a local jail as if she was in a zoo, and people came from miles around to watch her.<ref>Behr 1987 p 269.</ref> In a delirious state of mind, she demanded more opium, asked for imaginary servants to bring her clothing, food and a bath, hallucinated that she was back in the Forbidden City or the [[Museum of the Imperial Palace of Manchukuo|Salt Tax Palace]], and most poignantly of all screamed over and over again she missed her murdered baby daughter.<ref>Behr 1987 p 269-270.</ref> The general hatred for Puyi meant that none had any sympathy for Wanrong, who was seen as another Japanese collaborator, and a guard told Lady Saga that "this one won't last", making it a waste of time feeding her.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 270">Behr 1987 p 270</ref> In June 1946, Wanrong starved to death in her jail cell, lying in a pool of her own vomit, urine and excrement, which the local people all found very funny.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 270"/> In his 1964 book ''From Emperor to Citizen'', Puyi merely stated that he learned in 1951 that Wanrong "died a long time ago" without mentioning how she died.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 308">Behr 1987 p 308.</ref>
===Later life (1945–1967)===
[[File:Soviet Union Military Officer and Puyi.JPG|thumb|Puyi (right) and a Soviet military officer]]
The Soviets took him to the [[Siberia]]n town of [[Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai|Chita]]. He lived in a [[sanatorium]], then later in [[Khabarovsk]] near the [[China–Russia border|Chinese border]], where he was treated well and allowed to keep some of his servants.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 271</ref> As a prisoner in a spa in Khabarovsk, Puyi spent his days praying to the Buddha, expected the prisoners to treat him as an emperor and slapped the faces of his servants when they displeased him.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 271.</ref> He knew about the [[Chinese Civil War|civil war in China]]<nowiki/> from [[Radio Moscow|Chinese-language broadcasts on Soviet radio]] but seemed not to care.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 271</ref> The [[Government of the Soviet Union|Soviet government]] refused the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]]'s repeated requests to extradite Puyi; the [[Kuomintang]] government had indicted him on charges of high treason, and the Soviet refusal to extradite him almost certainly saved his life, as [[Chiang Kai-shek]] had often spoken of his desire to have Puyi shot.<ref>Behr 1987 p.279</ref> The Kuomintang captured Puyi's cousin [[Yoshiko Kawashima|Eastern Jewel]] and publicly executed her in Beijing in 1948 after she was convicted of high treason.<ref>Behr 1987 p.197</ref> Not wishing to return to China, Puyi wrote to [[Joseph Stalin]] several times asking for asylum in the [[Soviet Union]], and that he be given one of the former tsarist palaces to live out his days.<ref>Behr 1987 p.281-282.</ref>
In 1946, Puyi testified at the [[International Military Tribunal for the Far East]] in Tokyo,<ref name="Former Manchurian Puppet">{{cite news|title=Former Manchurian Puppet |newspaper=The Miami News|date=16 August 1946}}</ref> detailing his resentment at how he had been treated by the Japanese. At the Tokyo trial, he had a long exchange with defense counsel Major [[Ben Bruce Blakeney]] about whether he had been kidnapped in 1931, in which Puyi perjured himself by saying that the statements in Johnston's 1934 book ''[[Twilight in the Forbidden City]]'' about how he had willingly become Emperor of Manchukuo were all lies.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 274-276</ref> When Blakeney mentioned that the introduction to ''Twilight in the Forbidden City'' described how Puyi had told Johnston that he had willingly gone to Manchuria in 1931, Puyi perjured himself by saying he was not in contact with Johnston in 1931, and that Johnston made things up for "commercial advantage".<ref>Behr 1987 p. 276</ref> The Australian judge Sir [[William Webb (judge)|William Webb]], the President of the Tribunal, was often frustrated with Puyi's testimony, and chided him numerous times.<ref>Behr 1987 p.274-277.</ref> At one point, when Puyi said "I have not finished my answer yet", Webb replied, "Well, don't finish it".<ref>Behr 1987 p.277.</ref> Behr described Puyi on the stand as a "consistent, self-assured liar, prepared to go to any lengths to save his skin", and as a combative witness more than able to hold his own against the defense lawyers.<ref>Behr 1987 p.278.</ref> Since no one at the trial but Blakeney had actually read ''Twilight in the Forbidden City'' or the interviews Woodhead had conducted with him in 1932, Puyi had room to distort what had been written about him or said by him.<ref>Behr 1987 p.279.</ref> Puyi greatly respected Johnston, who was a surrogate father to him, and felt guilty about repeatedly calling Johnston a dishonest man whose book was full of lies. He prayed for the Buddha to ask forgiveness for sullying Johnston's name.<ref>Behr 1987 p.281.</ref>
[[File:溥仪写给斯大林的信.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Puyi's letters to Joseph Stalin]]
After his return to the Soviet Union, Puyi was held at Detention Center No. 45, where his servants continued to make his bed, dress him and do other work for him.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 281">Behr, 1987 p 281</ref> Puyi did not speak [[Russian language|Russian]] and had limited contacts with his Soviet guards, using a few Manchukuo prisoners who knew Russian as translators.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 282">Behr, 1987 p 282.</ref> He spent his time with other Manchukuo and Japanese prisoners playing [[mah-jong]], continued to pray to the Buddha and listened to Japanese records on the only gramophone the Soviets allowed the prisoners.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 281"/> One prisoner told Puyi that the Soviets would keep him in Siberia forever because "this is the part of the world you come from".<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 282"/> The Soviets had promised the Chinese Communists that they would hand over the high value prisoners when the CCP won the civil war, and wanted to keep Puyi alive.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 281-282</ref> Puyi's brother-in-law Rong Qi and some of his servants were not considered high value, and were sent to work as slaves in a brutal Siberian labor camp, where they were starved and were worked very hard.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 280</ref>
When the [[Communist Party of China|Chinese Communist Party]] under [[Mao Zedong]] came to power in 1949, Puyi was repatriated to China after negotiations between the Soviet Union and China.<ref name="Russia Giving Puyi to China">{{cite news|title=Russia Giving Puyi to China|newspaper=The Milwaukee Journal|date=27 March 1946}}</ref><ref name="Last Manchu Ruler Grateful to Jailers">{{cite news|last=Lancashire|first=David|title=Last Manchu Ruler Grateful to Jailers|newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard|date=30 December 1956}}</ref> Puyi was of considerable value to Mao, as Behr noted: "In the eyes of Mao and other Chinese Communist leaders, Pu Yi, the last Emperor, was the epitome of all that had been evil in old Chinese society. If he could be shown to have undergone sincere, permanent change, what hope was there for the most diehard counter-revolutionary? The more overwhelming the guilt, the more spectacular the redemption-and the greater glory of the Chinese Communist Party".<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 285">Behr 1987 p. 285</ref> Furthermore, Mao had often noted that [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] had [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]], the last Russian emperor, shot together with the rest of the Russian imperial family, as Lenin could not make the last tsar into a communist; making the last Chinese emperor into a Communist was intended to show the superiority of Chinese communism over Soviet communism.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 285"/> Puyi was to be subjected to "remodeling" to make him into a Communist.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.283">Behr, 1987 p.283</ref>
[[File:Fushun War Criminals Mgmt Center 2.jpg|thumb|Fushun War Criminals Management Centre]]
In 1950, the Soviets loaded Puyi and the rest of the Manchukuo and Japanese prisoners onto a train that took them to China with Puyi convinced he would be executed when he arrived.<ref>Behr, 1987 p.286</ref> At the border, there were two lines of soldiers, one Soviet and the other Chinese, and as Puyi walked past, he remembered how the faces of the other prisoners were "deathly pale".<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.287">Behr, 1987 p.287</ref> Puyi was surprised at the kindness of his Chinese guards, who told him this was the beginning of a new life for him.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.287"/> In attempt to ingratiate himself, Puyi for the first time in his life addressed commoners with ''ni'' (你), the [[T-V distinction|informal word for "you"]] instead of ''nin'' (您), the formal word for "you".<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.287"/> When the train stopped at Changchun to pick up food, Puyi was convinced that he was going to be shot at his former capital, and he was much relieved when the train resumed its journey to Fushun.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 288</ref> Except for a period during the Korean War, when he was moved to [[Harbin]], Puyi spent ten years in the [[Fushun War Criminals Management Centre]] in [[Liaoning]] province until he was declared reformed. The prisoners at Fushun were senior Japanese, Manchukuo and Kuomintang officials and officers.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 293-294</ref> Puyi was the weakest and most hapless of the prisoners, and was often bullied by the other prisoners, who liked to humiliate the emperor, and he might not have survived his imprisonment had the warden Jin Yuan not gone out of his way to protect him.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 294">Behr 1987 p. 294</ref> Jin had grown up under Manchukuo and as a schoolboy in the 1930s had kowtowed to portraits of Puyi and waved the Manchukuo flag in the streets when Puyi made visits to Harbin.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 291</ref> As Jin had grown up in Manchukuo, he was fluent in Japanese, which was why he was selected to be the warden of Fushun.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 292">Behr 1987 p. 292</ref> Jin was assigned the job in 1950 and told Behr in a 1986 interview: "I didn't welcome the idea at all. I tried to get another posting. I wanted nothing to do with those who had been responsible for my older brother's death and my family's suffering during the Manchukuo years. I wondered how I could ever bear to be in their company".<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 292"/> Jin also told Behr that he "came to like Puyi quite a bit" as he got to know him, and protected him from the other prisoners.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 294"/> In 1951, Puyi learned for the first time that Wanrong had died in 1946.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 308"/>
Puyi had never brushed his teeth or tied his own shoelaces once in his life and had to do these basic tasks in prison, subjecting him to the ridicule of other prisoners.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 295">Behr 1987 p. 295</ref> Much of Puyi's "remodeling" consisted of attending "Marxist-Leninist-Maoist discussion groups" where the prisoners would discuss their lives before being imprisoned.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 302</ref> As part of his "remodeling", Puyi was confronted with ordinary people who had suffered under the "Empire of Manchukuo", including those who had fought in the Communist resistance, both to prove to him that resistance to the Japanese had been possible and to show him what he had presided over.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.305-306">Behr, 1987 p.305-306</ref> When Puyi protested to Jin that it had been impossible to resist Japan and there was nothing he could have done, Jin confronted him with people who had fought in the resistance and had been tortured, and asked him why ordinary people in Manchukuo resisted while an emperor did nothing.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.305-306"/> As part of confronting war crimes, Puyi had to attend lectures where a former Japanese civil servant spoke about the exploitation of Manchukuo while a former officer in the ''Kempeitai'' talked about how he rounded up people for slave labor and ordered mass executions.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 305">Behr, 1987 p 305</ref> At one point, Puyi was taken to [[Harbin]] and [[Pingfang District|Pingfang]] to see where the infamous [[Unit 731]], the chemical and biological warfare unit in the Japanese Army, had conducted gruesome experiments on people. Puyi noted in shame and horror: "All the atrocities had been carried out in my name".<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 305"/> Puyi by the mid-1950s was overwhelmed with guilt and often told Jin that he felt utterly worthless to the point that he considered suicide.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 305-306</ref> Jin told Puyi to express his guilt in writing. Puyi later recalled he felt "that I was up against an irresistible force that would not rest until it found out everything".<ref>Behr, 1987 p 299</ref> Sometimes Puyi was taken out for tours of the countryside of Manchuria. On one, he met a farmer's wife whose family had been evicted to make way for Japanese settlers and had almost starved to death while working as a slave in one of Manchukuo's factories.<ref>Behr, 1987 p.307</ref> When Puyi asked for her forgiveness, she told him "It's all over now, let's not talk about it", causing him to break down in tears.<ref>Behr, 1987 p. 307</ref> At another meeting, a woman described the mass execution of people from her village by the Japanese Army, and then declared that she did not hate the Japanese and those who had served them as she retained her faith in humanity, which greatly moved Puyi.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 307">Behr, 1987 p 307</ref> On another occasion, Jin confronted Puyi with his former concubine Li in meetings in his office, where she attacked him for seeing her only as a sex object, and saying she was now pregnant by a man who loved her.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 307"/>
On 10 March 1956, Jin confronted Puyi in a meeting in his office with his siblings, where his sisters spoke of their happiness with their new lives working as schoolteachers and seamstresses.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 308-309</ref> Puyi was helped with his "remodeling" when the other prisoners began to blame him for everything that happened in Manchukuo, which was a debit for them as in the Chinese system one is supposed to confess to one's own guilt rather than blaming others; Puyi, by assigning all guilt to himself, won Jin's favor.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 303</ref> In late 1956, Puyi acted in a play, ''The Defeat of the Aggressors'', about the [[Suez Crisis]], playing the role of a left-wing Labour MP who challenges in the House of Commons a former Manchukuo minister playing the Foreign Secretary [[Selwyn Lloyd]].<ref>Behr, 1987 p 310.</ref> Puyi enjoyed the role and ''ad libbed'' several lines in English, shouting "No, no, no! It won't do! Get out! Leave this House!".<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 310">Behr, 1987 p 310</ref> Sometimes Puyi acted in plays about his life and Manchukuo, and in one theatrical production, playing a Manchukuo functionary, Puyi kowtowed to a portrait of himself as Emperor of Manchukuo.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 310"/> During the [[Great Leap Forward]], when millions of people starved to death in China, Jin chose to cancel Puyi's visits to the countryside lest the scenes of famine undo his growing faith in communism.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 309</ref> Behr wrote that many are surprised that Puyi's "remodeling" worked, with an Emperor brought up as almost a god becoming content to be just an ordinary man, but he noted that "... it is essential to remember that Puyi was not alone in undergoing such successful 'remolding'. Tough KMT generals, and even tougher Japanese generals, brought up in the samurai tradition and the ''[[Bushido]]'' cult which glorifies death in battle and sacrifice to martial Japan, became, in Fushun, just as devout in their support of communist ideals as Puyi".<ref>Behr, 1987 p 322</ref>
Puyi came to Beijing on 9 December 1959 with special permission from Mao Zedong and lived for the next six months in an ordinary Beijing residence with his sister before being transferred to a government-sponsored hotel.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 313</ref> He had the job of sweeping the streets, and got lost on his first day of work, which led him to tell astonished passers-by: "I'm Puyi, the last Emperor of the Qing dynasty. I'm staying with relatives and can't find my way home".<ref>Behr 1987 p. 314</ref> One of Puyi's first acts upon returning to Beijing was to visit the Forbidden City as a tourist, when he pointed out to other tourists that many of the exhibits were the things he had used in his youth.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 315-316</ref> He voiced his support for the Communists and worked at the [[Beijing Botanical Garden]]s. Working as a simple gardener gave Puyi a degree of happiness he had never known as an emperor, though he was notably clumsy.<ref>Behr, 1987 p.317</ref> Behr noted that in Europe people who played roles analogous to the role Puyi played in Manchukuo were generally executed; for example, the British hanged [[William Joyce]] ("[[Lord Haw-Haw|Lord Haw-haw]]") for being the announcer on the English-language broadcasts of [[Radio Berlin International|Radio Berlin]], the Italians shot [[Benito Mussolini]], and the French executed [[Pierre Laval]], so many Westerners are surprised that Puyi was released from prison after only nine years to start a new life.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 323">Behr, 1987 p 323</ref> Behr wrote that the Communist ideology explained this difference, writing: "In a society where all landlord and 'capitalist-roaders' were evil incarnate, it did not matter so much that Puyi was also a traitor to his country: he was, in the eyes of the Communist ideologues, only behaving true to type. If all capitalists and landlords were, by their very nature, traitors, it was only logical that Puyi, the biggest landlord, should also be the biggest traitor. And, in the last resort, Puyi was far more valuable alive than dead".<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 323"/> In early 1960, Puyi met Premier [[Zhou Enlai]], who told him: "You weren't responsible for becoming Emperor at the age of three or the 1917 attempted restoration coup. But you were fully to blame for what happened later. You knew perfectly well what you were doing when you took refuge in the Legation Quarter, when you traveled under Japanese protection to Tianjin, and when you agreed to become Manchukuo Chief Executive."<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 317">Behr, 1987 p 317</ref> Puyi responded by merely saying that though he did not choose to be an emperor, he had behaved with savage cruelty as boy-emperor and wished he could apologize to all the [[eunuchs]] he had [[Flagellation|flogged]] during his youth.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 317"/>
At the age of 56, he married [[Li Shuxian]], a hospital nurse, on 30 April 1962, in a ceremony held at the Banquet Hall of the Consultative Conference. From 1964 until his death he worked as an editor for the literary department of the [[Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference]], where his monthly salary was around 100 [[Chinese yuan|yuan]]. One yuan in the 1960s was equivalent to about 40 cents USD.<ref name="The Thought of Mao Tse-Tung">{{cite book|last=Schram|first=Stuart|authorlink=Stuart R. Schram|title=The Thought of Mao Tse-Tung|year=1989|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-31062-8|page=170}}</ref> Li recalled in a 1995 interview that: "I found Pu Yi a honest man, a man who desperately needed my love and was ready to give me as much love as he could. When I was having even a slight case of flu, he was so worried I would die, that he refused to sleep at night and sat by my bedside until dawn so he could attend to my needs".<ref name="hartford-hwp.com">{{cite web
|last = Li
|first = Xin
|title = Pu Yi's Widow Reveals Last Emperor's Soft Side
|website =
|publisher = The Hartford Chronicle
|date = 8 April 1995
|url = http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/55/045.html
|doi =
|accessdate = 2015-11-29
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924041341/http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/55/045.html
|archive-date = 24 September 2015
|url-status = dead
}}</ref> Li also noted like everybody else who knew him that Puyi was an incredibly clumsy man, leading her to say: "Once in a boiling rage at his clumsiness, I threatened to divorce him. On hearing this, he got down on his knees and, with tears in his eyes, he begged me to forgive him. I shall never forget what he said to me: 'I have nothing in this world except you, and you are my life. If you go, I will die'. But apart from him, what did I ever have in the world?".<ref name="hartford-hwp.com"/>
[[File:Xiong Bingkun, Puyi and Lu Zhonglin.jpg|thumb|Puyi in 1961, flanked by Xiong Bingkun, a commander in the [[Wuchang Uprising]], and Lu Zhonglin, who took part in Puyi's expulsion from the Forbidden City in 1924.]]
In the 1960s, with encouragement from Chairman [[Mao Zedong]] and Premier [[Zhou Enlai]], and the public endorsement of the Chinese government, Puyi wrote his autobiography ''Wode Qian Bansheng'' ({{zh|c=我的前半生|p=Wǒdè Qián Bànshēng|w=''Wo Te Ch'ien Pan-Sheng''|l=The First Half of My Life}}; translated into English as ''From Emperor to Citizen'') together with Li Wenda, an editor at the People's Publishing Bureau. The ghostwriter Li had initially planned to use Puyi's "autocritique" written in Fushun as the basis of the book, expecting the job to take only a few months. He found the "autocritique" used such wooden language as Puyi confessed to a career of abject cowardice, noting over and over again that he had always done the easy thing rather than the right thing in the most leaden prose possible, that Li was forced to start anew to produce something more readable as he interviewed Puyi, taking him four years to write the book.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 318</ref> In this book (as translated into English and published by Oxford University Press), Puyi made the following statement regarding his testimony at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal:<ref name="From Emperor to Citizen: The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi">{{cite book|last=Pu Yi|title=From Emperor to Citizen: The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi|year=1988|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-282099-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fromemperortocit00puyi_0/page/329 329, 330]|author2=Jenner, W.J.F.|url=https://archive.org/details/fromemperortocit00puyi_0/page/329}}</ref>
{{quote|I now feel very ashamed of my testimony, as I withheld some of what I knew to protect myself from being punished by my country. I said nothing about my secret collaboration with the Japanese imperialists over a long period, an association to which my open capitulation after September 18, 1931 was but the conclusion. Instead, I spoke only of the way the Japanese had put pressure on me and forced me to do their will.
I maintained that I had not betrayed my country but had been kidnapped; denied all my collaboration with the Japanese; and even claimed that the letter I had written to Jirō Minami was a fake.<ref name="Two Homelands">{{cite book|last=Yamasaki|first=Tokoyo|title=Two Homelands |year=2007|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-2944-5|pages=487–495|author2=Morris, V Dixon }}</ref> I covered up my crimes in order to protect myself.}}
Many of the claims in ''From Emperor to Citizen'', like the statement that it was the Kuomintang who stripped Manchuria bare of industrial equipment in 1945–46 rather than the Soviets, together with an "unreservedly rosy picture of prison life", are widely known to be false, but the book was translated into foreign languages and sold well. Behr wrote:
<blockquote>The more fulsome, cliché-ridden chapters in ''From Emperor to Citizen'', dealing with Puyi's prison experiences, and written at the height of the Mao personality cult, give the impression of well-learned, regurgitated lessons.<ref>Behr 1987 p.320-321</ref></blockquote>
From 1963 onward, Puyi regularly gave press conferences praising life in the People's Republic of China, and foreign diplomats often sought him out, curious to meet the famous "Last Emperor" of China.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 323.</ref>
In an interview with Behr, Li Wenda told him that Puyi was a very clumsy man who "invariably forgot to close doors behind him, forgot to flush the toilet, forgot to turn the tap off after washing his hands, had a genius for creating an instant, disorderly mess around him".<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.314">Behr, 1987 p.314</ref> Puyi had been so used to having his needs catered to that he never entirely learned how to function on his own.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.314"/> He tried very hard to be modest and humble, always being the last person to board a bus, which meant that he frequently missed the ride, and in restaurants would tell waitresses, "''You should not be serving me. I should be serving you''."<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.314"/>
During this period, Puyi was known for his kindness, and once after he accidentally knocked down an elderly lady with his bicycle, he visited her every day in the hospital to bring her flowers to make amends until she was released.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 319">Behr 1987 p. 319</ref>
Puyi objected to Pujie's attempt to reunite with Lady Saga, who had returned to Japan, writing to [[Zhou Enlai|Zhou]] asking him to block Lady Saga from coming back to China, which led Zhou to reply: "The war's over, you know. You don't have to carry this national hatred into your own family."<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 320">Behr 1987 p. 320</ref> Behr concluded: "It is difficult to avoid the impression that Puyi, in an effort prove himself a 'remolded man', displayed the same craven attitude towards the power-holders of the new China that he had shown in Manchukuo towards the Japanese."<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 320"/>
==Death and burial==
[[Mao Zedong]] started the [[Cultural Revolution]] in 1966, and the youth militia known as the Maoist [[Red Guards (China)|Red Guards]] saw Puyi, who symbolised [[Imperial China]], as an easy target. Puyi was placed under protection by the local [[Public security bureau (China)|public security bureau]] and, although his food rations, salary, and various luxuries, including his sofa and desk, were removed, he was not publicly humiliated as was common at the time. The Red Guards attacked Puyi for his book ''From Emperor to Citizen'' because it had been translated into English and French, which displeased the Red Guards and led to copies of the book being burned in the streets.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 325.</ref> Various members of the Qing family, including Pujie, had their homes raided and burned by the [[Red Guards (China)|Red Guards]], but [[Zhou Enlai]] used his influence to protect Puyi and the rest of the Qing from the worst abuses inflicted by the Red Guard.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 324-325.</ref> Jin Yuan, the man who had "remodelled" Puyi in the 1950s, fell victim to the Red Guard and became a prisoner in Fushun for several years, while Li Wenda, who had ghostwritten ''From Emperor to Citizen'', spent seven years in solitary confinement.<ref>Behr 1987 p.325</ref> But Puyi had aged and his health began to decline. He died in Beijing of complications arising from [[kidney cancer]] and [[heart disease]] on 17 October 1967 at the age of 61.<ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |title=Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China And a Puppet for Japan, Dies. Enthroned at 2, Turned Out at 6, He Was Later a Captive of Russians and Peking Reds. |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0E10F93E5B107B93CBA8178BD95F438685F9 |quote=Henry Pu Yi, last Manchu emperor of China and Japan's puppet emperor of Manchukuo, died yesterday in Peking of complications resulting from cancer, a Japanese newspaper reported today. He was 61 years old. |agency=Associated Press in [[New York Times]] |date=19 October 1967 |accessdate=2007-07-21 }}</ref>
In accordance with the laws of the People's Republic of China at the time, Puyi's body was cremated. His ashes were first placed at the [[Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery]], alongside those of other party and state dignitaries. (This was the burial ground of imperial concubines and eunuchs prior to the establishment of the [[People's Republic of China]].) In 1995, as a part of a commercial arrangement, Puyi's ashes were transferred by his widow [[Li Shuxian]] to a new commercial cemetery named Hualong Imperial Cemetery (华龙皇家陵园)<ref>{{cite web|last=Ho|first=Stephanie|url=http://www.voanews.com/content/burial-plot-of-chinas-last-emperor-still-holds-allure-131546703/146507.html|title=Burial Plot of China's Last Emperor Still Holds Allure|work=VOA|access-date=2016-01-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206090147/http://www.voanews.com/content/burial-plot-of-chinas-last-emperor-still-holds-allure-131546703/146507.html|archive-date=2016-02-06|url-status=dead}}</ref> in return for monetary support. The cemetery is near the [[Western Qing Tombs]], {{convert|120|km|mi|abbr=on}} southwest of Beijing, where four of the nine Qing emperors preceding him are interred, along with three empresses and 69 princes, princesses and imperial concubines.<ref name="Forbidden City: The Great Within">{{cite book |last1=Courtauld |first1=Caroline |last2=Holdsworth |first2=May |last3=Spence |first3=Jonathan |title=Forbidden City: The Great Within |year=2008|page=132|publisher=Odyssey|isbn=978-962-217-792-5}}</ref>
==Awards and decorations==
;Qing Dynasty
{|
|-
|[[File:Ribbon_bar_of_the_Chinese_Order_of_the_Double_Dragon.svg|60px]]
|[[Order of the Double Dragon]]
|-
|}
;Manchukuo
{|
|-
|[[File:Manchukuo_Order_of_the_Orchid_Blossom_ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[Grand Order of the Orchid Blossom]]
|-
|[[File:Manchukuo_Order_of_the_Illustrious_Dragon_ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[Order of the Illustrious Dragon]]
|-
|[[File:Manchukuo_Order_of_the_Auspicious_Clouds_ribbon.svg|60px]]
|Order of the Auspicious Clouds
|-
|}
;Foreign
{|
|-
|[[File:Order_of_the_Most_Holy_Annunciation_BAR.svg|60px]]
|[[Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation]] ([[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]])
|-
|[[File:Cavaliere_di_gran_Croce_Regno_SSML_BAR.svg|60px]]
|[[Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]], 1st Class (Italy)
|-
|[[File:Cavaliere_di_Gran_Croce_OCI_Kingdom_BAR.svg|60px]]
|Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Crown of Italy]] (Italy)
|-
|[[File:JPN_Daikun'i_kikkasho_BAR.svg|60px]]
|Grand Cordon of the [[Order of the Chrysanthemum]] ([[Empire of Japan|Japan]])
|-
|[[File:JPN_Toka-sho_BAR.svg|60px]]
|[[Order of the Paulownia Flowers]] (Japan)
|-
|[[File:OrderofCarolI.ribbon.gif|60px]]
|[[Order of Carol I]] ([[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]])
|-
|}
==Family==
{{main|Family of Puyi}}
==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel | align = center
| boxstyle_1 = background-color: #fcc;
| boxstyle_2 = background-color: #fb9;
| boxstyle_3 = background-color: #ffc;
| boxstyle_4 = background-color: #bfc;
| boxstyle_5 = background-color: #9fe;
| 1 = [[Puyi]] (1906–1967)
| 2 = [[Zaifeng, Prince Chun|Zaifeng]] (1883–1951)
| 3 = [[Gūwalgiya Youlan|Youlan]] (1884–1921)
| 4 = [[Yixuan, Prince Chun|Yixuan]] (1840–1891)
| 5 = [[Liugiya Cuiyan|Cuiyan]] (1866–1925)
| 6 = [[Ronglu]] (1836–1903)
| 7 = Lady Aisin Gioro
| 8 = [[Daoguang Emperor]] (1782–1850)
| 9 = [[Imperial Noble Consort Zhuangshun]] (1822–1866)
| 10 = Deqing
| 12 = Changshou (d. 1852)
| 13 = Lady Uja
| 14 = Linggui (1815–1885)
| 15 = Lady Sun
| 16 = [[Jiaqing Emperor]] (1760–1820)
| 17 = [[Empress Xiaoshurui]] (1760–1797)
| 18 = Lingshou (1788–1824)
| 19 = Lady Weng
| 24 = Tasiha
}}
==Portrayal in media==
===Film===
* ''The Last Emperor'', a 1986 Hong Kong film (Chinese title 火龍, literally means ''Fire Dragon'') directed by [[Li Han-hsiang]]. [[Tony Leung Ka-fai]] played Puyi.
* ''[[The Last Emperor]]'', a 1987 film directed by [[Bernardo Bertolucci]]. [[John Lone]] played the adult Puyi.
* ''Aisin-Gioro Puyi'' (愛新覺羅·溥儀), a 2005 Chinese documentary film on the life of Puyi. Produced by [[China Central Television|CCTV]], it was part of a series of ten documentary films about ten historical persons.
* ''[[The Founding of a Party]]'', a 2011 Chinese film directed by [[Huang Jianxin]] and [[Han Sanping]]. Child actor Yan Ruihan played Puyi.
* ''[[1911 (film)|1911]]'', a 2011 historical film directed by [[Jackie Chan]] and Zhang Li. The film tells of the founding of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] when [[Sun Yat-sen]] led the [[Xinhai Revolution]] to overthrow the [[Qing dynasty]]. The five-year-old Puyi is played by child actor Su Hanye. Although Puyi's time on screen is short, there are significant scenes showing how the emperor was treated at court before his abdication at the age of six.<ref name="1911 movie">{{cite web|title=1911 Movie at IMDB|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772230/}}</ref>
===Television===
* ''[[The Misadventure of Zoo]]'', a 1981 Hong Kong television series produced by [[TVB]]. [[Adam Cheng]] played an adult Puyi.
* ''Modai Huangdi'' (末代皇帝; literally means ''The Last Emperor''), a 1988 Chinese television series based on Puyi's autobiography ''From Emperor to Citizen'', with Puyi's brother [[Pujie]] as a consultant for the series. [[Chen Daoming]] starred as Puyi.
* ''Feichang Gongmin'' (非常公民; literally means ''Unusual Citizen''), a 2002 Chinese television series directed by Cheng Hao. [[Dayo Wong]] starred as Puyi.
* ''Ruten no Ōhi – Saigo no Kōtei'' (流転の王妃·最後の皇弟; Chinese title 流轉的王妃), a 2003 Japanese television series about [[Pujie]] and [[Hiro Saga]]. Wang Bozhao played Puyi.
* ''Modai Huangfei'' (末代皇妃; literally means ''The Last Imperial Consort''), a 2003 Chinese television series. [[Li Yapeng]] played Puyi.
* Modai Huangdi Chuanqi (末代皇帝传奇; literally means ''The Legend of the Last Emperor''), a 2015 Hong Kong/China television collaboration (59 episodes, each 45 minutes), starring [[Winston Chao]]
===Video games===
*Puyi appears as "Aisin Gioro Puyi" in the 2016 [[World War II]] [[grand strategy]] [[Video Game|game]] ''[[Hearts of Iron IV]]'', by [[Paradox Interactive]], and is depicted as the [[absolute monarch]] of Manchukuo.
==Bibliography==
===By Puyi===
* The autobiography of Puyi – [[ghost-written]] by Li Wenda. The title of the Chinese book is usually rendered in English as ''From Emperor to Citizen''. The book was re-released in China in 2007 in a new corrected and revised version. Many sentences which had been deleted from the 1964 version prior to its publication were now included.
** {{cite book|script-title=zh:我的前半生|trans-title=The First Half of My Life; From Emperor to Citizen: The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Puyi|last1=Aisin-Gioro|first=Puyi|origyear=1964|year=2002|publisher=Foreign Languages Press|isbn=978-7-119-00772-4|language=zh|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/fromemperortocit00puyi}} – original
** {{cite book | title= The Last Manchu: The Autobiography of Henry Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China | last1= Pu Yi | first= Henry |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing | origyear= 1967| year= 2010 |isbn=978-1-60239-732-3}} – translation
===By others===
* {{cite book|last=Headland|first=Isaac Taylor|title=Court life in China|year=1909|publisher=F.H. Revell|url=http://www.romanization.com/books/courtlifeinchina/index.html|isbn=978-0-585-15029-1}}
*{{cite book|last=Fenby|first=Jonathan|title=Chiang Kai-shek China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost|publisher=New York: Carroll & Graf|year=2004|isbn=978-0786713189|url=https://archive.org/details/chiangkaishekchi00fenb}}
* {{cite book|last=Driscoll|first= Mark| title=Absolute Erotic, Absolute Grotesque: The Living, The Dead, and The Undead in Japan's Imperialism, 1895–1945| publisher=Durnham: Duke University Press| year=2010|isbn=978-0822347613}}
* [[Reginald Johnston|Johnston, Reginald Fleming]] (1934, 2008). ''[[Twilight in the Forbidden City]]''. Soul Care Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-9680459-5-4}}
* {{cite book|last=Li Shuxian|title=My Husband Puyi: Puyi yu wo / [Li Shuxian kou shu ; Wang Qingxiang zheng li ; Changchun shi zheng xie wen shi zi liao yan jiu wei yuan hui bian]|origyear=1984|year=2006|publisher=Chuan guo xin hua shu dian jing xiao|isbn=978-7-208-00167-1}}
:Puyi's fifth wife [[Li Shuxian]]. Memories of their life together were ghost written by Wang Qingxian. An English version translated by Ni Na was published by China Travel and Tourism Press.
* {{cite book|last=Behr|first=Edward|title=The Last Emperor |year=1987|location=Toronto|publisher=Futura|isbn=978-0-7088-3439-8}}
:Companion to Bernardo Bertolucci's film of the same name.
*{{cite book|last=Young|first= Louise| title=Japan's Total Empire: Manchuria and the Culture of Wartime Imperialism| publisher=Los Angeles: University of California Press| year=1998|isbn=978-0520219342}}
*{{cite book|last=Weinberg|first=Gerhard|title=A World In Arms A Global History of World War II |year=2005|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-61826-7}}
==See also==
{{Portal|China|History|World War II|Biography}}
* [[Chinese emperors family tree (late)]]
* [[Dynasties in Chinese history]]
* [[List of heads of regimes who were later imprisoned]]
* [[List of monarchs who lost their thrones in the 20th century]]
== Notes ==
{{notelist}}
== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}
=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |title = S.M. Ali, a Commemorative Volume |first1=S. M. |last1=Ali |first2=Fowzia |last2=Ally |first3=Syed Manzoorul |last3=Islam |year=1997 |publisher=S.M. Ali Memorial Committee |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0AJlAAAAMAAJ |isbn = |accessdate=10 March 2014 |ref = {{harvid||}} }}
* {{cite book |title = The Last Emperor |first=Edward |last=Behr |year=1987 |publisher=Futura |location=Toronto| ref = {{harvid||}} }}
* {{cite journal |title = Rule of Law in a Brave New Empire: Legal Rhetoric and Practice in Manchukuo |first=Thomas |last=Dubois |journal= Law and History Review |year=2008 |volume= 26 | issue=Summer 2008 |pages=285–319 |doi=10.1017/S0738248000001322 |ref = {{harvid||}} }}
* {{cite book |title = Park Chung Hee and Modern Korea The Roots of Militarism, 1866–1945 |first=Carter |last=Eckert |year=2016 |publisher= Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge| ref = {{harvid||}} }}
* {{cite book |title = The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China|first=Mark C. |last=Elliott |volume= |edition=illustrated, reprint |year=2001 |publisher = Stanford University Press |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_qtgoTIAiKUC |isbn = 978-0804746847 |accessdate=10 March 2014 |ref = {{harvid||}} }}
* {{cite book |title= Emperor Qianlong: Son of Heaven, Man of the World |first=Mark C. |last=Elliott |year=2009 |publisher= Longman |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=WpsMAQAAMAAJ |isbn= 978-0321084446 |accessdate= 10 March 2014 |ref= {{harvid||}} }}
* {{cite book |title = The Origins of the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific |first= Akira |last= Iriye |year=1987 |publisher= Longman |location= London |isbn = 978-0582493490 |ref= {{harvid||}} }}
* {{cite book |title= From Emperor to Citizen: The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi |author=Puy |first2= William John Francis |last2=Jenner |translator = [[William John Francis Jenner]] |edition = illustrated, reprint |year=1987 |publisher= Oxford University Press |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=RZNxAAAAMAAJ |isbn = 978-0192820990 |accessdate = 10 March 2014 |ref = {{harvid||}} }}
* {{cite journal |title= "Saint Joan" From A Chinese Perspective: Shaw and the Last Emperor, Henry Pu-Yi Aisin-Gioro |first=Kay |last=Li |journal= Shaw |volume=29 |issue=2009 |pages= 109–126 |ref= {{harvid||}} }}
*{{cite book |title= The Russian Fascists Tragedy and Farce in Exile 1925–45 |author=Stephan |first=John |year=1978 |publisher= Harper & Row |isbn=978-0-06-014099-1 |ref = {{harvid||}} }}
* {{cite book |title= The Last Manchu: The Autobiography of Henry Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China |author=Henry Pu Yi |editor-first=Paul |editor-last=Kramer |year=2013 |publisher= Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ivYsAgAAQBAJ |isbn= 978-1626367258 |accessdate= 10 March 2014 |ref = {{harvid||}} }}
{{refend}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Pu Yi|<br />Pu Yi}}
* {{cite web |title= Five Wives of The Last Emperor Puyi |url= http://history.cultural-china.com/en/48History6760.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091215215941/http://history.cultural-china.com/en/48History6760.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 15 December 2009 |publisher= Cultural China |accessdate= 9 August 2010 |df = }}
* [http://www.royalty.nu/Asia/China/PuYi.html Royalty.nu: Extended Bio]
* [http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/99/0927/gardens.html ''TIME'': Last Emperor's Humble Occupation]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051210051247/http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/55/045.html Li Xin, Pu Yi's Widow Reveals Last Emperor's Soft Side]
* [http://www.art-virtue.com/painting/history/ching/PuRu/bio-PuRu.htm Pu Ru (溥儒), Pu Yi's cousin, accomplished Chinese brush painter and calligrapher]
* {{PM20|FID=pe/003237}}
*[[The Last Emperor|The Last Emperor, Film 1987]]
{{S-start|noclear=1}}
{{S-hou|[[Aisin-Gioro|House of Aisin-Gioro]]|7 February|1906|17 October|1967}}
{{S-reg|}}
{{S-bef
| before = [[Guangxu Emperor]]
}}
{{S-ttl
| title = [[Emperor of China]]<br>[[List of emperors of the Qing dynasty|Emperor of the Qing dynasty]]
| years = 2 December 1908 – 12 February 1912
}}
{{S-non
| reason = Position abolished<br />{{nobold|{{small|[[Qing dynasty]] was ended in 1912}}}}
}}
|-
{{S-new
| reason = [[Manchukuo]] was created in 1932
}}
{{S-ttl
| title = [[Chief Executive of Manchukuo]]
| years = 9 March 1932 – 28 February 1934
}}
{{S-non
| reason = Position abolished<br />{{nobold|{{small|[[Manchukuo]] became an empire in 1934}}}}
}}
|-
{{S-new
| reason = [[Manchukuo]] became an empire in 1934
}}
{{S-ttl
| title = [[Emperor of Manchukuo]]
| years = 1 March 1934 – 15 August 1945
}}
{{S-non
| reason = Position abolished<br />{{nobold|{{small|[[Manchukuo]] was ended in 1945}}}}
}}
|-
{{S-hou|[[Aisin-Gioro|House of Aisin-Gioro]]|7 February 1906||17 October 1967}}
{{S-pre}}
{{S-bef
| before = [[Guangxu Emperor]]
}}
{{S-tul|title=[[Aisin Gioro|Head of Aisin Gioro family]]|years=1908–1967}}
{{S-aft
| after = [[Pujie]]
}}
{{S-end}}
{{Head of Aisin Gioro}}
{{Qing emperors}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puyi}}
[[Category:Puyi| ]]
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:1967 deaths]]
[[Category:1900s in China]]
[[Category:1910s in China]]
[[Category:20th-century Chinese monarchs]]
[[Category:Child rulers from Asia]]
[[Category:Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan]]
[[Category:Chinese fascists]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in the People's Republic of China]]
[[Category:Deaths from kidney cancer]]
[[Category:Emperors from Beijing]]
[[Category:Heads of government who were later imprisoned]]
[[Category:Heads of state of former countries]]
[[Category:Heads of state of unrecognized or largely unrecognized states]]
[[Category:Monarchs who abdicated]]
[[Category:People of Manchukuo]]
[[Category:People of the 1911 Revolution]]
[[Category:People's Republic of China politicians from Beijing]]
[[Category:Members of the 4th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference]]
[[Category:Qing dynasty emperors]]
[[Category:Qing dynasty Buddhists]]
[[Category:Chinese Buddhist monarchs]]
[[Category:Rulers deposed as children]]
[[Category:World War II political leaders]]
[[Category:World War II prisoners of war held by the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Monarchs imprisoned and detained during war]]
[[Category:Republic of China people born during Qing]]
[[Category:Heads of state convicted of war crimes]]
[[Category:Fascist rulers]]
[[Category:Dethroned monarchs]]' |
New page wikitext, after the edit (new_wikitext ) | '{{Other uses}}
{{Short description|The 12th Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor of Manchukuo}}
{{multiple issues|
{{cleanup rewrite|date=May 2019}}
{{very long|rps=122|date=June 2018}}
}}
{{Infobox royalty
| image = Pu Yi, Qing dynasty, China, Last emperor.jpg
| caption = Puyi as Emperor of Manchukuo, wearing the Mǎnzhōuguó uniform.
| succession = 12th [[List of emperors of the Qing dynasty|Emperor of the Qing dynasty]]
| reign = 2 December 1908 –<br>12 February 1912
| reign-type = First reign
| predecessor = [[Guangxu Emperor]]
| successor = ''Office abolished''{{hairspace}}{{efn|The [[Qing dynasty]] was formally ended in 1912 by [[Xinhai Revolution]]. [[Sun Yat-sen]] succeeded Puyi as head of state through the office of [[Provisional Government of the Republic of China (1912)|Provisional President]].}}
| reg-type = Regents
| regent = [[Zaifeng, Prince Chun]] {{nowrap|{{small|(1908–11)}}}}<br/>[[Empress Dowager Longyu]] {{nowrap|{{small|(1911–12)}}}}
| reg-type1 = {{nowrap|[[Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet|Prime Ministers]]}}
| regent1 = [[Yikuang, Prince Qing]]<br/>[[Yuan Shikai]]
| reign2 = 1 July 1917 – 12 July 1917{{efn|Between 1 July 1917 and 12 July 1917, during the [[Manchu Restoration]], Puyi re-took the throne and proclaimed himself the restored Emperor of the [[Qing dynasty]], supported by [[Zhang Xun]], the self-proclaimed Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet. However, Puyi and Zhang Xun's proclamations in July 1917 were never recognized by [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] (at the time, the sole legitimate government of China), most of Chinese people or any foreign countries.}}
| reign-type2 = Second reign
| reg-type2 = Prime Minister
| regent2 = [[Zhang Xun]]
| succession3 = [[Emperor of Manchukuo]]
| reign3 = 1 March 1934 –<br>17 August 1945
| reg-type3 = Prime Minister
| regent3 = [[Zheng Xiaoxu]]<br/>[[Zhang Jinghui]]
| predecessor3 = ''Himself as [[Chief Executive]]''
| successor3 = ''Office abolished''
| succession4 = [[Chief Executive of Manchukuo]]
| reign4 = 18 February 1932 –<br>28 February 1934
| reg-type4 = Prime Minister
| regent4 = [[Zheng Xiaoxu]]
| predecessor4 = ''Office established''
| successor4 = ''Himself as [[Emperor]]''
| succession5= [[Aisin Gioro|Head of the House of Aisin Gioro]]
| reign-type5 = Period
| reign5 = 12 February 1912 –<br>17 October 1967
| predecessor5 = ''Himself as [[List of Emperors of the Qing Dynasty|Emperor]]''
| successor5 = [[Pujie]]
| birth_name = Aisin Gioro Puyi<br/>(愛新覺羅 溥儀)
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1906|02|07|df=y}}<br/>(光緒三十二年 正月 十四日)
| birth_place = [[Prince Chun Mansion]], [[Beijing]], [[Qing dynasty]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1967|10|17|1906|02|07|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Peking Union Medical College Hospital]], [[Beijing]], [[China]]
| burial_place = Hualong Imperial Cemetery, [[Yi County, Hebei]]
| spouse = {{Marriage|[[Empress Wanrong|Gobulo Wanrong]]|1922|1946|end=d}}<br/>{{Marriage|[[Li Shuxian]]|1962|1967}}
| spouse-type = Consorts
| consort =
| issue =
| issue-link =
| issue-pipe =
| issue-type =
| full name = Aisin Gioro Puyi{{efn|[[Aisin-Gioro]] is the clan's name in [[Manchu language|Manchu]], pronounced Àixīn Juéluó in [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin]]; Pǔyí is the Chinese given name as pronounced in Mandarin.}}<br />(愛新覺羅 溥儀)<br>[[Manchu language|Manchu]]: Aisin Gioro Pu I{{efn|[[Manchu language|Manchu]]: {{ManchuSibeUnicode|ᠠᡞᠰᡞᠨ ᡤᡞᠣᠷᠣ ᡦᡠ ᡞ|style=height:1.8em;word-wrap:normal}}.}}
| era name =
| era dates =
'''Qing Empire'''
* Xuantong<br />(宣統; 22 January 1909 – 12 February 1912, 1 July 1917 – 12 July 1917)<br/>[[Manchu language|Manchu]]: Gehungge Yoso{{efn|[[Manchu language|Manchu]]: {{ManchuSibeUnicode|lang=mnc|ᡬᡝᡥᡠᠩᡤᡝ ᠶᠣᠰᠣ|style=height:2em;word-wrap:normal;}}.}}<br/>[[Mongolian language|Mongolian]]: Хэвт ёс{{efn|[[Mongolian language|Mongolian]]: {{MongolUnicode|ᠬᠡᠪᠲᠦ ᠶᠣᠰᠣ<!-- http://trans.mglip.com/ -->|style=height:2.1em;word-wrap:normal;}}.}}
; Manchukuo
* Datong<br />(大同; 1 March 1932 – 28 February 1934)
* Kangde<br />(康德; 1 March 1934 – 17 August 1945)
| regnal name =
| posthumous name =
| temple name =
| house = [[Aisin Gioro]]
| house-type =
| father = [[Zaifeng, Prince Chun|Zaifeng]], [[Prince Chun (醇)|Prince Chun of the First Rank]]
| mother = [[Gūwalgiya Youlan]]
| religion =
| occupation =
| signature_type =
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}}
{{Infobox Chinese
|s = 溥仪
|t = 溥儀
|p = Pǔyí
|mi = {{IPAc-cmn|p|u|3|.|yi|2}}
|altname = Xuantong Emperor
|t2=宣統帝
|s2=宣统帝
|p2=Xuāntǒng Dì
|w2=Hsuan<sup>1</sup>tʻung<sup>3</sup> Ti<sup>4</sup>
|mi2 = {{IPAc-cmn|x|uan|1|t|ong|3|-|d|i|4}}
|j2=Syun<sup>1</sup>tung<sup>2</sup> Dai<sup>3</sup>
}}
{{Contains special characters|Manchu}}
'''Puyi''' ({{zh|t = 溥儀}}; 7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967) was the last [[Emperor of China]] as the twelfth and final [[List of emperors of the Qing dynasty|Emperor of the Qing dynasty]], China's last imperial dynasty. At the age of two, he was made the '''Xuantong Emperor''' (pronounced {{IPAc-cmn|x|uan|1|t|ong|3}}, {{zh|t = 宣統帝}}; [[Burmese language|Burmese]]: ဧကရာဇ်ရှန့်ထောင်; {{lang-mnc|m={{ManchuSibeUnicode|ᡤᡝᡥᡠᠩᡤᡝ<br />ᠶᠣᠰᠣ<br />ᡥᡡᠸᠠᠩᡩᡳ}}|v=gehungge yoso hūwangdi}}) in China and '''Khevt Yos Khaan''' in [[Mongolia under Qing rule|Mongolia]] from 1908 until his forced abdication on 12 February 1912, after the [[1911 Revolution]], though he would remain in the Forbidden Palace and continued a lavish lifestyle.
He was briefly [[Manchu Restoration|restored to the throne as emperor]] by the loyalist General [[Zhang Xun]] from 1 July to 12 July 1917. He was first married to [[Empress Wanrong]] in 1922 in an arranged marriage. In 1924, he was kicked out of the palace and found refuge in Tianjin, where he began to court both the warlords fighting for hegemony over China, and the Japanese who had long desired control of China. In 1932, after the [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria]], the [[puppet state]] of [[Manchukuo]] was established by [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] and he was chosen to become "[[Emperor of Manchukuo|Emperor]]" of the new state using the era-name of '''Datong''' ('''Ta-tung''').
In 1934, he was declared the '''Kangde Emperor''' (or '''Kang-te Emperor''') of [[Manchukuo]] and "ruled" until the end of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] in 1945. This third stint as Emperor saw him as a puppet of Japan; he signed most edicts the Japanese gave him, including one making slavery legal. During this period, he was largely cooped up in the [[Salt Tax Palace]], where he regularly ordered his servants beaten. His first wife's opium addiction consumed her during these years, and they were generally distant. He took on numerous concubines, as well as male lovers. With the fall of Japan, and thus Manchukuo, in 1945, Puyi fled the capital and was eventually captured by the USSR; he was extradited to the [[China|People's Republic of China]] after it was established in 1949. After his capture he would never see his first wife again; she would die of starvation in a Chinese prison in 1946.
Puyi was a defendant at the [[Tokyo Trials]], and imprisoned as a [[war criminal]] for 10 years. He escaped execution because [[Mao Zedong]] realized that Puyi was more valuable as a reformed commoner than a murdered emperor, unlike what the Soviets had done with [[Nicholas II of Russia|last emperor of Russia]]. After his "reeducation" in prison, he wrote his memoirs (with the help of a ghost writer) and became a titular member of the [[Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference]] and the [[National People's Congress]]. His time in prison greatly changed him, and he became much kinder and expressed deep regret for his actions while Emperor. In 1962 he married a commoner, [[Li Shuxian]], whom he had a deep affection for. He died in 1967, and was ultimately buried near the [[Western Qing tombs]] in a commercial cemetery.
==Names and titles==
Puyi is also known to have used an English given name, "Henry", which he chose from a list of English kings given to him by his English-language teacher, Scotsman [[Reginald Johnston]], after Puyi asked for an English name.<ref>''Pu Yi''. 1988, p. 113</ref><ref name="Henry Pu Yi"/>
===Titles===
{{Infobox royal styles
|royal name = Xuantong Emperor
|dipstyle = [[His Imperial Majesty]]
|offstyle = Your Imperial Majesty
|altstyle = [[Son of Heaven|Son of Heaven (天子)]]
|image = File:Imperial standard of the Qing Emperor.svg
}}
When he ruled as Emperor of the Qing Dynasty (and therefore Emperor of China) from 1908 to 1912 and during his brief restoration in 1917, Puyi's [[Chinese era name|era name]] was "Xuantong", so he was known as the "Xuantong Emperor" ({{zh|s=宣统皇帝|t=宣統皇帝|w=Hsüan<sup>1</sup>-t'ung<sup>3</sup> Huang<sup>2</sup>-ti<sup>4</sup>|p=Xuāntǒng Huángdì}}) during those two periods of time.
As Puyi was also the last ruling [[Emperor of China]] (not counting [[Yuan Shikai]]'s abortive restoration of the imperial title), he is widely known as "The Last Emperor" ({{zh|c=末代皇帝|p=Mòdài Huángdì|w=Mo<sup>4</sup>-tai<sup>4</sup> Huang<sup>2</sup>-ti<sup>4</sup>}}) in China and throughout the rest of the world. Some refer to him as "The Last Emperor of the Qing Dynasty" ({{zh|c=清末帝|w=Ch'ing<sup>1</sup> Mo<sup>4</sup>-ti<sup>4</sup>|p=Qīng Mò Dì}}).
Due to his abdication, Puyi is also known as "Xun Di" ({{zh|t=遜帝|p=Xùn Dì|l=Yielded Emperor}}) or "Fei Di" ({{zh|s=废帝|t=廢帝|p=Fèi Dì|l=Abrogated Emperor}}). Sometimes a "Qing" ({{zh|c=清|p=Qīng}}) is added in front of the two titles to indicate his affiliation with the Qing dynasty.
When Puyi ruled the [[puppet state]] of [[Manchukuo]] and assumed the title of Chief Executive of the new state, his era name was "Datong" (Ta-tung). As Emperor of Manchukuo from 1934 to 1945, his era name was "Kangde" (Kang-te), so he was known as the "Kangde Emperor" ({{zh|c=康德皇帝|p=Kāngdé Huángdì}}, {{lang-ja|Kōtoku Kōtei}}) during that period of time.
==Biography==
===Emperor of China (1908–1912)===
[[File:溥儀, 繪畫肖像.jpg|thumb|left|Painting portrait of Puyi, 1908]]
Chosen by [[Empress Dowager Cixi]],<ref name="Politics in China: An Introduction">{{cite book| last=Joseph |first=William A. |title=Politics in China: An Introduction |year=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-533531-6 |page=45}}</ref> Puyi became emperor at the age of 2 years and 10 months in December 1908 after the [[Guangxu Emperor]], Puyi's half-uncle, died childless on 14 November. Titled the '''Xuantong Emperor''' ([[Wade-Giles]]: '''Hsuan-tung Emperor'''), Puyi's introduction to the life of an emperor began when palace officials arrived at his family residence to take him. On the evening of 13 November 1908, without any advance notice, a procession of eunuchs and guardsmen led by the palace chamberlain left the Forbidden City for the Northern Mansion to inform Prince Chun that they were taking away his two-year-old son Puyi to be the new emperor.<ref>Behr (1987), p. 62–63</ref> The toddler Puyi screamed and resisted as the officials ordered the [[eunuch]] attendants to pick him up.<ref name="The Last Emperor">{{cite book| last=Behr |first=Edward |title=The Last Emperor |year=1998 |publisher=Futura |pages=63, 80 |isbn=978-0-7088-3439-8}}</ref> Puyi's parents said nothing when they learned that they were losing their son.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.63">Behr, 1987 p.63</ref> As Puyi cried, screaming that he did not want to leave his parents, he was forced into a palanquin that took him back to the Forbidden City.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.63"/> Puyi's wet nurse Wang Wen-Chao was the only person from the Northern Mansion allowed to go with him, and she calmed the very distraught Puyi down by allowing him to suckle one of her breasts; this was the only reason she was taken along.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.63"/> Upon arriving at the Forbidden City, Puyi was taken to see Cixi.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.65">Behr (1987), p. 65</ref> Puyi later wrote:
<blockquote>I still have a dim recollection of this meeting, the shock of which left a deep impression on my memory. I remember suddenly finding myself surrounded by strangers, while before me was hung a drab curtain through which I could see an emaciated and terrifying hideous face. This was Cixi. It is said that I burst out into loud howls at the sight and started to tremble uncontrollably. Cixi told someone to give me some sweets, but I threw them on the floor and yelled "I want nanny, I want nanny", to her great displeasure. "What a naughty child", she said. "Take him away to play."<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.65"/></blockquote>
His father, [[Zaifeng, Prince Chun|Prince Chun]], became Prince Regent (摄政王). During Puyi's coronation in the [[Hall of Supreme Harmony]] on 2 December 1908, the young emperor was carried onto the Dragon Throne by his father.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.65"/> Puyi was frightened by the scene before him and the deafening sounds of ceremonial drums and music, and started crying. His father could do nothing except quietly comfort him: "Don't cry, it'll be over soon."<ref>Behr, 1987 p.66</ref>
[[File:Puyi (1922).jpg|thumb|Puyi in 1922]]
Puyi did not see his biological mother, [[Gūwalgiya Youlan|Princess Consort Chun]], for the next seven years. He developed a special bond with Wang and credited her as the only person who could control him. She was sent away when he was eight years old. After Puyi married, he would occasionally bring her to the Forbidden City, and later [[Manchukuo]], to visit him. After his special government pardon in 1959, she visited her adopted son and only then learned of her personal sacrifices to be his nurse.<ref>Pu Yi 1988, pp. 70–76</ref>
Growing up with scarcely any memory of a time when he was not indulged and revered, Puyi quickly became spoiled. The adults in his life, except for Wang, were all strangers, remote, distant, and unable to discipline him.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.74">Behr (1987), p. 74</ref> Wherever he went, grown men would kneel down in a ritual [[kowtow]], averting their eyes until he passed. Soon he discovered the absolute power he wielded over the eunuchs, and he frequently had them beaten for small transgressions.<ref name="The Last Emperor"/> As an emperor, Puyi's every whim was catered to while no one ever said no to him, making him into a sadistic boy who loved to have his eunuchs flogged.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.74-75">Behr (1987), p. 74–75</ref> The Anglo-French journalist [[Edward Behr (journalist)|Edward Behr]] wrote about Puyi's power as emperor of China, which allowed him to fire his air-gun at anyone he liked:
{{quote|The Emperor was Divine. He could not be remonstrated with, or punished. He could only be deferentially advised against ill-treating innocent eunuchs, and if he chose to fire air-gun pellets at them, that was his prerogative.|author=[[Edward Behr (journalist)|Edward Behr]]<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.74-75"/>}}
Puyi later said, "Flogging eunuchs was part of my daily routine. My cruelty and love of wielding power were already too firmly set for persuasion to have any effect on me."<ref name="Behr 1987 p.74" /> The British historian [[Alex von Tunzelmann]] wrote that most people in the West know Puyi's story only from the 1987 film ''[[The Last Emperor (film)|The Last Emperor]]'', which downplays Puyi's cruelty considerably.<ref name="Tunzelmann">{{cite news
| last = Tunzelmann
| first = Alex
| title = The Last Emperor: Life is stranger, and nastier, than fiction
| date=16 April 2009| url = https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/apr/15/the-last-emperor
| doi =
| accessdate = 2015-11-29| newspaper = The Guardian
}}</ref>
By age 7, Puyi had two sides to his personality: the sadistic emperor who loved to have his eunuchs flogged, expected everyone to kowtow to him and enjoyed puppet shows and dog fights, and the boy who slept at night with Wang, suckling her breasts and content to be loved for just once in the day.<ref>Behr (1987), p. 81</ref> Wang was the only person capable of controlling Puyi; once, Puyi decided to "reward" a eunuch for a well done puppet show by having a cake baked for him with iron filings in it, saying, "I want to see what he looks like when he eats it".<ref name="Behr 1987 p.74"/> With much difficulty, Wang talked Puyi out of this plan.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.74"/>
Everyday, Puyi had to visit five former imperial concubines, called his "mothers", to report on his progress. He hated his "mothers", not least because they prevented him from seeing his real mother until he was 13.<ref>Behr, 1987 p.75-76</ref> Their leader was the autocratic [[Empress Dowager Longyu]], who successfully conspired to have Puyi's beloved wet nurse Wang expelled from the Forbidden City when he was 8 on the grounds that Puyi was too old to be breast-fed.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.76">Behr, (1987), p. 76</ref> Puyi especially hated Longyu for that.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.76"/> Puyi later wrote, "Although I had many mothers, I never knew any motherly love."<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.76"/>
Puyi had a standard Confucian education, being taught the various Confucian classics and nothing else.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.78">Behr (1987), p. 78</ref> He later wrote: "I learnt nothing of mathematics, let alone science, and for a long time I had no idea where Beijing was situated".<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.78"/> When Puyi was 13, he met his parents and siblings, all of whom had to kowtow before him as he sat upon the Dragon Throne.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.79">Behr (1987), p. 79</ref> By this time, he had forgotten what his mother looked like.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.79"/> Such was the awe in which the Emperor was held that his younger brother [[Pujie]] never heard his parents refer to Puyi as "your elder brother" but only as the Emperor.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.79"/> Pujie told Behr his image of Puyi prior to meeting him was that of "a venerable old man with a beard. I couldn't believe it when I saw this boy in yellow robes sitting solemnly on the throne".<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.79"/> It was decided that Pujie would join Puyi in the Forbidden City to provide him with a playmate, but Puyi was notably angry when he discovered his brother was wearing yellow – the color of the Qing – as he believed that only Emperors had the right to wear yellow, and it had to be explained to him that all members of the Qing family could.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.79"/>
===Eunuchs and the Household Department===
The eunuchs were slaves who did all the work in the Forbidden City, such as cooking, gardening, cleaning, entertaining guests, and the bureaucratic work needed to govern a vast empire. They also served as the emperor's advisers.<ref>Behr, 1987 pp.72–73</ref> The eunuchs spoke in a distinctive high-pitched voice, and, to further prove that they were really eunuchs, they had to keep their severed penises and testicles in jars of brine they wore around their necks when working.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.73">Behr, 1987 p.73</ref> The Forbidden City was full of treasures that the eunuchs constantly stole and sold on the black market.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.73" /> The business of government and of providing for the emperor created further opportunities for corruption and virtually all the eunuchs engaged in theft and corruption of one sort or another.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.73" />
Puyi never had any privacy and had all his needs attended to at all times, having eunuchs open doors for him, dress him, wash him, and even blow air into his soup to cool it.<ref>Behr (1987), p. 72–75</ref> Puyi delighted in humiliating his eunuchs, at one point saying that as the "Lord of Ten Thousand Years" it was his right to order a eunuch to eat dirt: {{"'}}Eat that for me', I ordered, and he knelt down and ate it".<ref name="Behr 1987 p.74" /> At his meals, Puyi was always presented with a huge buffet containing every conceivable dish, the vast majority of which he did not eat, and every day he wore new clothing as Chinese emperors never reused their clothing.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.77-78">Behr (1987), p. 77–78</ref> The eunuchs had their own reasons for presenting Puyi with buffet meals and new clothing every day, as Puyi's used clothes made from the finest silk were sold on the black market, while the food he did not eat was either sold or eaten by the eunuchs themselves.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.77-78" />
After his wedding, Puyi began to take control of the palace. He described "an orgy of looting" taking place that involved "everyone from the highest to the lowest". According to Puyi, by the end of his wedding ceremony, the pearls and jade in the empress's crown had been stolen.<ref>Pu Yi 1988, p 132</ref> Locks were broken, areas ransacked, and on 27 June 1923, a fire destroyed the area around the Palace of Established Happiness. Puyi suspected it was arson to cover theft. The emperor overheard conversations among the eunuchs that made him fear for his life. In response, he evicted the eunuchs from the palace.<ref>Pu Yi 1988, p 136</ref> His brother, [[Pujie]], was rumored to steal treasures and art collections to sell to wealthy collectors on the black market. Puyi's next plan of action was to reform the Household Department. In this period, he brought in more outsiders to replace the traditional aristocratic officers to improve accountability. He appointed [[Zheng Xiaoxu]] as minister of Household Department and Zheng Xiaoxu hired [[Tong Jixu]], a former Air Force officer from the [[Beiyang Army]], as his chief of staff to help with the reforms. The reform efforts did not last long before Puyi was forced out of the Forbidden City by [[Feng Yuxiang]].<ref>PuYi 1978, pp. 137–142</ref>
===Abdication===
On 10 October 1911, the army garrison in Wuhan [[Wuchang Uprising|mutinied]], sparking a widespread revolt in the Yangtze river valley and beyond, demanding the overthrow of the Qing dynasty that had ruled China since 1644.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.68">Behr 1987 p.68</ref> The strongman of late imperial China, General [[Yuan Shikai]], was dispatched by the court to crush the revolution, but was unable to, as by 1911 public opinion had turned decisively against the Qing, and many Chinese had no wish to fight for a dynasty that was seen as having lost the Mandate of Heaven.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.68"/> Puyi's father, [[Zaifeng, Prince Chun|Prince Chun]], served as a regent until 6 December 1911, when [[Empress Dowager Longyu]] took over following the [[Xinhai Revolution]].<ref name="he Last Emperors: A Social History of Qing Imperial Institutions">{{cite book|last=Rawski|first=Evelyn S|title=The Last Emperors: A Social History of Qing Imperial Institutions|year=2001|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-22837-5|page=287,136}}</ref>
Empress Dowager Longyu endorsed the "[[Monarchy of China#Imperial Edict of the Abdication of the Qing Emperor|Imperial Edict of the Abdication of the Qing Emperor]]" (清帝退位詔書) on 12 February 1912 under a deal brokered by [[Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet|Prime Minister]] Yuan Shikai with the imperial court in [[Beijing]] and the Republicans in southern China.<ref name="Manchus & Han: Ethnic Relations and Political Power in Late Qing and Early Republican China, 1861-1928">{{cite book|last=Rhoads|first=Edward J M|title=Manchus & Han: Ethnic Relations and Political Power in Late Qing and Early Republican China, 1861–1928|year=2001|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=978-0-295-98040-9|pages=226, 227}}</ref>
Under the "Articles of Favourable Treatment of the Great Qing Emperor after His Abdication" (清帝退位優待條件), signed with the new [[Republic of China (1912-49)|Republic of China]], Puyi was to retain his imperial title and be treated by the government of the Republic with the [[Protocol (diplomacy)|protocol]] attached to a foreign monarch. This was similar to Italy's [[Law of Guarantees]] (1870) which accorded the [[Pope]] certain honors and privileges similar to those enjoyed by the [[King of Italy]].<ref name="God in Freedom: Studies in the Relations Between Church and State">{{cite book |last=Luzzatti |first=Luigi |title = God in Freedom: Studies in the Relations Between Church and State |year=2010 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing, LLC |isbn = 978-1-161-41509-4 |pages = 423, 424 |author2=Arbib-Costa, Alfonso }}</ref> Puyi and the imperial court were allowed to remain in the northern half of the [[Forbidden City]] (the Private Apartments) as well as in the [[Summer Palace]]. A hefty annual subsidy of four million silver [[tael]]s was granted by the Republic to the imperial household, although it was never fully paid and was abolished after just a few years. Puyi himself was not informed in February 1912 that his reign had ended and China was now a republic and continued to believe that he was still Emperor for some time.<ref>Behr, 1987 p.81-82</ref> In 1913, when the [[Empress Dowager Longyu]] died, President [[Yuan Shikai]] arrived at the Forbidden City to pay his respects, which Puyi's tutors told him meant that major changes were afoot.<ref name="Behr p. 84">Behr p. 84</ref>
Puyi soon learned that the real reasons for the Articles of Favorable Settlement was that President [[Yuan Shikai]] was planning on restoring the monarchy with himself as the Emperor of a new dynasty, and wanted to have Puyi as a sort of custodian of the Forbidden City until he could move in.<ref name="Behr p. 84-85">Behr p. 84-85</ref> Puyi first learned of Yuan's plans to become Emperor when he brought in army bands to serenade him whenever he had a meal, and he started on a decidedly imperial take on the presidency.<ref name="Behr p. 84"/> Puyi spent hours staring at the Presidential Palace across from the Forbidden City and cursed Yuan whenever he saw him come and go in his automobile.<ref name="Behr p. 84"/> Puyi loathed Yuan as a "traitor" and decided to sabotage his plans to become Emperor by hiding the Imperial Seals, only to be told by his tutors that he would just make new ones.<ref name="Behr p. 84-85"/> In 1915, Yuan proclaimed himself as emperor, but had to abdicate in the face of popular opposition.<ref>Behr p. 85</ref>
===Brief restoration (1917)===
{{see also|Manchu Restoration}}
In 1917 the warlord [[Zhang Xun (Qing loyalist)|Zhang Xun]] restored Puyi to the throne from July 1 to July 12.<ref name="Modern China: A Guide to a Century of Change">{{cite book|last=Hutchings|first=Graham|title=Modern China: A Guide to a Century of Change|year=2003|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-01240-0|page=346}}</ref> Zhang Xun ordered his army to keep their [[Queue (hairstyle)|queue]]s to display loyalty to the emperor. However, then-Premier of the Republic of China [[Duan Qirui]], ordered a [[Caudron Type D]] plane, piloted by Pan Shizhong (潘世忠) with bombardier Du Yuyuan (杜裕源) from [[Beijing Nanyuan Airport|Nanyuan airfield]] to drop three bombs over the Forbidden City as a show of force against Zhang Xun, causing the death of a eunuch, but otherwise inflicting minor damage.<ref>Stone of Heaven, Levy, Scott-Clark p 184</ref><ref>https://kknews.cc/zh-cn/military/lm6arxb.html</ref><ref>https://www.sohu.com/a/363336978_120497496</ref> This is the first aerial bombardment recorded by the [[Chinese Air Force (disambiguation)|Chinese Air Force]], and the restoration failed due to extensive opposition across China.<ref name="Science and Football III">{{cite book|last1=Bangsbo|first1=Jens|last2=Reilly |first2=Thomas |last3=Williams |first3=A. Mark |title=Science and Football III |journal=Journal of Sports Sciences|year=1996|volume=17|issue=10|pages=755–6|publisher=Taylor & Francis|doi=10.1080/026404199365489|isbn=978-0-419-22160-9|pmid=10573330}}</ref>
===Life in the Forbidden City===
Sir [[Reginald Johnston]], a Scotsman, arrived in the Forbidden City as Puyi's tutor on 3 March 1919.<ref>Behr 1987 p.97</ref> President [[Xu Shichang]] believed the monarchy would eventually be restored, and to prepare Puyi for the challenges of the modern world had hired Johnston to teach Puyi "subjects such as political science, constitutional history and English".<ref name="Li 2009 p. 113">Li 2009 p. 113</ref> Johnston was allowed only five texts in English to give Puyi to read: ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]'' and translations into English of the "[[Four Books and Five Classics|Four Great Books]]" of [[Confucianism]]; the ''[[Analects]]'', the ''[[Mencius (book)|Mencius]]'', the ''[[Great Learning]]'' and the ''[[Doctrine of the Mean]]''.<ref name="Li 2009 p. 113"/> But he disregarded the rules, and taught Puyi about world history with a special focus on British history.<ref name="Li 2009 p. 114">Li 2009 p. 114</ref> Johnston also told Puyi so much about his native Scotland that Puyi eventually expressed the desire to visit the "Scotland the Brave" that his tutor spoke of with such pride and love.<ref name="Li 2009 p. 114"/> Besides history, Johnston taught Puyi philosophy and about what he saw as the superiority of monarchies to republics.<ref name="Li 2009 p. 114"/> Puyi remembered that his tutor's piercing blue eyes "made me feel uneasy ... I found him very intimidating and studied English with him like a good boy, not daring to talk about other things when I got bored ... as I did with my other Chinese tutors".<ref>Behr 1987 p.97.</ref>
As the only person capable of controlling Puyi, Johnston had much more influence than his title of English tutor would suggest, as the eunuchs began to rely on him to steer Puyi away from his more capricious moods.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 97</ref> When the 14-year-old Puyi had some western-style clothing purchased to wear from a theater company, Johnston flew into a rage, saying that Puyi was wearing cheap clothing unworthy of an emperor, and had him buy expensive clothes from a western-style department store, saying, "If you wear clothes from a second-hand shop, you won't be a gentleman, you'll be ..."; Puyi noted he was unable to finish his sentence.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 98">Behr 1987 p. 98</ref> Under Johnston's influence, Puyi started to insist that his eunuchs address him as "Henry" and later his wife Wanrong as "Elizabeth" as Puyi began to speak "[[Chinglish]]", a mixture of Mandarin and English that became his preferred mode of speech.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 98"/> Puyi recalled of Johnston: "I thought everything about him was first-rate. He made me feel that Westerners were the most intelligent and civilized people in the world and that he was the most learned of Westerners" and that "Johnston had become the major part of my soul".<ref>Behr 1987 p. 98-99</ref> In May 1919, Puyi noticed the protests in Beijing generated by the [[May 4th movement]] as thousands of Chinese university students protested against the decision by the great powers at the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris peace conference]] to award the former German concessions in Shandong province together with the former German colony of [[Qingdao]] to Japan.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 105">Behr 1987 p. 105</ref> For Puyi, the May 4th movement, which he asked Johnston about, was a revelation as it marked the first time in his life that he noticed that people outside the Forbidden City had concerns that were not about him.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 105"/>
Puyi could not speak Manchu; he only knew a single word in the language, ''yili'' ("arise"). Despite studying Manchu for years, he admitted that it was his "worst" subject among everything he studied.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_qtgoTIAiKUC&pg=PA484&dq=arise+yili+puyi&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WbuYU7DGHcuVyASAmoA4&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=arise%20yili%20puyi&f=false Elliott 2001], p. 484.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=RZNxAAAAMAAJ&q=arise+yili+puyi&dq=arise+yili+puyi&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3LyYU8m4BYicyATQ3IK4DA&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAg Puyi & Jenner 1987], p. 56.</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ivYsAgAAQBAJ&q=arise+yili+puyi&pg=PT69|title=The Last Manchu|isbn=9781626367258|last1=Yi|first1=Henry Pu|date=2010-03-01}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=WpsMAQAAMAAJ&q=The+last+Qing+emperor+claimed+that+the+only+Manchu+phrase+he+ever+learned+to+speak+was+Hi,+%22+Arise!&dq=The+last+Qing+emperor+claimed+that+the+only+Manchu+phrase+he+ever+learned+to+speak+was+Hi,+%22+Arise!&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2mEQVISWFYXbsASOvIHoBA&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAA Elliott 1009], p. 66.</ref> According to the journalist [[Syed Mohammad Ali|S. M. Ali]], Puyi spoke Mandarin when interviewed but Ali believed he could understand English.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=0AJlAAAAMAAJ&q=puyi+spoke+mandarin&dq=puyi+spoke+mandarin&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7buYU6b0OtKNyASEyoHICA&ved=0CDwQ6AEwBA Ali & Ally & Islam 1997], p. 392.</ref> Johnston also introduced Puyi to the new technology of cinema, and Puyi was so delighted with the movies, especially [[Harold Lloyd filmography|Harold Lloyd films]], that he had a film projector installed in the Forbidden City despite the opposition of the eunuchs who disliked foreign technology in the Forbidden City.<ref>Behr, 1987 p.102</ref> Johnston was also the first to argue that Puyi needed glasses, as he was extremely near-sighted, and after much argument with Prince Chun, who thought it was undignified for an Emperor to wear glasses, finally prevailed.<ref>Behr, 1987 p.101-102</ref> Johnston, who spoke fluent Mandarin, closely followed the intellectual scene in China, and introduced Puyi to the "new-style" Chinese books and magazines, which so inspired Puyi that he wrote several poems that were published anonymously in "New China" publications.<ref>Li 2009 p. 118</ref> In 1922, Johnston had his friend, the writer [[Hu Shih]], visit the Forbidden City to teach Puyi about recent developments in Chinese literature.<ref>Li 2009 p. 120</ref> Under Johnston's influence, Puyi embraced the bicycle as a way to exercise, cut his queue and grew a full head of hair, and wanted to go to study at Oxford, Johnston's ''alma mater''.<ref name="Li 2009 p.117">Li 2009 p. 117</ref> Johnston also introduced Puyi to the telephone, which Puyi soon became addicted to, phoning people in Beijing at random just to hear their voices on the other end.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 100</ref> Johnston also pressured Puyi to cut down on the waste and extravagance in the Forbidden City, noting that all the eunuchs had to be fed.<ref>Behr 1987 p 92</ref> Johnston convinced Puyi that he could open doors for himself and did not need eunuchs standing idly all the time by the main doors of the palaces just to open them if he should happen along.<ref>Behr 1987 p 92.</ref> Puyi cut off his queue so he would look like a Western gentleman and under Johnston's advice embraced the bicycle as the best way to move about in the Forbidden City, retaining a lifelong enthusiasm for cycling, though it is doubtful that the eunuchs working as gardeners much appreciated Puyi's habit of riding through the flowers.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 99-100</ref>
===Marriage===
In March 1922, the Dowager Consorts decided that Puyi should be married, and gave him a selection of photographs of aristocratic teenage girls to choose from.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 107</ref> Puyi chose [[Wenxiu]] as his wife, but was told that she was acceptable only as a [[concubine]], so he would have to choose again.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 107-108</ref> Puyi then chose [[Gobulo Wanrong]], the daughter of one of Manchuria's richest aristocrats, who had been educated in English by American missionaries in Tianjin, who was considered to be an acceptable empress by the Dowager Consorts.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 108">Behr 1987 p. 108</ref> On 15 March 1922, the betrothal of Puyi and Wanrong was announced in the newspapers. On 17 March, Wanrong took the train to Beijing, and on 6 April, Puyi went to the Qing family shrine to inform his ancestors that he would be married to her later that year.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 108"/> Puyi did not meet Wanrong until their wedding.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 108"/>
In an interview in 1986, Prince Pujie told Behr: "Puyi constantly talked about going to England and becoming an Oxford student, like Johnston."<ref>Behr 1987 p.108-109</ref> On 4 June 1922, Puyi attempted to escape from the Forbidden City, having decided that he wanted to go to study at Oxford, and planned to issue an open letter to "the people of China" renouncing the title of Emperor before leaving for Oxford.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 109">Behr 1987 p. 109</ref> The escape attempt failed when Johnston vetoed it and refused to call a taxi, and Puyi was too frightened to live on the streets of Beijing on his own.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 109-110</ref> Pujie said of Puyi's escape attempt: "Puyi's decision had nothing to do with the impending marriage. He felt cooped up, and wanted out."<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 109"/> Johnston later recounted his time as Puyi's tutor between 1919 and 1924 in his 1934 book ''Twilight in the Forbidden City'', one of the main sources of information about Puyi's life in this period, though Behr cautioned that Johnston painted an idealised picture of Puyi, avoiding all mention of Puyi's sexuality, merely average academic ability, erratic mood swings, and eunuch-flogging.<ref>Behr 1987 p 91-95</ref> Pujie told Behr of Puyi's moods: "When he was in a good mood, everything was fine, and he was a charming companion. If something upset him, his dark side would emerge."<ref>Behr 1987 p 102</ref>
On 21 October 1922, Puyi's wedding to Princess Wanrong began with the "betrothal presents" of 18 sheep, 2 horses, 40 pieces of satin, and 80 rolls of cloth, marched from the Forbidden City to Wanrong's house, accompanied by court musicians and cavalry.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 111</ref> Following Manchu traditions where weddings were conducted under moonlight for good luck, an enormous procession of palace guardsmen, eunuchs, and musicians carried the Princess Wanrong in a red sedan chair called the Phoenix Chair from her house to the Forbidden City under a full moon.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 112">Behr 1987 p. 112</ref> Wanrong was taken to the Palace of Earthly Peace within the Forbidden City, where Puyi sat upon the Dragon Throne and Wanrong kowtowed to him six times to symbolize her submission to her husband.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 112"/>
Wanrong wore a mask in accordance with Chinese tradition and Puyi, who knew nothing of women, remembered: "I hardly thought about marriage and family. It was only when the Empress came into my field of vision with a crimson satin cloth embroidered with a dragon and a phoenix over her head that I felt at all curious about what she looked like."<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 113">Behr 1987 p. 113</ref> After the wedding was complete, Puyi, Wanrong, and his secondary consort Wenxiu (whom he married the same night) went to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, where everything was red – the color of love and sex in China – and where emperors had traditionally consummated their marriages.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 113"/> Puyi, who was sexually inexperienced and timid, fled from the bridal chamber, leaving his wives to sleep in the Dragon Bed by themselves.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.114">Behr 1987 p.114</ref> Of Puyi's failure to consummate his marriage on his wedding night, Behr wrote:
<blockquote>It was perhaps too much to expect an adolescent, permanently surrounded by eunuchs, to show the sexual maturity of a normal seventeen-year-old. Neither the Dowager consorts nor Johnston himself had given him any advice on sexual matters – this sort of thing simply was not done, where emperors were concerned: it would have been an appalling breach of protocol. But the fact remains that a totally inexperienced, over-sheltered adolescent, if normal, could hardly have failed to be aroused by Wan Jung's [Wanrong's] unusual, sensual beauty. The inference is, of course, that Pu Yi was either impotent, extraordinarily immature sexually, or already aware of his homosexual tendencies.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.114"/></blockquote>
Wanrong's younger brother Rong Qi remembered how Puyi and Wanrong, both teenagers, loved to race their bicycles through the Forbidden City, forcing eunuchs to get out of the way, and told Behr in an interview: "There was a lot of laughter, she and Puyi seemed to get on well, they were like kids together."<ref>Behr 1987 p.115</ref> In 1986, Behr interviewed one of Puyi's two surviving eunuchs, an 85-year-old man who was reluctant to answer the questions asked of him, but finally said of Puyi's relationship with Wanrong: "The Emperor would come over to the nuptial apartments once every three months and spend the night there ... He leave early in the morning on the following day and for the rest of that day he would invariably be in a very filthy temper indeed."<ref>Behr 1987 p.115-116</ref>
Puyi rarely left the Forbidden City, knew nothing of the lives of ordinary Chinese people, and was somewhat misled by Johnston, who told him that the vast majority of the Chinese wanted a Qing restoration.<ref name="Li 2009 p.117" /> Johnston, a Sinophile scholar and a romantic conservative with an instinctive preference for monarchies, believed that China needed a benevolent autocrat to guide the country forward.<ref name="Li 2009 p.117"/> He was enough of a traditionalist to respect that all major events in the Forbidden City were determined by the court astrologers.<ref>Behr 1987 p 94.</ref> Johnston disparaged the superficially Westernized Chinese republican elite who dressed in top hats, frock coats, and business suits as inauthentically Chinese and praised to Puyi the Confucian scholars with their traditional robes as the ones who were authentically Chinese.<ref name="Li 2009 p.117"/>
As part of an effort to crack down on corruption by the eunuchs inspired by Johnston, Puyi ordered an inventory of the Forbidden City's treasures, which caused the Hall of Supreme Harmony to go up in flames in a case of arson on the night of 26 June 1923, as the eunuchs tried to cover up the extent of their theft.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 121">Behr 1987 p. 121</ref> Johnston reported that the next day he "found the Emperor and Empress standing on a heap of charred wood, sadly contemplating the spectacle".<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 121"/> The treasures reported lost in the fire included 2,685 golden statues of Lord Buddha, 1,675 golden altar ornaments, 435 porcelain antiques, and 31 boxes of sable furs, though it is likely that most if not all of these had been sold on the black market before the fire.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 122</ref>
Puyi finally decided to expel all of the eunuchs from the Forbidden City to end the problem of theft, only agreeing to keep 50 after the Dowager Consorts complained that they could not function without them.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 122-123</ref> After expelling the eunuchs, Puyi turned the grounds where the Hall of Supreme Harmony had once stood into a tennis court, as he and Wanrong loved to play.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 123">Behr 1987 p. 123</ref> Wanrong's brother Rong Qi recalled: "But after the eunuchs went, many of the palaces inside the Forbidden City were closed down, and the place took on a desolate, abandoned air."<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 123"/> After the [[1923 Great Kantō earthquake|Great Kantō earthquake]] on 1 September 1923 destroyed the cities of Tokyo and Yokohama, Puyi donated jade antiques worth some £33,000 to pay for disaster relief, which led a delegation of Japanese diplomats to visit the Forbidden City to express their thanks.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 124.</ref> In their report about the visit, the diplomats noted that Puyi was highly vain and malleable, and could be used by Japan, which marked the beginning of Japanese interest in Puyi.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 124</ref>
===Expulsion from the Forbidden City (1924)===
On October 23, 1924, a [[Beijing Coup|coup]] led by the warlord [[Feng Yuxiang]] took control of Beijing. Feng, the latest of the warlords to take Beijing, was seeking legitimacy and decided that abolishing the unpopular Articles of Favorable Settlement was an easy way to win the crowd's approval.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.129">Behr 1987 p.129</ref> Feng unilaterally revised the "Articles of Favourable Treatment" on November 5, 1924, abolishing Puyi's imperial title and privileges and reducing him to a private citizen of the Republic of China. Puyi was expelled from the [[Forbidden City]] the same day.<ref name="Pioneers of Modern China: Understanding the Inscrutable Chinese">{{cite book|last=Choy|first=Lee Khoon|title=Pioneers of Modern China: Understanding the Inscrutable Chinese|year=2005|publisher=World Scientific Publishing Company|isbn=978-981-256-464-1|pages=350–353}}</ref> He was given three hours to leave.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.129"/> He spent a few days [[Prince Chun Mansion|at the house]] of his father [[Zaifeng, Prince Chun|Prince Chun]], and then temporarily resided in the Japanese embassy in Beijing.<ref name="Henry Pu Yi"/> Puyi left his father's house together with Johnston and his chief servant Big Li without informing Prince Chun's servants, who followed them in another car while two policemen joined on the sides of Puyi's car, leading to a wild car chase through Beijing as Puyi's chauffeur tried to lose the servants' car before Puyi was able to slip into a jewelry store and into a carriage that took him to the Japanese legation.<ref>Behr 1987 p.147-148</ref> Puyi had originally wanted to go to the British Legation, but the Japanophile Johnston had insisted that he would be safer with the Japanese.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.149">Behr 1987 p.149</ref> For Johnston, the Japanese system where the Japanese people worshipped their emperor as a living god was much closer to his ideal political system than the British system of a constitutional monarchy, and he constantly steered Puyi in a pro-Japanese direction.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.149"/> Puyi's adviser [[Lu Zongyu]], who was secretly working for the Japanese, suggested that Puyi move to Tianjin, which he argued was safer than Beijing, though the real reason was that the Japanese felt that Puyi would be easier to control in Tianjin without the embarrassment of having him live in the Japanese Legation, which was straining relations with China.<ref>Behr 1987 p.153-155</ref> On 23 February 1925, Puyi left Beijing for Tianjin wearing a simple Chinese gown and skullcap as he was afraid of being robbed on the train.<ref>Behr 1987 p.154-155</ref>
===Residence in Tianjin (1925–1931)===
[[File:Jing yuan mansion tianjin.jpg|thumb|right|Garden of Serenity in Tianjin]]
In February 1925, Puyi moved to the [[Concessions in Tianjin|Japanese Concession]] of [[Tianjin]], first into the Zhang Garden (張園),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visitourchina.com/guide/quietness_garden.htm|title=Quietness Garden|work=visitourchina.com}}</ref> and in 1927 into the former residence of [[Lu Zongyu]] known as the Garden of Serenity ({{zh|p=jìng yuán|s=静园|t=靜園}}).<ref name="Hygienic Modernity: Meanings of Health and Disease in Treaty-Port China">{{cite book|last=Rogaski|first=Ruth|title=Hygienic Modernity: Meanings of Health and Disease in Treaty-Port China|url=https://archive.org/details/hygienicmodernit0000roga|url-access=registration|year=2004|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-24001-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/hygienicmodernit0000roga/page/262 262]}}</ref> A British journalist, Henry Woodhead, called Puyi's court a "doggy paradise" as both Puyi and Wanrong were dog lovers who owned several very spoiled dogs while Puyi's courtiers spent an inordinate amount of time feuding with one another.<ref>Behr 1987 p.157-158</ref> Woodhead stated that the only people who seemed to get along at Puyi's court were Wanrong and Wenxiu, who were "like sisters".<ref>Behr 1987 p.158</ref> Tianjin was, after Shanghai, the most cosmopolitan Chinese city, with large British, French, German, Russian and Japanese communities. As an emperor, Puyi was allowed to join several social clubs that normally only admitted whites.<ref>Behr 1987 p.155-159</ref> During this period, Puyi and his advisers [[Chen Baochen]], [[Zheng Xiaoxu]], and [[Luo Zhenyu]] discussed plans to restore Puyi as Emperor. Zheng and Luo favoured enlisting assistance from external parties, while Chen opposed the idea. In June 1925, the warlord [[Zhang Zuolin]] visited Tianjin to meet Puyi.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.160">Behr 1987 p.160</ref> "Old Marshal" Zhang, an illiterate former bandit, ruled Manchuria, a region equal in size to Germany and France combined, which had a population of 30 million and was the most industrialized region in China. Zhang kowtowed to Puyi at their meeting and promised to restore the House of Qing if Puyi made a large financial donation to his army.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.160"/> As Zhang walked with Puyi to his car at end of their meeting, he noticed a Japanese spy who had followed Puyi and said in a very loud voice, "If those Japanese lay a finger on you, let me know and I'll sort them out", which was Zhang's way of warning Puyi in a "roundabout way" not to trust his Japanese friends.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.161">Behr 1987 p.161</ref> Zhang fought in the pay of the Japanese, but by this time his relations with the [[Kwantung Army]] were becoming strained. In June 1927, Zhang captured Beijing and Behr observed that if Puyi had had more courage and returned to Beijing, he might have been restored to the Dragon Throne.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.161"/>
Puyi's court was prone to factionalism and his advisers were urging him to back different warlords, which gave him a reputation for duplicity as he negotiated with various warlords, which strained his relations with Marshal Zhang.<ref>Behr 1987 p.161-162</ref> At various times, Puyi met General [[Zhang Zongchang]], the "Dogmeat General", and the Russian ''émigré'' General [[Grigory Mikhaylovich Semyonov|Grigory Semyonov]] at his Tianjin house; both of them promised to restore him to the Dragon Throne if he gave them enough money, and both of them kept all the money he gave them for themselves.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.162">Behr 1987 p.162</ref> Puyi remembered Zhang as "a universally detested monster" with a face bloated and "tinged with the livid hue induced by opium smoking".<ref>Fenby 2004 p.102.</ref> Semyonov in particular proved himself to be a talented con man, claiming as an ''ataman'' to have several Cossack Hosts under his command, to have 300 million roubles in the bank, and to be supported by American, British, and Japanese banks in his plans to restore both the House of Qing in China and the House of Romanov in Russia.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.162"/> Semyonov claimed that he was only asking for Puyi's financial support because of a temporary cash flow problem, and promised that once his Cossacks took Beijing he would repay all the money Puyi loaned him.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.162"/> Puyi gave Semyonov a loan of 5,000 British pounds, which Semyonov never repaid.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.162"/> Another visitor to the Garden of Serenity was General [[Kenji Doihara]], a Japanese Army officer who was fluent in Mandarin and a man of great charm who manipulated Puyi via flattery, telling him that a great man such as himself should go conquer Manchuria and then, just as his Qing ancestors did in the 17th century, use Manchuria as a base for conquering China.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 179</ref>
In 1928, during the [[Northern Expedition|Great Northern Expedition]] to reunify China, troops loyal to a warlord allied with the Kuomintang [[Looting of the Eastern Mausoleum|sacked the Qing tombs]] outside of Beijing after the [[Kuomintang]] and its allies took Beijing from the army of Marshal Zhang who retreated back to Manchuria.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.167-168">Behr 1987 p.167-168</ref> The news that the Qing tombs had been plundered and the corpse of the Dowager Empress Cixi had been desecrated greatly offended Puyi, who never forgave the Kuomintang as he held [[Chiang Kai-shek]] personally responsible for the sacking of the Qing tombs; the sacking also showed his powerlessness.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.167-168"/> During his time in Tianjin, Puyi was besieged with visitors asking him for money, including various members of the vast Qing family, old Manchu bannermen, journalists prepared to write articles calling for a Qing restoration for the right price, and eunuchs who had once lived in the Forbidden City and were now living in poverty.<ref>Behr 1987 p 174.</ref> Puyi himself was often bored with his life, and engaged in maniacal shopping to compensate, recalling that he was addicted to "buying pianos, watches, clocks, radios, Western clothes, leather shoes, and spectacles".<ref>Behr 1987 p 175.</ref>
Puyi's first wife Wanrong began to smoke opium during this period, which Puyi encouraged as he found her more "manageable" when she was in an opium daze.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.176">Behr 1987 p.176</ref> His marriage to Wanrong began to fall apart as they spent more and more time apart, meeting only at mealtimes.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.176"/> Wanrong complained that her life as an "empress" was extremely dull as the rules for an empress forbade her from going out dancing as she wanted, instead forcing her to spend her days in traditional rituals that she found to be meaningless, all the more so as China was a republic and her title of empress was symbolic only.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.176"/> The westernized Wanrong loved to go out dancing, play tennis, wear western clothes and make-up, listen to jazz music, and to socialize with her friends, which the more conservative courtiers all objected to.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.176"/> She resented having to play the traditional role of a Chinese empress, but was unwilling to break with Puyi.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.176"/> Puyi's butler was secretly a Japanese spy, and in a report to his masters described Puyi and Wanrong one day spending hours screaming at one another in the gardens with Wanrong repeatedly calling Puyi a "eunuch"; whether she meant that as a reference to sexual inadequacy is unclear.<ref>Behr 1987 p.176-177</ref> In 1928, Puyi's concubine [[Wenxiu]] declared that she had had enough of him and his court and simply walked out, filing for divorce.<ref>Behr 1987 p.177</ref> After Wenxiu left, a regular visitor to the court was Puyi's cousin [[Yoshiko Kawashima|Eastern Jewel]], described by Tunzelmann as "... an urbane leather-clad cross-dressing spy princess".<ref name="Tunzelmann"/>
===Captive in Manchuria (1931–1932)===
In September 1931 Puyi sent a letter to [[Jirō Minami]], the Japanese Minister of War, expressing his desire to be restored to the throne.<ref name="Two Homelands"/> On the night of 18 September 1931, the [[Mukden Incident]] began when the Kwantung Army blew up a section of railroad belonging to the Japanese-owned [[South Manchuria Railway|South Manchurian Railroad company]], which was blamed on the warlord Marshal [[Zhang Xueliang]], the "Young Marshal" who took over Manchuria in 1928 when his father, the "Old Marshal", was assassinated by the Kwantung Army.<ref>Behr 1987 p.181</ref> Using this incident as an excuse, the Kwantung Army began a general offensive with the aim of conquering all of Manchuria with heavy artillery being used to blast Zhang's barracks in Mukden.<ref>Behr 1987 p.182</ref> Puyi was visited by [[Kenji Doihara]], head of the espionage office of the Japanese [[Kwantung Army]], who proposed establishing Puyi as head of a Manchurian state.
The Empress Wanrong was firmly against Puyi's plans to go to Manchuria, which she called treason, and for a moment Puyi hesitated, leading Doihara to send for Puyi's cousin, the very pro-Japanese [[Yoshiko Kawashima|Eastern Jewel]], to visit him to change his mind.<ref name="Behr p. 190-191">Behr p. 190-191</ref> Eastern Jewel, a strong-willed, flamboyant, openly bisexual woman noted for her habit of wearing male clothing and uniforms, had much influence on Puyi.<ref name="Behr p. 190-191"/> In the [[Tientsin Incident (1931)|Tientsin Incident]] during November 1931, Puyi and Zheng Xiaoxu traveled to Manchuria to complete plans for the puppet state of [[Manchukuo]]. Puyi left his house in Tianjin by hiding in the trunk of a car.<ref>Behr 1987. p.192.</ref> The Chinese government ordered his arrest for treason, but was unable to breach the Japanese protection.<ref name="Henry Pu Yi"/> Puyi boarded a Japanese ship, the ''Awaji Maru'', that took him across the East China Sea, and when he landed in Port Arthur (modern Lüshun) the next day, he was greeted by the man who was to become his minder, General [[Masahiko Amakasu]], who escorted him to the train that took them to a resort owned by the South Manchurian Railroad company.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.193">Behr 1987 p.193</ref> Amakasu was a fearsome man who told Puyi how in the [[Amakasu Incident]] of 1923 he had the feminist [[Noe Itō]], her lover the anarchist [[Sakae Ōsugi]], and a six-year-old boy, Munekazu Tachibana, who happened to be there, strangled to death as they were "enemies of the Emperor", and he likewise would kill Puyi if he should prove to be an "enemy of the Emperor".<ref name="Behr 1987 p.193"/> The American historian Louise Young described Amakasu as a "sadistic" man who enjoyed torturing and killing people.<ref>Young 1998 p. 16.</ref> Behr commented that Amakasu's boasting about killing a six-year-old boy should have enlightened Puyi about the sort of people he had just allied himself with.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.193"/> Chen Baochen returned to [[Beijing]], where he died in 1935.<ref name="Political Leaders of Modern China: A Biographical Dictionary">{{cite book|last=Leung|first=Edwin Pak-Wah|title=Political Leaders of Modern China: A Biographical Dictionary |year=2002 |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0-313-30216-9|pages=10,127,128}}</ref>
Once he arrived in Manchuria, Puyi discovered that he was a prisoner and was not allowed outside the Yamato Hotel, ostensibly to protect him from assassination.<ref>Behr 1987 p.194</ref> Wanrong had stayed in Tianjin, and remained opposed to Puyi's decision to work with the Japanese, requiring her friend Eastern Jewel to visit numerous times to convince her to go to Manchuria.<ref>Behr 1987 p.195-196</ref> Behr commented that if Wanrong had been a stronger woman, she might have remained in Tianjin and filed for divorce, but ultimately she accepted Eastern Jewel's argument that it was her duty as a wife to follow her husband, and six weeks after the Tientsin incident, she too crossed the East China Sea to Port Arthur with Eastern Jewel to keep her company.<ref>Behr 1987 p.196</ref>
In early 1932, General [[Seishirō Itagaki]] informed Puyi that the new state was to be a republic with him as Chief Executive; the capital was to be Changchun; his form of address was to be "Your Excellency", not "Your Imperial Majesty"; and there were to be no references to Puyi ruling with the "[[Mandate of Heaven]]", all of which displeased Puyi.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.198-199">Behr 1987 p.198-199</ref> The suggestion that Manchukuo was to be based on popular sovereignty with the 34 million people of Manchuria "asking" that Puyi rule over them was completely contrary to Puyi's ideas about his right to rule by the Mandate of Heaven.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.198-199"/> The Lytton Commission appointed by the League of Nations was due to arrive in Manchuria soon to examine the Chinese complaint made to the League Council that Japan had committed aggression by seizing Manchuria, and presenting Manchukuo as an exercise in Wilsonian self-determination was calculated by the Kwantung Army to appeal better than archaic arguments about the Mandate of Heaven.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.199">Behr 1987 p.199</ref> Furthermore, the Japanese were fearful of international isolation, and contended that they had not violated the [[Nine-Power Treaty]] of 1922 because the Kwantung Army had supposedly responded to the demands of the local people to break away from China.<ref name="auto">Iriye, 1987 p. 17.</ref> The United States had already announced the [[Stimson Doctrine]] of refusing to "recognize any treaty or agreement" that Japan might impose on China which "may be brought about by means contrary to the covenants and obligations of the Pact of Paris [the [[Kellogg–Briand Pact]]]".<ref>Iriye, 1987 p. 16.</ref> The Japanese contention was that China "was not an organized state" but instead a lawless region ruled by warlords; Japan would observe all of its treaty commitments, but would react if the local people asked for Japanese help.<ref>Iriye, 1987 p. 16-17.</ref> The Japanese historian [[Akira Iriye]] wrote that this argument about self-determination and freedom for the people of Manchuria was meant to make "an egregious violation of China's territorial and administrative integrity ... compatible with the Washington treaties".<ref name="auto"/>
Itagaki suggested to Puyi that in a few years Manchukuo might become a monarchy and that Manchuria was just the beginning, as Japan had ambitions to take all of China; the obvious implication was that Puyi would become the Great Qing Emperor again.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.198-199"/> When Puyi objected to Itagaki's plans, he was told that he was in no position to negotiate as Itagaki had no interest in his opinions on these issues.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.199"/> Unlike Doihara, who was always very polite and constantly stroked Puyi's ego, Itagaki was brutally rude and brusque, addressing Puyi like he was barking out orders to a particularly dim-witted common soldier.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.199"/> Itagaki had promised Puyi's chief adviser [[Zheng Xiaoxu]] that he would be the Manchukuo prime minister, an offer that appealed to his vanity enough that he persuaded Puyi to accept the Japanese terms, telling him that Manchukuo would soon become a monarchy and history would repeat itself, as Puyi would conquer the rest of China from his Manchurian base just as the Qing did in 1644.<ref name="Behr 1987 p.199"/> In Japanese propaganda, Puyi was always celebrated both in traditionalist terms as a Confucian "Sage King" out to restore virtue and as a revolutionary who would end the oppression of the common people by a program of wholesale modernization.<ref>Young 1998 p.286</ref>
===Puppet ruler of Manchukuo (1932–1945)===
{{Infobox royal styles
|royal name = Kangde Emperor
|dipstyle = [[His Imperial Majesty]]
|offstyle = Your Imperial Majesty
|image = Flag of the Emperor of Manchukuo.svg
}}
On the night of 24 February 1932, when Puyi accepted the offer to be [[Chief Executive of Manchukuo]], a party was thrown with [[Geisha|''geishas'']] imported for the celebration, during which Itagaki become very drunk, and forgetting that the ''geisha'' are entertainers, not prostitutes, made outrageous sexual advances toward them, fondling their breasts and vaginas and telling Puyi that as a general he could do anything he wanted to them.<ref name="auto1">Behr 1987 p.212</ref> During the party, while Itagaki boasted to Puyi that now was a great time to be a Japanese man, Puyi was much offended when none of the ''geisha'' knew who he was.<ref name="auto1"/>
On 1 March 1932, the Japanese installed Puyi as the Chief Executive of Manchukuo, a [[puppet state]] of the [[Empire of Japan]], under the [[Chinese era name|reign title]] '''Datong''' ([[Wade-Giles]]: '''Ta-tung'''; 大同). One contemporary commentator, [[Wen Yuan-ning]], quipped that Puyi had now achieved the dubious distinction of having been "made emperor three times without knowing why and apparently without relishing it."<ref>Wen Yuan-ning, "Emperor Malgré Lui", in Wen Yuan-ning and others, ''Imperfect Understanding: Intimate Portraits of Modern Chinese Celebrities'', edited by Christopher Rea. Amherst, NY: Cambria Press, 2018, p. 117.</ref>
Puyi believed [[Manchukuo]] was just the beginning, and that within a few years he would again reign as [[Emperor of China]], having the yellow imperial dragon robes used for coronation of Qing emperors brought from Beijing to [[Changchun]].<ref>Behr 1987 p 225-227</ref> At the time, [[Propaganda in Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II|Japanese propaganda]] depicted the birth of Manchukuo as a triumph of [[Pan-Asianism]], with the "[[Five Races Under One Union (Manchukuo)|five races]]" of Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Manchus, and Mongols coming together, which marked nothing less than the birth of a new civilization and a turning point in world history.<ref>Behr 1987 p.218</ref> A press statement issued on 1 March 1932 stated: "The glorious advent of Manchukuo with the eyes of the world turned on it was an epochal event of far-reaching consequence in world history, marking the birth of a new era in government, racial relations, and other affairs of general interest. Never in the chronicles of the human race was any State born with such high ideals, and never has any State accomplished so much in such a brief space of its existence as Manchukuo".<ref>Behr 1987 p. 218</ref>
On 8 March 1932, Puyi made his ceremonial entry into Changchun, sharing his car with Zheng, who was beaming with joy, Amakasu, whose expression was stern as usual, and Wanrong, who looked miserable.<ref>Behr 1987 p.213</ref>
Puyi also noted he was "too preoccupied with my hopes and hates" to realize the "cold comfort that the Changchun citizens, silent from terror and hatred, were giving me".<ref>Behr 1987 p.214</ref> Puyi's friend, the British journalist Woodhead, who covered his arrival in Manchuria, wrote, "outside official circles, I met no Chinese who felt any enthusiasm for the new regime", and that the city of Harbin was being terrorized by Chinese and Russian gangsters working for the Japanese, making Harbin "lawless ... even its main street unsafe after dark".<ref>Behr 1987 p.215</ref> In an interview with Woodhead, Puyi said he planned to govern Manchukuo "in the Confucian spirit" and that he was "perfectly happy" with his new position.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 225</ref> [[Luigi Barzini Jr.|Luigi Barzini]], an Italian journalist from the ''[[Corriere della Sera]]'' newspaper, wrote: "I was unable to interview this pale, tired prince who doesn't like to talk, who is always plunged in his meditations and who maybe regrets his life as a simple, studious citizen. He has a fixed stare behind his black-framed glasses. When we were introduced, he responded with a friendly nod. But his smile lasted only a second. We could only await the word of the Master of Ceremonies to give us permission to bow ourselves out. A Japanese colonel, our guide, showed us the triumphal arches, the electric light decorations and endless flags. But all this, say the shopkeepers, is 'made in Osaka'".<ref>Behr 1987 p. 217</ref>
On 20 April 1932, the Lytton Commission arrived in Manchuria to begin its investigation of whether Japan had committed aggression.<ref>Behr 1987 p 218</ref> Puyi was interviewed by [[Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton|Lord Lytton]], and recalled thinking that he desperately wanted to ask Lytton for political asylum in Britain, but as General Itagaki was sitting right next to him at the meeting, he told Lytton that "the masses of the people had begged me to come, that my stay here was absolutely voluntary and free".<ref>Behr 1987 p 219-220.</ref> After the interview, Itagaki told Puyi: "Your Excellency's manner was perfect; you spoke beautifully".<ref>Behr 1987 p 220.</ref> The diplomat [[Wellington Koo]], who was attached to the Lytton Commission as its Chinese assessor, received a secret message saying "... a representative of the imperial household in Changchun wanted to see me and had a confidential message for me".<ref>Behr 1987 p 223</ref> The representative, posing as an antique dealer, "... told me he was sent by the Empress: She wanted me to help her escape from Changchun. He said she found life miserable there because she was surrounded in her house by Japanese maids. Every movement of hers was watched and reported".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 223">Behr 1987 p 223.</ref> Koo said he was "touched" but could do nothing to help Wanrong escape, which her brother Rong Qi said was the "final blow" to her, leading her into a downward spiral.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 223"/> Right from the start, the Japanese occupation had sparked much resistance by guerrillas, whom the Kwantung Army called "bandits". General Doihara was able in exchange for a multi-million bribe to get one of the more prominent guerrilla leaders, the Hui Muslim general [[Ma Zhanshan]], to accept Japanese rule, and had Puyi appoint him Defense Minister.<ref name="auto2">Behr 1987 p.226.</ref> Much to the intense chagrin of Puyi and his Japanese masters, Ma's defection turned to be a ruse, and only months after Puyi appointed him Defense Minister, Ma took his troops over the border to the Soviet Union to continue the struggle against the Japanese.<ref name="auto2"/>
[[File:伪满皇帝溥仪颁发的即位诏书。伪满皇宫博物院.jpg|thumb|Pu Yi's edict of ascending the throne]]
The [[Hirohito|Emperor Shōwa]] wanted to see if Puyi was reliable before giving him an imperial title, and it was not until October 1933 that General Doihara told him he was to be an emperor again, causing Puyi to go, in his own words, "wild with joy", though he was disappointed that he was not given back his old title of "Great Qing Emperor".<ref>Behr 1987 p 226-227</ref> At the same time, Doihara informed Puyi that "the Emperor [of Japan] is your father and is represented in Manchukuo as the Kwantung army which must be obeyed like a father".<ref>Behr 1987 p 227</ref> Right from the start, Manchukuo was infamous for its high crime rate, as Japanese-sponsored gangs of Chinese, Korean, and Russian gangsters fought one another for the control of Manchukuo's opium houses, brothels, and gambling dens, with the Russian gangs having a particular interest in going after Jewish businessmen in Manchukuo for extortion and kidnapping.<ref>Stephen, 1978 p.64-65 & 78–79.</ref> There were nine different Japanese or Japanese-sponsored police/intelligence agencies operating in Manchukuo, who were all told by Tokyo that Japan was a poor country and that they were to pay for their own operations by engaging in organized crime.<ref>Stephen, 1978 p.64-65.</ref> The Italian adventurer [[Amleto Vespa]] remembered that General [[Kenji Doihara]] told him Manchuria was going to have to pay for its own exploitation.<ref>Behr 1987 p.207</ref> In 1933, [[Simon Kaspé]], a French Jewish pianist visiting his father in Manchukuo, who owned a hotel in Harbin, was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by an anti-Semitic gang from the [[Russian Fascist Party]]. The Kaspé case became an international ''cause célèbre'', attracting much media attention around the world, ultimately leading to two trials in Harbin in 1935 and 1936, as the evidence that the Russian fascist gang who had killed Kaspé was working for the ''[[Kempeitai]]'', the military police of the [[Imperial Japanese Army]], had become too strong for even Tokyo to ignore.<ref name="auto3">Stephan, 1978 p.166</ref> In Asia, the rule of law is seen as one of the marks of "civilization", which is why the Japanese and Manchukuo media had spent so much time disparaging the chaotic and corrupt legal system run by the "Young Marshal", [[Zhang Xueliang]]; Puyi was portrayed as having (with a little help from the Kwantung Army) saved the people from the chaos of rule by the Zhang family.<ref name="auto4">Dubois 2008 p.306.</ref> Manchukuo's high crime rate, and the much publicized Kaspé case, made a mockery of the claim that Puyi had saved the people of Manchuria from a lawless and violent regime.<ref name="auto4"/>
[[File:Manchukuo Enthronement Medal.jpg|thumb|150px|Manchukuo Enthronement Commemorative Medal]]
On 1 March 1934 he was crowned [[Emperor of Manchukuo]], under the reign title '''Kangde''' (Wade–Giles: '''Kang-te'''; 康德) in Changchun. A sign of the true rulers of Manchukuo was the presence of General [[Masahiko Amakasu]] during the coronation; ostensibly there as the film director to record the coronation, Amakasu served as Puyi's minder, keeping a careful watch on him to prevent him from going off script.<ref>Behr 1987 p 213.</ref> Wanrong was excluded from the coronation: her addiction to opium, anti-Japanese feelings, dislike of Puyi, and growing reputation for being "difficult" and unpredictable led Amakasu to the conclusion that she could not be trusted to stay on script.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 228">Behr 1987 p 228.</ref> Though submissive in public to the Japanese, Puyi was constantly at odds with them in private. He resented being "Head of State" and then "Emperor of Manchukuo" rather than being fully restored as a Qing Emperor. At his enthronement, he clashed with Japan over dress; they wanted him to wear a Manchukuo-style uniform whereas he considered it an insult to wear anything but traditional Manchu robes. In a typical compromise, he wore a Western military uniform to his enthronement<ref>Pu Yi 1988, p 275</ref> (the only Chinese emperor ever to do so) and a dragon robe to the announcement of his accession at the [[Temple of Heaven]].<ref>Pu Yi 1988, p 276</ref> Puyi was driven to his coronation in a Lincoln limousine with bulletproof windows followed by nine Packards, and during his coronation scrolls were read out while sacred wine bottles were opened for the guests to celebrate the beginning of a "Reign of Tranquility and Virtue".<ref>Fenby 2004 p.243</ref> The invitations for the coronation were issued by the Kwantung Army and 70% of those who attended Puyi's coronation were Japanese.<ref>Behr 1987 p.228.</ref>
The Japanese chose as the capital of Manchukuo the industrial city of [[Changchun]], which was renamed Hsinking. Puyi had wanted the capital to be Mukden (modern [[Shenyang]]), which had been the Qing capital before the [[Qing conquest of the Ming|Qing conquered China]] in 1644, but was overruled by his Japanese masters.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 214">Behr 1987 p 214.</ref> Puyi hated Hsinking, which he regarded as an undistinguished industrial city that lacked the historical connections with the Qing that Mukden had.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 214"/> As there was no palace in Changchun, Puyi moved into what had once been the office of the Salt Tax Administration during the Russian period, and as result, the building was known as Salt Tax Palace, which is now the [[Museum of the Imperial Palace of the Manchu State]].<ref name="Behr 1987 p 214"/> Puyi lived as a virtual prisoner in Salt Tax Palace, which was heavily guarded by Japanese troops, and could not leave without permission.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 253">Behr 1987 p 253.</ref> Shortly after Puyi's coronation, Prince Chun arrived at the Hsinking railroad station for a visit, and this time Wanrong promised to behave as no Japanese were involved in the ceremonies, and thus she was allowed out of Salt Tax Palace.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 228"/> As Prince Chun got off the train, the [[Manchukuo Imperial Guards]] were there to greet him while Puyi was dressed in his uniform as commander-in-chief, wearing Japanese, Chinese, and Manchukuo decorations while Wanrong wore the traditional dress of a Chinese empress and kowtowed to her father-in-law.<ref>Behr 1987 p 228-229.</ref>
Prince Chun told his son that he was an idiot if he really believed that the Japanese were going to restore him to the Dragon Throne, and warned him that he was just being used.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 229">Behr 1987 p 229.</ref>
The Japanese embassy issued a note of diplomatic protest at the welcome extended to Prince Chun, stating that the Hsinking railroad station was under the Kwantung Army's control, that only Japanese soldiers were allowed there, and that they would not tolerate the Manchukuo imperial guard being used to welcome visitors at the Hsinking railroad station again.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 229"/> In this period, Puyi frequently visited the provinces of Manchukuo to open factories and mines, took part in the birthday celebrations for the Showa Emperor at Kwantung Army headquarters and, on the Japanese holiday of Memorial Day, formally paid his respects with Japanese rituals to the souls of the Japanese soldiers killed fighting the "bandits" (as the Japanese called all the guerrillas fighting against their rule of Manchuria).<ref name="Behr 1987 p 229"/> Following the example in Japan, schoolchildren in Manchukuo at the beginning of every school day kowtowed first in the direction of Tokyo and then to a portrait of Puyi in the classroom.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 229"/> Puyi found this "intoxicating".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 229"/> Puyi visited a coal mine and in his rudimentary Japanese thanked the Japanese foreman for his good work, who burst into tears as he thanked the emperor; Puyi later wrote that "''The treatment I received really went to my head''."<ref>Behr 1987 p 229-230.</ref>
Whenever the Japanese wanted a law passed, the relevant decree was dropped off at Salt Tax Palace for Puyi to sign, which he always did.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 244">Behr 1987 p 244</ref> Puyi signed decrees expropriating vast tracts of farmland to be given to Japanese colonists and a law declaring certain thoughts to be "thought crimes", leading Behr to note: "''In theory, as 'Supreme Commander', he thus bore full responsibility for Japanese atrocities committed in his name on anti-Japanese 'bandits' and patriotic Chinese citizens''."<ref name="Behr 1987 p 244"/> Behr further noted the "Empire of Manchukuo", billed as an idealistic state where the "five races" of the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Manchus, and Mongols had come together in Pan-Asian brotherhood, was in fact "''one of the most brutally run countries in the world – a textbook example of colonialism, albeit of the Oriental kind''".<ref>Behr 1987 p 202</ref> Manchukuo was a sham, and was a Japanese colony run entirely for Japan's benefit.<ref>Behr 1987 p 203-204</ref> American historian [[Carter J. Eckert]] wrote that the differences in power could be seen in that the Kwantung Army had a "massive" headquarters in downtown Hsinking while Puyi had to live in the "small and shabby" Salt Tax Palace close to the main railroad station in a part of Hsinking with numerous small factories, warehouses, and slaughterhouses, the chief prison, and the red-light district.<ref>Eckert 2016 p. 162</ref>
In 1935, to solve Japan's overpopulation problem, a plan was announced in Tokyo to settle five million Japanese farmers and their families in Manchukuo between 1936 and 1956, and in the first stage of the plan 20,000 Japanese families moved to Manchukuo every year, continuing until 1944, when American submarine attacks reduced the shipping available to move colonists into Manchukuo.<ref>Behr 1987 p 203</ref> By 1939, the total Japanese population in Manchukuo was about 837,000 men, women, and children; comprising the Japanese who had been brought in as rural colonists plus those who had come to Manchukuo to work as civil servants, businessmen, and for the [[South Manchuria Railway Company]], the largest corporation in Asia at the time, together with their families.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 204">Behr 1987 p 204</ref> To provide farmland for the Japanese settlers, the ethnic Chinese and ethnic Korean farmers already living on the land were evicted to make way for the colonists.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 204"/> The Kwantung Army used those who resisted eviction for bayonet practice.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 204"/> Furthermore, Manchukuo was meant to be the industrial powerhouse of the Japanese empire, and right from the start, the Japanese started to build factories and mines on a vast scale while the Chinese workers were ruthlessly exploited.<ref>Behr 1987 p 204-205</ref> The American historian Mark Driscoll described the economic system introduced by [[Nobusuke Kishi]], Manchukuo's Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce in 1935–1939 and a future prime minister of Japan, as a "necropolitical" system where the Chinese workers were treated as dehumanized cogs in a vast industrial machine.<ref>{{cite news
| title = The Unquiet Past Seven decades on from the defeat of Japan, memories of war still divide East Asia
| newspaper = The Economist
|date=12 August 2015| url = https://www.economist.com/news/essays/en/asia-second-world-war-ghosts
| accessdate = 2015-09-09}}</ref> Behr commented that Puyi knew from his talks in Tianjin with General [[Kenji Doihara]] and General [[Seishirō Itagaki]] that he was dealing with "ruthless men and that this might be the regime to expect".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 211">Behr 1987 p 211</ref> Puyi later recalled that: "I had put my head in the tiger's mouth" by going to Manchuria in 1931.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 211"/>
[[File:Chu Kudō with Emperor Puyi.jpg|thumb|right|Puyi (right) as Emperor of Manchukuo. On the left is [[Chū Kudō]].]]
From 1935 to 1945, Kwantung Army senior staff officer Yoshioka Yasunori (吉岡安則)<ref name="Yasunori Yoshioka, Lieutenant-General (1890–1947)">{{cite web|title= Yasunori Yoshioka, Lieutenant-General (1890–1947) |url=http://www.generals.dk/general/Yoshioka/Yasunori/Japan.html|work=The Generals of WWII – Generals from Japan|publisher=Steen Ammentorp, Librarian DB., M.L.I.Sc.|accessdate=17 August 2010}}</ref> was assigned to Puyi as Attaché to the Imperial Household in Manchukuo. He acted as a spy for the Japanese government, controlling Puyi through fear, intimidation, and direct orders.<ref>Pu Yi 1988, p 284-320</ref> There were many attempts on Puyi's life during this period, including a 1937 stabbing by a palace servant.<ref name="Henry Pu Yi"/> During Puyi's reign as Emperor of Manchukuo, his household was closely watched by the Japanese, who increasingly took steps toward the full [[Japanisation]] of Manchuria, to prevent him from becoming too independent. He was feted by the Japanese populace during his visits there, but had to remain subservient to Emperor Hirohito.<ref>Pu Yi 1988, p 281</ref> It is unclear whether the adoption of ancient Chinese styles and rites, such as using "His Majesty" instead of his real name, was the product of Puyi's interest or a Japanese imposition of their own imperial house rules.{{citation needed|date = February 2017}}
In 1935, Puyi visited Japan, sailing from Dalian to Yokohama on the warship ''[[Japanese battleship Hiei|Hiei]]'', and while he met the Shōwa Emperor at a Tokyo railroad station, a moment of unintentional comedy occurred when Puyi attempted to take off a too tight white glove before shaking the Emperor's hand, which he had to struggle with for some time while everyone else struggled not to laugh.<ref>Behr 1987 p 231.</ref> The Second Secretary of the Japanese Embassy in Hsinking, Kenjiro Hayashide, served as Puyi's interpreter during this trip, and later wrote what Behr called a very absurd book, ''The Epochal Journey to Japan'', chronicling this visit, where he managed to present every banal statement made by Puyi as profound wisdom, and claimed that he wrote an average of two poems per day on his trip to Japan, despite being busy with attending all sorts of official functions.<ref>Behr 1987 p 230-231.</ref> A typical passage from the book records that Puyi was seasick while travelling to Japan, but that "the Ruler's great joy at seeing Their Imperial Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan ... removed all thoughts of fatigue from the voyage".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 231">Behr 1987 p 231</ref> Hayashide had also written a booklet promoting the trip in Japan, which claimed that Puyi was a great reader who was "hardly ever seen without a book in his hand", a skilled calligrapher, a talented painter, and an excellent horseman and archer, able to shoot arrows while riding, just like his Qing ancestors.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 231"/> The Shōwa Emperor took this claim that Puyi was a hippophile too seriously and presented him with a gift of a horse for him to review the Imperial Japanese Army with; in fact, Puyi was a hippophobe who adamantly refused to get on the horse, forcing the Japanese to hurriedly bring out a carriage for the two emperors to review the troops.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 232">Behr 1987 p 232</ref>
After his return to Hsinking, Puyi hired an American public relations executive, George Bronson Rea, to lobby the U.S. government to recognize Manchukuo.<ref>Behr 1987 p 233.</ref> In late 1935, Rea published a book, ''The Case for Manchukuo'', in which Rea castigated China under the Kuomintang as hopelessly corrupt, and praised Puyi's wise leadership of Manchukuo, writing Manchukuo was "''... the one step that the people of the East have taken towards escape from the misery and misgovernment that have become theirs. Japan's protection is its only chance of happiness''".<ref>Behr 1987 p 234.</ref> Rea continued to work for Puyi until the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but he failed [[Wiktionary:signally#English|signally]] in lobbying Washington to recognize Hsinking. At the second trial relating to the long-running Kaspé case in Harbin in March–June 1936, the Japanese prosecutor argued in favor of the six defendants, calling them "Russian patriots who raised the flag against a world danger – communism".<ref name="auto3"/> Much to everyone's surprise, the Chinese judges convicted and sentenced the six Russian fascists who had tortured and killed Kaspé to death, which led to a storm as the [[Russian Fascist Party]] called the six men "martyrs for Holy Russia", and presented to Puyi a petition with thousands of signatures asking him to pardon the six men.<ref name="auto3"/> Puyi refused to pardon the Russian fascists, but the verdict was appealed to the Hsinking Supreme Court, where the Japanese judges quashed the verdict, ordering the six men to be freed, a decision that Puyi accepted without complaint.<ref>Stephan, 1978 p.167</ref> The flagrant miscarriage of justice of the Kaspé case, which attracted much attention in the Western media, did much to tarnish the image of Manchukuo and further weakened Puyi's already weak hand as he sought to have the rest of the world recognize Manchukuo.<ref name="auto3"/>
In 1936, Ling Sheng, an aristocrat who was serving as governor of one of Manchukuo's provinces and whose son was engaged to marry one of Puyi's younger sisters, was arrested after complaining about "intolerable" Japanese interference in his work, which led Puyi to ask Yoshioka if something could be done to help him out.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 232"/> The Kwantung Army's commander General [[Kenkichi Ueda]] visited Puyi to tell him the matter was resolved as Ling had already been convicted by a Japanese court-martial of "plotting rebellion" and had been executed by beheading, which led Puyi to cancel the marriage between his sister and Ling's son.<ref>Behr 1987 p 233</ref> During these years, Puyi began taking a greater interest in [[traditional Chinese law]] and religion<ref>Pu Yi 1988, p 307</ref> (such as [[Confucianism]] and [[Buddhism]]), but this was disallowed by the Japanese. Gradually his old supporters were eliminated and pro-Japanese ministers put in their place.<ref>Pu Yi 1988, p 298</ref> During this period Puyi's life consisted mostly of signing laws prepared by Japan, reciting prayers, consulting oracles, and making formal visits throughout his state.<ref name="Henry Pu Yi">{{cite journal|last=Blakeney|first=Ben Bruce|title=Henry Pu Yi |journal=Life Magazine|date=19 July 1945|pages=78–86}}</ref>
Puyi was extremely unhappy with his life as a virtual prisoner in the Salt Tax Palace, and his moods became erratic, swinging from hours of passivity staring into space to indulging his sadism by having his servants beaten.<ref>Behr 1987 p 243-245.</ref> The fact that the vast majority of Puyi's "loving subjects" hated him obsessed Puyi, and as Behr observed it was "''... the knowledge that he was an object of hatred and derision that drove Puyi to the brink of madness''".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 245">Behr 1987 p 245.</ref> Puyi always had a strong cruel streak, and he imposed harsh "house rules" on his staff; servants were flogged in the basement for such offenses as "irresponsible conversations".<ref>Behr 1987 p 245</ref> The phrase "Take him downstairs" was much feared by Puyi's servants as he had at least one flogging performed a day, and everyone in the Salt Tax Palace was caned at one point or another except the Empress and Puyi's siblings and their spouses.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 245"/> Puyi's experience of widespread theft during his time in the Forbidden City led him to distrust his servants and he obsessively went over the account books for signs of fraud.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 246">Behr 1987 p 246.</ref> Big Li, Puyi's chief servant, told Behr:
{{quote|It got so that everyone was covertly watching Puyi all the time, to try and find out what mood he was in. Puyi was completely paranoid: if you were caught eyeing him, he would bark: "What's the matter? Why are you looking at me that way?" But if one tried to look away, he would say: "Why are you avoiding me? What have you got to hide?"|source=Big Li<ref name="Behr 1987 p 245"/>}}
To further torment his staff of about 100, Puyi drastically cut back on the food allocated for his staff, who suffered from hunger; Big Li told Behr that Puyi was attempting to make everyone as miserable as he was.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 247">Behr 1987 p 247.</ref> Besides tormenting his staff, Puyi's life as Emperor was one of lethargy and passivity, which his ghostwriter Li Wenda called "a kind of living death" for him.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 243">Behr 1987 p 243.</ref>
The Emperor did not normally get up until noon, had brunch at about 2 pm before going back to bed for another rest, then played tennis or table tennis, rode his bicycle or car aimlessly around the grounds of the palace or listened to his vast collection of Chinese opera records.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 245"/> He became a devoted Buddhist, a mystic and a vegetarian, having statues of the Buddha put up all over the Salt Tax Palace for him to pray to while banning his staff from eating meat.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 246"/> Puyi's Buddhism led him to ban his staff from killing insects or mice, but if he found any insects or mice droppings in his food, the cooks were flogged.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 246"/> When Puyi went into the gardens to meditate before a statue of the Buddha, there always had to be complete silence, and as there were two loud Japanese cranes living in the garden, the emperor always had his servants flogged if the cranes made a sound.<ref>Behr 1987 p 246</ref> One day, when out for a stroll in the gardens, Puyi found that a servant had written in chalk on one of the rocks: "''Haven't the Japanese humiliated you enough?''"<ref>Behr 1987 p 254</ref> When Puyi received guests at the Salt Tax Palace, he gave them long lectures on the "glorious" history of the Qing as a form of masochism, comparing the great Qing Emperors with himself, a miserable man living as a prisoner in his own palace.<ref>Behr 1987 p 255</ref> The Empress Wanrong retreated in seclusion as she became addicted to opium, and her father stopped visiting the Salt Tax Palace as he could not bear to see what she had become.<ref>Behr 1987 p 247-248.</ref> Wanrong, who detested her husband, liked to mock him behind his back by performing skits before the servants by putting on dark glasses and imitating Puyi's jerky movements.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 216">Behr 1987 p 216.</ref> During his time in Tianjin, Puyi had started wearing dark glasses at all times, as during the interwar period wearing dark glasses in Tianjin was a way of signifying one was a homosexual or bisexual.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 216"/>
On 3 April 1937, Puyi's younger full brother Prince [[Pujie]] was proclaimed heir apparent after marrying Lady [[Hiro Saga]], a distant cousin of the Japanese Emperor [[Hirohito]]. The Kwantung Army general [[Shigeru Honjō]] had politically arranged the marriage. Puyi thereafter would not speak candidly in front of his brother and refused to eat any food Lady Saga provided, believing she was out to poison him.<ref>Behr 1987 p 235.</ref> Puyi was forced to sign an agreement that if he himself had a male heir, the child would be sent to Japan to be raised by the Japanese.<ref>Pu Yi 1988, p 288-290</ref> Puyi initially thought Lady Saga was a Japanese spy, but came to trust her after the Sinophile Saga discarded her ''[[kimono]]s'' for ''[[cheongsam]]s'' and repeatedly assured him that she came to the Salt Tax Palace because she was Pujie's wife, not as a spy.<ref name="auto5">Behr 1987 p 248.</ref> Behr described Lady Saga as "intelligent" and "level-headed", and noted the irony of Puyi snubbing the one Japanese who really wanted to be his friend.<ref name="auto5"/> A sign of improved relations came when Puyi gave Lady Saga a diamond-encrusted watch as a belated wedding present.<ref name="auto5"/> Later in April 1937, the 16-year-old Manchu aristocrat [[Tan Yuling]] moved into the Salt Tax Palace to become Puyi's concubine, but though Puyi seems to have liked her, it remains unclear whether he had sex with her.<ref>Behr 1987 p 249.</ref> Lady Saga tried to improve relations between Puyi and Wanrong by having them eat dinner together, which was the first time they had shared a meal in three years.<ref name="auto5"/> Wanrong refused to eat with chopsticks, instead using her fingers, regarded as "savage" behavior in Asia; Wanrong said she was past caring what others thought about her.<ref name="auto5"/> Puyi tried to joke away Wanrong's unhappiness by saying that it was "Mongol night" and everyone was going to be like a Mongol "savage" by eating with their fingers, but Lady Saga noted his jesting fell flat.<ref name="auto5"/>
Based on his interviews with Puyi's family and staff at the Salt Tax Palace, Behr wrote that it appeared Puyi had an "attraction towards very young girls" that "bordered on pedophilia" and "that Pu Yi was bisexual, and – by his own admission – something of a sadist in his relationships with women".<ref>Behr 1987 p 19.</ref> Puyi was very fond of having handsome teenage boys serve as his pageboys and Lady Saga noted he was also very fond of sodomizing them.<ref>Behr 1987 p 244–245 & 248–250.</ref> Lady Saga wrote in her 1957 autobiography ''Memoirs of A Wandering Princess'':
{{quote|Of course I had heard rumours concerning such great men in our history, but I never knew such things existed in the living world. Now, however, I learnt that the Emperor had an unnatural love for a pageboy. He was referred to as "the male concubine". Could these perverted habits, I wondered, have driven his wife to opium smoking?|author=Lady [[Hiro Saga]]<ref>Behr (1987), p. 249</ref>}}
When Behr questioned him about Puyi's sexuality, Prince Pujie said he was "biologically incapable of reproduction", a polite way of saying someone is gay in China.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 250">Behr 1987 p 250.</ref> When one of Puyi's pageboys fled the Salt Tax Palace to escape his homosexual advances, Puyi ordered that he be given an especially harsh flogging, which caused the boy's death and led Puyi to have the floggers flogged in turn as punishment.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 247"/>
In June 1937, some off-duty members of the [[Manchukuo Imperial Guards]] fell into a trap when they objected to Japanese colonists jumping the queue for rowboats in a Hsinking park, leading to a brawl.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 236">Behr 1987 p 236</ref> The ''Kempeitai'' had expected this and were waiting; they arrested the guardsmen, who were then beaten, forced to strip naked in public, and finally convicted by the courts of "anti-Manchukuo activities".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 236"/> As a result, the Manchukuo Imperial Guard lost their right to bear any weapons except pistols.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 236"/> To further add to the message, Amakasu told Puyi that the Manchukuo Prime Minister, [[Zhang Jinghui]], a man Behr called "a venal, cringing Japanese flunky" and whom Puyi despised, should be his role model.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 236"/> In July 1937, when the Sino-Japanese war began, Puyi issued a declaration of support for Japan.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> In August 1937, Kishi wrote up a decree for Puyi to sign calling for the use of slave labour to be conscripted both in Manchukuo and in northern China, stating that in these "times of emergency" (i.e. war with China), industry needed to grow at all costs, and slavery was necessary to save money.<ref>Driscoll 2010 p.275</ref> Driscoll wrote that just as African slaves were taken to the New World on the "[[Middle Passage]]", it would be right to speak of the "Manchurian Passage" as vast numbers of Chinese peasants were rounded up to be slaves in Manchukuo's factories and mines.<ref>Driscoll 2010 p. xii.</ref> From 1938 until the end of the war, every year about a million Chinese were taken from the Manchukuo countryside and northern China to be slaves in Manchukuo's factories and mines.<ref>Driscoll 2010 p. 276.</ref>
All that Puyi knew of the outside world was what General Yoshioka told him in daily briefings.<ref name="ReferenceA">Behr 1987 p 244.</ref> When Behr asked Prince Pujie how the news of the [[Rape of Nanking]] in December 1937 affected Puyi, his brother replied: "We didn't hear about it until much later. At the time, it made no real impact."<ref>Behr 1987 p 242.</ref> On 4 February 1938, the strongly pro-Japanese and anti-Chinese [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]] became the German foreign minister, and under his influence German foreign policy swung in an anti-Chinese and pro-Japanese direction.<ref name="auto6">Iriye, 1987 p.51</ref> On 20 February 1938, Adolf Hitler announced that Germany was recognizing Manchukuo.<ref name="auto6"/> In one of his last acts, the outgoing German ambassador to Japan [[Herbert von Dirksen]] visited Puyi in the Salt Tax Palace to tell him that a German embassy would be established in Hsinking later that year to join the embassies of Japan, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Italy and Nationalist Spain, the only other countries that had recognized Manchukuo. In 1934, Puyi had been excited when he learned that El Salvador had become the first nation other than Japan to recognize Manchukuo, but by 1938 he did not care much about Germany's recognition of Manchukuo.
In May 1938, Puyi was declared a god by the Religions Law, and a cult of emperor-worship very similar to Japan's began with schoolchildren starting their classes by praying to a portrait of the god-emperor while imperial rescripts and the imperial regalia became sacred relics imbued with magical powers by being associated with the god-emperor.<ref name="auto7">Dubois 2008 p.309</ref> Puyi's elevation to a god was due to the Sino-Japanese war, which caused the Japanese state to begin a program of totalitarian mobilization of society for total war in Japan and places ruled by Japan.<ref name="auto7"/> His Japanese handlers felt that ordinary people in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan were more willing to bear the sacrifices for total war because of their devotion to their god-emperor, and it was decided that making Puyi a god-emperor would have the same effect in Manchukuo.<ref name="auto7"/> After 1938, Puyi was hardly ever allowed to leave the Salt Tax Palace, while the creation of the puppet regime of President [[Wang Jingwei]] in November 1938 crushed Puyi's spirits, as it ended his hope of one day being restored as the Great Qing Emperor.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 243"/> Puyi became a hypochondriac, taking all sorts of pills for various imagined ailments and hormones to improve his sex drive and allow him to father a boy, as Puyi was convinced that the Japanese were poisoning his food to make him sterile.<ref>Behr 1987 p 249 & 255.</ref> He believed the Japanese wanted one of the children Pujie had fathered with Lady Saga to be the next emperor, and it was a great relief to him that their children were both girls (Manchukuo law forbade female succession to the throne).<ref name="auto5"/>
By 1940, the Japanisation of Manchuria had become extreme, and an altar to the Shinto goddess [[Amaterasu]] was built on the grounds of Puyi's palace. The origins of the altar are unclear, with the postwar Japanese claiming that Puyi aimed for a closer connection to the Japanese Emperor as a means of resisting the political machinations of the Manchukuo elites, while Puyi in his Chinese Communist-published autobiography claims that he was forced to submit to this by the Japanese. During his visit to Japan in 1940 for [[National Foundation Day|''Kigensetsu'']], which was marked with especially lavish celebrations that year to mark the supposed 2,600th anniversary of the founding of the Empire of Japan by the mythical [[Emperor Jimmu]] on 11 February 660 BC, Puyi during his meeting with the Showa Emperor read out a statement given to him by General Yoshioka asking for permission to worship the Shinto gods and to establish Shintoism as the state religion of Manchukuo.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 250"/> The Showa Emperor replied "I must comply with your wishes" and gave him three relics, namely a bronze mirror, a sword and a piece of jade (reproductions of the [[Imperial Regalia of Japan]]) to take home with him to be the center of Shinto worship in Manchukuo.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 250"/> Puyi later wrote "''I thought Beijing antique shops were full of such objects. Were these a great god? Were those my ancestors? I burst into tears on the drive back''."<ref name="Behr 1987 p 250"/> Since in the Japanese state religion of Shintoism the Japanese Emperor was worshiped as a living god, worshiping at the Shinto shrine in the Salt Tax Palace also meant worshiping the Showa Emperor as a god, which starkly underlined Puyi's subordination to the Showa Emperor.<ref>Behr 1987 p 250-251.</ref> In any case, Puyi's wartime duties came to include sitting through Chinese-language Shinto prayers. Hirohito was surprised when he heard of this, asking why a [[Temple of Heaven]] had not been built instead.<ref>児島襄『満洲帝国 II』文藝春秋、1983</ref> After his second visit to Japan, Puyi announced in a press statement that Japan and Manchukuo were "unified in virtue and heart", praised the Shinto Sun Goddess Amaterasu for her "divine intervention" in 1931 that supposedly made Manchukuo possible, and hailed the Showa Emperor as a living god as the House of Yamato were all alleged to be the direct descendants of Amaterasu.<ref name="auto8">Eckert 2016 p.139-140.</ref> Already at the Manchukuo Military Academy that was training officers for the Manchukuo army, the cadets were being taught to serve the "two emperors" with the cadets kowtowing to portraits of both the emperors of Manchukuo and Japan.<ref name="auto8"/>
In 1940 Wanrong, also known as "Elizabeth Jade Eyes", engaged in an affair with Puyi's chauffeur Li Tiyu that left her pregnant.<ref>Behr 1987 p 255-256</ref> To punish her, as Wanrong gave birth to her daughter, she had to watch much to her horror as the Japanese doctors poisoned her newly born child right in front of her.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 256">Behr 1987 p 256</ref> Afterwards, Wanrong was totally broken by what she had seen, and lost her will to live, spending as much of her time possible in an opium daze to numb the pain.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 256"/> Puyi had known of what was being planned for Wanrong's baby, and in what Behr called a supreme act of "cowardice" on his part, "did nothing".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 256"/> Puyi's ghostwriter for ''Emperor to Citizen'', Li Wenda, told Behr that when interviewing Puyi for the book that he could not get Puyi to talk about the killing of Wanrong's child, as he was too ashamed to speak of his own cowardice.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 256"/>
In December 1941, Puyi followed Japan in declaring war on the United States and Great Britain, but as neither nation had recognized Manchukuo there were no reciprocal declarations of war in return.<ref>Behr 1987 p 244 & 252.</ref> During the war, Puyi was an example and role model for at least some in Asia who believed in the Japanese [[Pan-Asianism|Pan-Asian]] propaganda. [[U Saw]], the Prime Minister of Burma, was secretly in communication with the Japanese, declaring that as an Asian his sympathies were completely with Japan against the West.<ref name="auto9">Weinberg, 2005 p.322</ref> U Saw further added that he hoped that when Japan won the war that he would enjoy exactly the same status in Burma that Puyi enjoyed in Manchukuo as part of the [[Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere]], saying that as an Asian it was his fondest wish that Japan would do everything that it had done in Manchukuo in Burma.<ref name="auto9"/> The American historian [[Gerhard Weinberg]] sarcastically wrote that U Saw and the rest of Burmese nationalists who saw the Japanese as liberators from the British were not endowed with "great intelligence" as U Saw enjoyed far more power as prime minister under the British than Puyi did as Emperor under the Japanese, but they got their wish to have what was done to people of Manchukuo done to their own people, observing: "The use of military and civilian prisoners for bayonet practice and assorted other cruelties provided the people of Southeast Asia with a dramatic lesson on the new meaning of ''Bushido'', the code of the Japanese warrior."<ref name="auto9"/>
During the war, Puyi became estranged from his father, as his half-brother [[Jin Youzhi|Pu Ren]] stated in an interview:
{{quote|... after 1941 Puyi's father had written him off. He never visited Puyi after 1934. They rarely corresponded. All the news he got was through intermediaries, or occasional reports from Puyi's younger sisters, some of whom were allowed to see him.|source= [[Jin Youzhi|Pu Ren]]<ref>Behr 1987 p 54.</ref>}}
Puyi himself complained that he had issued so many "slavish" pro-Japanese statements during the war that nobody on the Allied side would take him in if he did escape from Manchukuo.<ref>Behr 1987 p 254.</ref> In June 1942, Puyi made a rare visit outside of the Salt Tax Palace when he conferred with the graduating class at the Manchukuo Military Academy, and awarded the star student Takagi Masao a gold watch for his outstanding performance; despite his Japanese name, the star student was actually Korean and under his original Korean name of [[Park Chung-hee]] became the dictator of South Korea in 1961.<ref>Eckert, 2016 p.351.</ref> In August 1942, Puyi's concubine Tan Yuling fell ill and died after being treated by the same Japanese doctors who murdered Wanrong's baby.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 256"/> Puyi testified at the [[International Military Tribunal for the Far East|Tokyo war crimes trial]] of his belief that she was murdered, saying "''The glucose injections were not administered. There was much to and from activity that night, Japanese nurses and doctors speaking with Yoshioka, then going back to the sickroom''."<ref name="Behr 1987 p 256"/> Puyi kept a lock of Tan's hair and her nail clippings for the rest of his life as he expressed much sadness over her loss.<ref>Behr 1987 p 256-257</ref> Puyi refused to take a Japanese concubine to replace Tan and, in 1943, took a Chinese concubine, [[Li Yuqin]], the 16 year-old daughter of a waiter.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 257">Behr 1987 p 257</ref> Lady Saga later observed that when Li had arrived at the Salt Tax Palace, she was badly in need of a bath and delousing.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 257"/> Puyi liked Li, but his main interest continued to be his pageboys, as he later wrote: "''These actions of mine go to show how cruel, mad, violent and unstable I was''."<ref name="Behr 1987 p 257"/>
For much of World War II, Puyi, confined to the Salt Tax Palace, believed that Japan was winning the war, and it was not until 1944 that Puyi first began to get an inkling that Japan was losing the war when the Japanese press began to report "heroic sacrifices" in Burma and on Pacific islands while air raid shelters started to be built in Manchukuo.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 258">Behr 1987 p 258</ref> Puyi's nephew Jui Lon told Behr: "''He desperately wanted America to win the war''."<ref name="Behr 1987 p 253"/> Big Li in an interview with Behr said: "''When he thought it was safe, he would sit at the piano and do a one-finger version of the [[The Stars and Stripes Forever|Stars and Stripes]].''"<ref name="Behr 1987 p 253"/> In mid-1944, Puyi finally acquired the courage to start occasionally tuning in his radio to Chinese broadcasts and to Chinese-language broadcasts by the Americans, where he was shocked to learn that Japan had suffered so many defeats on land, sea, and the air since 1942.<ref>Behr 1987 p 258.</ref> The commander of the Kwantung Army, General [[Tomoyuki Yamashita]], left Manchukuo for the Philippines in July 1944 and told Puyi at their final meeting: "I shall never come back", predicting that he would die for the Emperor in the Philippines.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 258"/> Yamashita was the famous "Tiger of Malaya" who had captured Singapore in 1942, inflicting one of the greatest defeats on the Allies in the Pacific theatre, and his gloomy prediction about his pending defeat and death in the Philippines was unsettling to Puyi.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 258"/>
Puyi had to give a speech before a group of Japanese infantrymen who had volunteered to be "human bullets", promising to strap explosives on their bodies and to stage suicide attacks in order to die for the Showa Emperor.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 258"/> Puyi commented as he read out his speech praising the glories of dying for the Emperor: "''Only then did I see the ashen grey of their faces and the tears flowing down their cheeks and hear their sobbing''."<ref name="Behr 1987 p 258"/> Puyi commented that he felt at that moment utterly "terrified" at the death cult fanaticism of ''[[Bushido]]'' ("the way of the warrior") which reduced the value of human life down to nothing, as to die for the Emperor was the only thing that mattered; he observed that the Japanese infantrymen all had families and friends who cared for them, and had quite possibly been bullied by their officers into becoming "human bullets".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 259">Behr 1987 p 259</ref> Yoshioka tried to reassure Puyi by saying that the "human bullets" were crying "manly Japanese tears"{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}}<!--This sounds like a slang English phrase rather than a phrase used by a senior Japanese general in the Japanese language or Mandarin. Is it unreasonable to ask for a reproduction of the original Japanese or Mandarin quotation here? There is an over-reliance on using one source in this part of the article.--> as deep down they wanted to die for the Emperor, but Puyi later stated he was not convinced by this argument.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 259"/>
On 9 August 1945, the Kwantung Army's commander General [[Otozō Yamada]] arrived at the Salt Tax Palace to tell Puyi that the Soviet Union had declared war on Japan and the Red Army had entered Manchukuo.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 259"/> Yamada was assuring Puyi that the Kwantung Army would easily defeat the Red Army when the air raid sirens sounded and the Red Air Force began a bombing raid, forcing all to hide in the basement.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 260">Behr 1987 p 260</ref> While Puyi prayed to the Buddha, Yamada fell silent as the bombs fell, destroying a Japanese barracks next to the Salt Tax Palace.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 260"/> In the [[Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation]], 1,577,725 Soviet and Mongol troops stormed into Manchuria in a combined arms offensive with tanks, artillery, cavalry, aircraft and infantry working closely together that overwhelmed the Kwantung Army, who had not expected a Soviet invasion until 1946 and were short of both tanks and anti-tank guns.<ref>Stephan 1978 p.324.</ref>
To try and stop the Soviet tanks, the Japanese sent out the "human bullets" as infantrymen packed with explosives, who tried to throw themselves into the treads of the tanks; usually they were shot down before getting anywhere close to the tanks.<ref>Stephan 1978 p.327.</ref> Puyi was especially terrified to hear that the Mongolian People's Army had joined Operation August Storm, as he believed that the Mongols would torture him to death if they captured him.<ref>Behr, 1987 p. 260</ref> The next day, Yamada told Puyi that the Soviets had already broken through the defense lines in northern Manchukuo, but the Kwantung Army would "hold the line" in southern Manchukuo and Puyi must leave at once.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 260"/> The staff of the Salt Tax Palace were thrown into panic as Puyi ordered all of his treasures to be boxed up and shipped out; in the meantime Puyi observed from his window that soldiers of the [[Manchukuo Imperial Army]] were taking off their uniforms and deserting.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 260"/> To test the reaction of his Japanese masters, Puyi put on his uniform of Commander-in-Chief of the Manchukuo Army and announced "We must support the holy war of our Parental Country with all our strength, and must resist the Soviet armies to the end, to the very end".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 260"/> With that, Yoshioka fled the room, which showed Puyi that the war was lost.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 260"/> At one point, a group of Japanese soldiers arrived at the Salt Tax Palace, and Puyi believed they had come to kill him, but they merely went away after seeing him stand at the top of the staircase.<ref>Behr, 1987 p.260-261</ref> Most of the servants and all of the cooks at the Salt Tax Palace had already fled, forcing Puyi to eat biscuits as his remaining servants hastily packed up all of the Qing treasures at the Salt Tax Palace.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 261">Behr 1987 p 261</ref> Puyi found that his phone calls to the Kwantung Army HQ went unanswered as most of the officers had already left for Korea, his minder Amakasu committed suicide by swallowing a cyanide pill, and the people of Changchun booed him when his car, flying imperial standards, took him to the railroad station.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 261"/>
Late on the night of 11 August 1945, a train carrying Puyi, his court, his ministers and the Qing treasures left Changchun.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 262">Behr 1987 p 262</ref> The train was frequently diverted as a result of Soviet bombing, and everywhere Puyi went, he saw thousands of panic-stricken Japanese settlers fleeing south in vast columns across the roads of the countryside.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 262"/> At every railroad station, hundreds of Japanese colonists attempted to board his train; Puyi remembered them "weeping as they begged Japanese gendarmes to let them pass" while the gendarmes forced them back.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 262"/> At several stations, Japanese soldiers and gendarmes fought one another to board the train.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 262"/> General Yamada boarded the train as it meandered south and told Puyi "... the Japanese Army was winning and had destroyed large numbers of tanks and aircraft", a claim that nobody aboard the train believed.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 262"/> On 15 August 1945, Puyi heard on the radio [[Jewel Voice Broadcast|the address of the Showa Emperor]] announcing that Japan had surrendered, as the Emperor declared with notable understatement that "''the war has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage''".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 263">Behr 1987 p 263</ref> In his address, the Showa Emperor described the Americans as having used a "most unusual and cruel bomb" that had just destroyed the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; this was the first time that Puyi heard of the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]], which the Japanese had not seen fit to tell him about until then.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 263"/>
The next day, Puyi abdicated as Emperor of Manchukuo and declared in his last decree that Manchukuo was once again part of China.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 263"/> As the Soviets had bombed all of the train stations and Puyi's train was running low on coal, the train returned to Changchun.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 264">Behr 1987 p 264</ref> Once there, Puyi planned to take a plane to escape, taking with him his brother Pujie, his servant Big Li, Yoshioka, and his doctor while leaving Wanrong, his concubine Li Yuqin, Lady Hiro Saga and Lady Saga's two children behind.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 264"/> The decision to leave behind the women and children was made by the misogynistic Yoshioka who saw the lives of women and children as worthless compared to the lives of men, and vetoed Puyi's attempts to take them on the plane to Japan.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 264"/> As Puyi left for the [[Changchun Longjia International Airport|airport]], he saw Wanrong for the last time in his life, later saying that both she and Li were "blubbering".<ref name="Behr 1987 p 265">Behr 1987 p 265</ref>
Puyi asked for Lady Saga, the most mature and responsible of the three women, to take care of Wanrong, who was hopelessly addicted to opium by this point, giving Lady Saga precious antiques and cash to pay for their way south to [[Korea]].<ref>Behr 1987 p 265 & 267</ref> On 16 August Puyi took a small plane to [[Shenyang Taoxian International Airport|Mukden]], where another larger plane was supposed to arrive to take them to Japan, but instead a [[Soviet Air Forces|Soviet Air Force]] landed.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 265"/> Puyi and his party were all promptly taken prisoner by the Red Army, who initially did not know who Puyi was.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 265"/><ref name="Li Shuxian, 73, Widow of Last China Emperor">{{cite news|last=Mydans|first=Seth|title=Li Shuxian, 73, Widow of Last China Emperor|newspaper=The New York Times|date=11 June 1997}}</ref> The opium-addled Wanrong together with Lady Saga and Li were captured by Chinese Communist guerrillas on their way to Korea, after one of Puyi's brothers-in-law informed the Communists who the women were.<ref>Behr 1987 p 268.</ref> Wanrong, the former empress, was put on display in a local jail as if she was in a zoo, and people came from miles around to watch her.<ref>Behr 1987 p 269.</ref> In a delirious state of mind, she demanded more opium, asked for imaginary servants to bring her clothing, food and a bath, hallucinated that she was back in the Forbidden City or the [[Museum of the Imperial Palace of Manchukuo|Salt Tax Palace]], and most poignantly of all screamed over and over again she missed her murdered baby daughter.<ref>Behr 1987 p 269-270.</ref> The general hatred for Puyi meant that none had any sympathy for Wanrong, who was seen as another Japanese collaborator, and a guard told Lady Saga that "this one won't last", making it a waste of time feeding her.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 270">Behr 1987 p 270</ref> In June 1946, Wanrong starved to death in her jail cell, lying in a pool of her own vomit, urine and excrement, which the local people all found very funny.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 270"/> In his 1964 book ''From Emperor to Citizen'', Puyi merely stated that he learned in 1951 that Wanrong "died a long time ago" without mentioning how she died.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 308">Behr 1987 p 308.</ref>
===Later life (1945–1967)===
[[File:Soviet Union Military Officer and Puyi.JPG|thumb|Puyi (right) and a Soviet military officer]]
The Soviets took him to the [[Siberia]]n town of [[Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai|Chita]]. He lived in a [[sanatorium]], then later in [[Khabarovsk]] near the [[China–Russia border|Chinese border]], where he was treated well and allowed to keep some of his servants.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 271</ref> As a prisoner in a spa in Khabarovsk, Puyi spent his days praying to the Buddha, expected the prisoners to treat him as an emperor and slapped the faces of his servants when they displeased him.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 271.</ref> He knew about the [[Chinese Civil War|civil war in China]]<nowiki/> from [[Radio Moscow|Chinese-language broadcasts on Soviet radio]] but seemed not to care.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 271</ref> The [[Government of the Soviet Union|Soviet government]] refused the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]]'s repeated requests to extradite Puyi; the [[Kuomintang]] government had indicted him on charges of high treason, and the Soviet refusal to extradite him almost certainly saved his life, as [[Chiang Kai-shek]] had often spoken of his desire to have Puyi shot.<ref>Behr 1987 p.279</ref> The Kuomintang captured Puyi's cousin [[Yoshiko Kawashima|Eastern Jewel]] and publicly executed her in Beijing in 1948 after she was convicted of high treason.<ref>Behr 1987 p.197</ref> Not wishing to return to China, Puyi wrote to [[Joseph Stalin]] several times asking for asylum in the [[Soviet Union]], and that he be given one of the former tsarist palaces to live out his days.<ref>Behr 1987 p.281-282.</ref>
In 1946, Puyi testified at the [[International Military Tribunal for the Far East]] in Tokyo,<ref name="Former Manchurian Puppet">{{cite news|title=Former Manchurian Puppet |newspaper=The Miami News|date=16 August 1946}}</ref> detailing his resentment at how he had been treated by the Japanese. At the Tokyo trial, he had a long exchange with defense counsel Major [[Ben Bruce Blakeney]] about whether he had been kidnapped in 1931, in which Puyi perjured himself by saying that the statements in Johnston's 1934 book ''[[Twilight in the Forbidden City]]'' about how he had willingly become Emperor of Manchukuo were all lies.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 274-276</ref> When Blakeney mentioned that the introduction to ''Twilight in the Forbidden City'' described how Puyi had told Johnston that he had willingly gone to Manchuria in 1931, Puyi perjured himself by saying he was not in contact with Johnston in 1931, and that Johnston made things up for "commercial advantage".<ref>Behr 1987 p. 276</ref> The Australian judge Sir [[William Webb (judge)|William Webb]], the President of the Tribunal, was often frustrated with Puyi's testimony, and chided him numerous times.<ref>Behr 1987 p.274-277.</ref> At one point, when Puyi said "I have not finished my answer yet", Webb replied, "Well, don't finish it".<ref>Behr 1987 p.277.</ref> Behr described Puyi on the stand as a "consistent, self-assured liar, prepared to go to any lengths to save his skin", and as a combative witness more than able to hold his own against the defense lawyers.<ref>Behr 1987 p.278.</ref> Since no one at the trial but Blakeney had actually read ''Twilight in the Forbidden City'' or the interviews Woodhead had conducted with him in 1932, Puyi had room to distort what had been written about him or said by him.<ref>Behr 1987 p.279.</ref> Puyi greatly respected Johnston, who was a surrogate father to him, and felt guilty about repeatedly calling Johnston a dishonest man whose book was full of lies. He prayed for the Buddha to ask forgiveness for sullying Johnston's name.<ref>Behr 1987 p.281.</ref>
[[File:溥仪写给斯大林的信.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Puyi's letters to Joseph Stalin]]
After his return to the Soviet Union, Puyi was held at Detention Center No. 45, where his servants continued to make his bed, dress him and do other work for him.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 281">Behr, 1987 p 281</ref> Puyi did not speak [[Russian language|Russian]] and had limited contacts with his Soviet guards, using a few Manchukuo prisoners who knew Russian as translators.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 282">Behr, 1987 p 282.</ref> He spent his time with other Manchukuo and Japanese prisoners playing [[mah-jong]], continued to pray to the Buddha and listened to Japanese records on the only gramophone the Soviets allowed the prisoners.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 281"/> One prisoner told Puyi that the Soviets would keep him in Siberia forever because "this is the part of the world you come from".<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 282"/> The Soviets had promised the Chinese Communists that they would hand over the high value prisoners when the CCP won the civil war, and wanted to keep Puyi alive.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 281-282</ref> Puyi's brother-in-law Rong Qi and some of his servants were not considered high value, and were sent to work as slaves in a brutal Siberian labor camp, where they were starved and were worked very hard.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 280</ref>
When the [[Communist Party of China|Chinese Communist Party]] under [[Mao Zedong]] came to power in 1949, Puyi was repatriated to China after negotiations between the Soviet Union and China.<ref name="Russia Giving Puyi to China">{{cite news|title=Russia Giving Puyi to China|newspaper=The Milwaukee Journal|date=27 March 1946}}</ref><ref name="Last Manchu Ruler Grateful to Jailers">{{cite news|last=Lancashire|first=David|title=Last Manchu Ruler Grateful to Jailers|newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard|date=30 December 1956}}</ref> Puyi was of considerable value to Mao, as Behr noted: "In the eyes of Mao and other Chinese Communist leaders, Pu Yi, the last Emperor, was the epitome of all that had been evil in old Chinese society. If he could be shown to have undergone sincere, permanent change, what hope was there for the most diehard counter-revolutionary? The more overwhelming the guilt, the more spectacular the redemption-and the greater glory of the Chinese Communist Party".<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 285">Behr 1987 p. 285</ref> Furthermore, Mao had often noted that [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] had [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]], the last Russian emperor, shot together with the rest of the Russian imperial family, as Lenin could not make the last tsar into a communist; making the last Chinese emperor into a Communist was intended to show the superiority of Chinese communism over Soviet communism.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 285"/> Puyi was to be subjected to "remodeling" to make him into a Communist.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.283">Behr, 1987 p.283</ref>
[[File:Fushun War Criminals Mgmt Center 2.jpg|thumb|Fushun War Criminals Management Centre]]
In 1950, the Soviets loaded Puyi and the rest of the Manchukuo and Japanese prisoners onto a train that took them to China with Puyi convinced he would be executed when he arrived.<ref>Behr, 1987 p.286</ref> At the border, there were two lines of soldiers, one Soviet and the other Chinese, and as Puyi walked past, he remembered how the faces of the other prisoners were "deathly pale".<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.287">Behr, 1987 p.287</ref> Puyi was surprised at the kindness of his Chinese guards, who told him this was the beginning of a new life for him.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.287"/> In attempt to ingratiate himself, Puyi for the first time in his life addressed commoners with ''ni'' (你), the [[T-V distinction|informal word for "you"]] instead of ''nin'' (您), the formal word for "you".<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.287"/> When the train stopped at Changchun to pick up food, Puyi was convinced that he was going to be shot at his former capital, and he was much relieved when the train resumed its journey to Fushun.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 288</ref> Except for a period during the Korean War, when he was moved to [[Harbin]], Puyi spent ten years in the [[Fushun War Criminals Management Centre]] in [[Liaoning]] province until he was declared reformed. The prisoners at Fushun were senior Japanese, Manchukuo and Kuomintang officials and officers.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 293-294</ref> Puyi was the weakest and most hapless of the prisoners, and was often bullied by the other prisoners, who liked to humiliate the emperor, and he might not have survived his imprisonment had the warden Jin Yuan not gone out of his way to protect him.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 294">Behr 1987 p. 294</ref> Jin had grown up under Manchukuo and as a schoolboy in the 1930s had kowtowed to portraits of Puyi and waved the Manchukuo flag in the streets when Puyi made visits to Harbin.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 291</ref> As Jin had grown up in Manchukuo, he was fluent in Japanese, which was why he was selected to be the warden of Fushun.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 292">Behr 1987 p. 292</ref> Jin was assigned the job in 1950 and told Behr in a 1986 interview: "I didn't welcome the idea at all. I tried to get another posting. I wanted nothing to do with those who had been responsible for my older brother's death and my family's suffering during the Manchukuo years. I wondered how I could ever bear to be in their company".<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 292"/> Jin also told Behr that he "came to like Puyi quite a bit" as he got to know him, and protected him from the other prisoners.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 294"/> In 1951, Puyi learned for the first time that Wanrong had died in 1946.<ref name="Behr 1987 p 308"/>
Puyi had never brushed his teeth or tied his own shoelaces once in his life and had to do these basic tasks in prison, subjecting him to the ridicule of other prisoners.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 295">Behr 1987 p. 295</ref> Much of Puyi's "remodeling" consisted of attending "Marxist-Leninist-Maoist discussion groups" where the prisoners would discuss their lives before being imprisoned.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 302</ref> As part of his "remodeling", Puyi was confronted with ordinary people who had suffered under the "Empire of Manchukuo", including those who had fought in the Communist resistance, both to prove to him that resistance to the Japanese had been possible and to show him what he had presided over.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.305-306">Behr, 1987 p.305-306</ref> When Puyi protested to Jin that it had been impossible to resist Japan and there was nothing he could have done, Jin confronted him with people who had fought in the resistance and had been tortured, and asked him why ordinary people in Manchukuo resisted while an emperor did nothing.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.305-306"/> As part of confronting war crimes, Puyi had to attend lectures where a former Japanese civil servant spoke about the exploitation of Manchukuo while a former officer in the ''Kempeitai'' talked about how he rounded up people for slave labor and ordered mass executions.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 305">Behr, 1987 p 305</ref> At one point, Puyi was taken to [[Harbin]] and [[Pingfang District|Pingfang]] to see where the infamous [[Unit 731]], the chemical and biological warfare unit in the Japanese Army, had conducted gruesome experiments on people. Puyi noted in shame and horror: "All the atrocities had been carried out in my name".<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 305"/> Puyi by the mid-1950s was overwhelmed with guilt and often told Jin that he felt utterly worthless to the point that he considered suicide.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 305-306</ref> Jin told Puyi to express his guilt in writing. Puyi later recalled he felt "that I was up against an irresistible force that would not rest until it found out everything".<ref>Behr, 1987 p 299</ref> Sometimes Puyi was taken out for tours of the countryside of Manchuria. On one, he met a farmer's wife whose family had been evicted to make way for Japanese settlers and had almost starved to death while working as a slave in one of Manchukuo's factories.<ref>Behr, 1987 p.307</ref> When Puyi asked for her forgiveness, she told him "It's all over now, let's not talk about it", causing him to break down in tears.<ref>Behr, 1987 p. 307</ref> At another meeting, a woman described the mass execution of people from her village by the Japanese Army, and then declared that she did not hate the Japanese and those who had served them as she retained her faith in humanity, which greatly moved Puyi.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 307">Behr, 1987 p 307</ref> On another occasion, Jin confronted Puyi with his former concubine Li in meetings in his office, where she attacked him for seeing her only as a sex object, and saying she was now pregnant by a man who loved her.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 307"/>
On 10 March 1956, Jin confronted Puyi in a meeting in his office with his siblings, where his sisters spoke of their happiness with their new lives working as schoolteachers and seamstresses.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 308-309</ref> Puyi was helped with his "remodeling" when the other prisoners began to blame him for everything that happened in Manchukuo, which was a debit for them as in the Chinese system one is supposed to confess to one's own guilt rather than blaming others; Puyi, by assigning all guilt to himself, won Jin's favor.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 303</ref> In late 1956, Puyi acted in a play, ''The Defeat of the Aggressors'', about the [[Suez Crisis]], playing the role of a left-wing Labour MP who challenges in the House of Commons a former Manchukuo minister playing the Foreign Secretary [[Selwyn Lloyd]].<ref>Behr, 1987 p 310.</ref> Puyi enjoyed the role and ''ad libbed'' several lines in English, shouting "No, no, no! It won't do! Get out! Leave this House!".<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 310">Behr, 1987 p 310</ref> Sometimes Puyi acted in plays about his life and Manchukuo, and in one theatrical production, playing a Manchukuo functionary, Puyi kowtowed to a portrait of himself as Emperor of Manchukuo.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 310"/> During the [[Great Leap Forward]], when millions of people starved to death in China, Jin chose to cancel Puyi's visits to the countryside lest the scenes of famine undo his growing faith in communism.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 309</ref> Behr wrote that many are surprised that Puyi's "remodeling" worked, with an Emperor brought up as almost a god becoming content to be just an ordinary man, but he noted that "... it is essential to remember that Puyi was not alone in undergoing such successful 'remolding'. Tough KMT generals, and even tougher Japanese generals, brought up in the samurai tradition and the ''[[Bushido]]'' cult which glorifies death in battle and sacrifice to martial Japan, became, in Fushun, just as devout in their support of communist ideals as Puyi".<ref>Behr, 1987 p 322</ref>
Puyi came to Beijing on 9 December 1959 with special permission from Mao Zedong and lived for the next six months in an ordinary Beijing residence with his sister before being transferred to a government-sponsored hotel.<ref>Behr, 1987 p 313</ref> He had the job of sweeping the streets, and got lost on his first day of work, which led him to tell astonished passers-by: "I'm Puyi, the last Emperor of the Qing dynasty. I'm staying with relatives and can't find my way home".<ref>Behr 1987 p. 314</ref> One of Puyi's first acts upon returning to Beijing was to visit the Forbidden City as a tourist, when he pointed out to other tourists that many of the exhibits were the things he had used in his youth.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 315-316</ref> He voiced his support for the Communists and worked at the [[Beijing Botanical Garden]]s. Working as a simple gardener gave Puyi a degree of happiness he had never known as an emperor, though he was notably clumsy.<ref>Behr, 1987 p.317</ref> Behr noted that in Europe people who played roles analogous to the role Puyi played in Manchukuo were generally executed; for example, the British hanged [[William Joyce]] ("[[Lord Haw-Haw|Lord Haw-haw]]") for being the announcer on the English-language broadcasts of [[Radio Berlin International|Radio Berlin]], the Italians shot [[Benito Mussolini]], and the French executed [[Pierre Laval]], so many Westerners are surprised that Puyi was released from prison after only nine years to start a new life.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 323">Behr, 1987 p 323</ref> Behr wrote that the Communist ideology explained this difference, writing: "In a society where all landlord and 'capitalist-roaders' were evil incarnate, it did not matter so much that Puyi was also a traitor to his country: he was, in the eyes of the Communist ideologues, only behaving true to type. If all capitalists and landlords were, by their very nature, traitors, it was only logical that Puyi, the biggest landlord, should also be the biggest traitor. And, in the last resort, Puyi was far more valuable alive than dead".<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 323"/> In early 1960, Puyi met Premier [[Zhou Enlai]], who told him: "You weren't responsible for becoming Emperor at the age of three or the 1917 attempted restoration coup. But you were fully to blame for what happened later. You knew perfectly well what you were doing when you took refuge in the Legation Quarter, when you traveled under Japanese protection to Tianjin, and when you agreed to become Manchukuo Chief Executive."<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 317">Behr, 1987 p 317</ref> Puyi responded by merely saying that though he did not choose to be an emperor, he had behaved with savage cruelty as boy-emperor and wished he could apologize to all the [[eunuchs]] he had [[Flagellation|flogged]] during his youth.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p 317"/>
At the age of 56, he married [[Li Shuxian]], a hospital nurse, on 30 April 1962, in a ceremony held at the Banquet Hall of the Consultative Conference. From 1964 until his death he worked as an editor for the literary department of the [[Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference]], where his monthly salary was around 100 [[Chinese yuan|yuan]]. One yuan in the 1960s was equivalent to about 40 cents USD.<ref name="The Thought of Mao Tse-Tung">{{cite book|last=Schram|first=Stuart|authorlink=Stuart R. Schram|title=The Thought of Mao Tse-Tung|year=1989|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-31062-8|page=170}}</ref> Li recalled in a 1995 interview that: "I found Pu Yi a honest man, a man who desperately needed my love and was ready to give me as much love as he could. When I was having even a slight case of flu, he was so worried I would die, that he refused to sleep at night and sat by my bedside until dawn so he could attend to my needs".<ref name="hartford-hwp.com">{{cite web
|last = Li
|first = Xin
|title = Pu Yi's Widow Reveals Last Emperor's Soft Side
|website =
|publisher = The Hartford Chronicle
|date = 8 April 1995
|url = http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/55/045.html
|doi =
|accessdate = 2015-11-29
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924041341/http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/55/045.html
|archive-date = 24 September 2015
|url-status = dead
}}</ref> Li also noted like everybody else who knew him that Puyi was an incredibly clumsy man, leading her to say: "Once in a boiling rage at his clumsiness, I threatened to divorce him. On hearing this, he got down on his knees and, with tears in his eyes, he begged me to forgive him. I shall never forget what he said to me: 'I have nothing in this world except you, and you are my life. If you go, I will die'. But apart from him, what did I ever have in the world?".<ref name="hartford-hwp.com"/>
[[File:Xiong Bingkun, Puyi and Lu Zhonglin.jpg|thumb|Puyi in 1961, flanked by Xiong Bingkun, a commander in the [[Wuchang Uprising]], and Lu Zhonglin, who took part in Puyi's expulsion from the Forbidden City in 1924.]]
In the 1960s, with encouragement from Chairman [[Mao Zedong]] and Premier [[Zhou Enlai]], and the public endorsement of the Chinese government, Puyi wrote his autobiography ''Wode Qian Bansheng'' ({{zh|c=我的前半生|p=Wǒdè Qián Bànshēng|w=''Wo Te Ch'ien Pan-Sheng''|l=The First Half of My Life}}; translated into English as ''From Emperor to Citizen'') together with Li Wenda, an editor at the People's Publishing Bureau. The ghostwriter Li had initially planned to use Puyi's "autocritique" written in Fushun as the basis of the book, expecting the job to take only a few months. He found the "autocritique" used such wooden language as Puyi confessed to a career of abject cowardice, noting over and over again that he had always done the easy thing rather than the right thing in the most leaden prose possible, that Li was forced to start anew to produce something more readable as he interviewed Puyi, taking him four years to write the book.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 318</ref> In this book (as translated into English and published by Oxford University Press), Puyi made the following statement regarding his testimony at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal:<ref name="From Emperor to Citizen: The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi">{{cite book|last=Pu Yi|title=From Emperor to Citizen: The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi|year=1988|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-282099-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fromemperortocit00puyi_0/page/329 329, 330]|author2=Jenner, W.J.F.|url=https://archive.org/details/fromemperortocit00puyi_0/page/329}}</ref>
{{quote|I now feel very ashamed of my testimony, as I withheld some of what I knew to protect myself from being punished by my country. I said nothing about my secret collaboration with the Japanese imperialists over a long period, an association to which my open capitulation after September 18, 1931 was but the conclusion. Instead, I spoke only of the way the Japanese had put pressure on me and forced me to do their will.
I maintained that I had not betrayed my country but had been kidnapped; denied all my collaboration with the Japanese; and even claimed that the letter I had written to Jirō Minami was a fake.<ref name="Two Homelands">{{cite book|last=Yamasaki|first=Tokoyo|title=Two Homelands |year=2007|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-2944-5|pages=487–495|author2=Morris, V Dixon }}</ref> I covered up my crimes in order to protect myself.}}
Many of the claims in ''From Emperor to Citizen'', like the statement that it was the Kuomintang who stripped Manchuria bare of industrial equipment in 1945–46 rather than the Soviets, together with an "unreservedly rosy picture of prison life", are widely known to be false, but the book was translated into foreign languages and sold well. Behr wrote:
<blockquote>The more fulsome, cliché-ridden chapters in ''From Emperor to Citizen'', dealing with Puyi's prison experiences, and written at the height of the Mao personality cult, give the impression of well-learned, regurgitated lessons.<ref>Behr 1987 p.320-321</ref></blockquote>
From 1963 onward, Puyi regularly gave press conferences praising life in the People's Republic of China, and foreign diplomats often sought him out, curious to meet the famous "Last Emperor" of China.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 323.</ref>
In an interview with Behr, Li Wenda told him that Puyi was a very clumsy man who "invariably forgot to close doors behind him, forgot to flush the toilet, forgot to turn the tap off after washing his hands, had a genius for creating an instant, disorderly mess around him".<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.314">Behr, 1987 p.314</ref> Puyi had been so used to having his needs catered to that he never entirely learned how to function on his own.<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.314"/> He tried very hard to be modest and humble, always being the last person to board a bus, which meant that he frequently missed the ride, and in restaurants would tell waitresses, "''You should not be serving me. I should be serving you''."<ref name="Behr, 1987 p.314"/>
During this period, Puyi was known for his kindness, and once after he accidentally knocked down an elderly lady with his bicycle, he visited her every day in the hospital to bring her flowers to make amends until she was released.<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 319">Behr 1987 p. 319</ref>
Puyi objected to Pujie's attempt to reunite with Lady Saga, who had returned to Japan, writing to [[Zhou Enlai|Zhou]] asking him to block Lady Saga from coming back to China, which led Zhou to reply: "The war's over, you know. You don't have to carry this national hatred into your own family."<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 320">Behr 1987 p. 320</ref> Behr concluded: "It is difficult to avoid the impression that Puyi, in an effort prove himself a 'remolded man', displayed the same craven attitude towards the power-holders of the new China that he had shown in Manchukuo towards the Japanese."<ref name="Behr 1987 p. 320"/>
==Death and burial==
[[Mao Zedong]] started the [[Cultural Revolution]] in 1966, and the youth militia known as the Maoist [[Red Guards (China)|Red Guards]] saw Puyi, who symbolised [[Imperial China]], as an easy target. Puyi was placed under protection by the local [[Public security bureau (China)|public security bureau]] and, although his food rations, salary, and various luxuries, including his sofa and desk, were removed, he was not publicly humiliated as was common at the time. The Red Guards attacked Puyi for his book ''From Emperor to Citizen'' because it had been translated into English and French, which displeased the Red Guards and led to copies of the book being burned in the streets.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 325.</ref> Various members of the Qing family, including Pujie, had their homes raided and burned by the [[Red Guards (China)|Red Guards]], but [[Zhou Enlai]] used his influence to protect Puyi and the rest of the Qing from the worst abuses inflicted by the Red Guard.<ref>Behr 1987 p. 324-325.</ref> Jin Yuan, the man who had "remodelled" Puyi in the 1950s, fell victim to the Red Guard and became a prisoner in Fushun for several years, while Li Wenda, who had ghostwritten ''From Emperor to Citizen'', spent seven years in solitary confinement.<ref>Behr 1987 p.325</ref> But Puyi had aged and his health began to decline. He died in Beijing of complications arising from [[kidney cancer]] and [[heart disease]] on 17 October 1967 at the age of 61.<ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |title=Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China And a Puppet for Japan, Dies. Enthroned at 2, Turned Out at 6, He Was Later a Captive of Russians and Peking Reds. |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0E10F93E5B107B93CBA8178BD95F438685F9 |quote=Henry Pu Yi, last Manchu emperor of China and Japan's puppet emperor of Manchukuo, died yesterday in Peking of complications resulting from cancer, a Japanese newspaper reported today. He was 61 years old. |agency=Associated Press in [[New York Times]] |date=19 October 1967 |accessdate=2007-07-21 }}</ref>
In accordance with the laws of the People's Republic of China at the time, Puyi's body was cremated. His ashes were first placed at the [[Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery]], alongside those of other party and state dignitaries. (This was the burial ground of imperial concubines and eunuchs prior to the establishment of the [[People's Republic of China]].) In 1995, as a part of a commercial arrangement, Puyi's ashes were transferred by his widow [[Li Shuxian]] to a new commercial cemetery named Hualong Imperial Cemetery (华龙皇家陵园)<ref>{{cite web|last=Ho|first=Stephanie|url=http://www.voanews.com/content/burial-plot-of-chinas-last-emperor-still-holds-allure-131546703/146507.html|title=Burial Plot of China's Last Emperor Still Holds Allure|work=VOA|access-date=2016-01-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206090147/http://www.voanews.com/content/burial-plot-of-chinas-last-emperor-still-holds-allure-131546703/146507.html|archive-date=2016-02-06|url-status=dead}}</ref> in return for monetary support. The cemetery is near the [[Western Qing Tombs]], {{convert|120|km|mi|abbr=on}} southwest of Beijing, where four of the nine Qing emperors preceding him are interred, along with three empresses and 69 princes, princesses and imperial concubines.<ref name="Forbidden City: The Great Within">{{cite book |last1=Courtauld |first1=Caroline |last2=Holdsworth |first2=May |last3=Spence |first3=Jonathan |title=Forbidden City: The Great Within |year=2008|page=132|publisher=Odyssey|isbn=978-962-217-792-5}}</ref>
==Awards and decorations==
;Qing Dynasty
{|
|-
|[[File:Ribbon_bar_of_the_Chinese_Order_of_the_Double_Dragon.svg|60px]]
|[[Order of the Double Dragon]]
|-
|}
;Manchukuo
{|
|-
|[[File:Manchukuo_Order_of_the_Orchid_Blossom_ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[Grand Order of the Orchid Blossom]]
|-
|[[File:Manchukuo_Order_of_the_Illustrious_Dragon_ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[Order of the Illustrious Dragon]]
|-
|[[File:Manchukuo_Order_of_the_Auspicious_Clouds_ribbon.svg|60px]]
|Order of the Auspicious Clouds
|-
|}
;Foreign
{|
|-
|[[File:Order_of_the_Most_Holy_Annunciation_BAR.svg|60px]]
|[[Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation]] ([[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]])
|-
|[[File:Cavaliere_di_gran_Croce_Regno_SSML_BAR.svg|60px]]
|[[Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]], 1st Class (Italy)
|-
|[[File:Cavaliere_di_Gran_Croce_OCI_Kingdom_BAR.svg|60px]]
|Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Crown of Italy]] (Italy)
|-
|[[File:JPN_Daikun'i_kikkasho_BAR.svg|60px]]
|Grand Cordon of the [[Order of the Chrysanthemum]] ([[Empire of Japan|Japan]])
|-
|[[File:JPN_Toka-sho_BAR.svg|60px]]
|[[Order of the Paulownia Flowers]] (Japan)
|-
|[[File:OrderofCarolI.ribbon.gif|60px]]
|[[Order of Carol I]] ([[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]])
|-
|}
==Family==
{{main|Family of Puyi}}
==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel | align = center
| boxstyle_1 = background-color: #fcc;
| boxstyle_2 = background-color: #fb9;
| boxstyle_3 = background-color: #ffc;
| boxstyle_4 = background-color: #bfc;
| boxstyle_5 = background-color: #9fe;
| 1 = [[Puyi]] (1906–1967)
| 2 = [[Zaifeng, Prince Chun|Zaifeng]] (1883–1951)
| 3 = [[Gūwalgiya Youlan|Youlan]] (1884–1921)
| 4 = [[Yixuan, Prince Chun|Yixuan]] (1840–1891)
| 5 = [[Liugiya Cuiyan|Cuiyan]] (1866–1925)
| 6 = [[Ronglu]] (1836–1903)
| 7 = Lady Aisin Gioro
| 8 = [[Daoguang Emperor]] (1782–1850)
| 9 = [[Imperial Noble Consort Zhuangshun]] (1822–1866)
| 10 = Deqing
| 12 = Changshou (d. 1852)
| 13 = Lady Uja
| 14 = Linggui (1815–1885)
| 15 = Lady Sun
| 16 = [[Jiaqing Emperor]] (1760–1820)
| 17 = [[Empress Xiaoshurui]] (1760–1797)
| 18 = Lingshou (1788–1824)
| 19 = Lady Weng
| 24 = Tasiha
}}
==Portrayal in media==
===Film===
* ''The Last Emperor'', a 1986 Hong Kong film (Chinese title 火龍, literally means ''Fire Dragon'') directed by [[Li Han-hsiang]]. [[Tony Leung Ka-fai]] played Puyi.
* ''[[The Last Emperor]]'', a 1987 film directed by [[Bernardo Bertolucci]]. [[John Lone]] played the adult Puyi.
* ''Aisin-Gioro Puyi'' (愛新覺羅·溥儀), a 2005 Chinese documentary film on the life of Puyi. Produced by [[China Central Television|CCTV]], it was part of a series of ten documentary films about ten historical persons.
* ''[[The Founding of a Party]]'', a 2011 Chinese film directed by [[Huang Jianxin]] and [[Han Sanping]]. Child actor Yan Ruihan played Puyi.
* ''[[1911 (film)|1911]]'', a 2011 historical film directed by [[Jackie Chan]] and Zhang Li. The film tells of the founding of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] when [[Sun Yat-sen]] led the [[Xinhai Revolution]] to overthrow the [[Qing dynasty]]. The five-year-old Puyi is played by child actor Su Hanye. Although Puyi's time on screen is short, there are significant scenes showing how the emperor was treated at court before his abdication at the age of six.<ref name="1911 movie">{{cite web|title=1911 Movie at IMDB|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772230/}}</ref>
===Television===
* ''[[The Misadventure of Zoo]]'', a 1981 Hong Kong television series produced by [[TVB]]. [[Adam Cheng]] played an adult Puyi.
* ''Modai Huangdi'' (末代皇帝; literally means ''The Last Emperor''), a 1988 Chinese television series based on Puyi's autobiography ''From Emperor to Citizen'', with Puyi's brother [[Pujie]] as a consultant for the series. [[Chen Daoming]] starred as Puyi.
* ''Feichang Gongmin'' (非常公民; literally means ''Unusual Citizen''), a 2002 Chinese television series directed by Cheng Hao. [[Dayo Wong]] starred as Puyi.
* ''Ruten no Ōhi – Saigo no Kōtei'' (流転の王妃·最後の皇弟; Chinese title 流轉的王妃), a 2003 Japanese television series about [[Pujie]] and [[Hiro Saga]]. Wang Bozhao played Puyi.
* ''Modai Huangfei'' (末代皇妃; literally means ''The Last Imperial Consort''), a 2003 Chinese television series. [[Li Yapeng]] played Puyi.
* Modai Huangdi Chuanqi (末代皇帝传奇; literally means ''The Legend of the Last Emperor''), a 2015 Hong Kong/China television collaboration (59 episodes, each 45 minutes), starring [[Winston Chao]]
===Video games===
*Puyi appears as "Aisin Gioro Puyi" in the 2016 [[World War II]] [[grand strategy]] [[Video Game|game]] ''[[Hearts of Iron IV]]'', by [[Paradox Interactive]], and is depicted as the [[absolute monarch]] of Manchukuo.
==Bibliography==
===By Puyi===
* The autobiography of Puyi – [[ghost-written]] by Li Wenda. The title of the Chinese book is usually rendered in English as ''From Emperor to Citizen''. The book was re-released in China in 2007 in a new corrected and revised version. Many sentences which had been deleted from the 1964 version prior to its publication were now included.
** {{cite book|script-title=zh:我的前半生|trans-title=The First Half of My Life; From Emperor to Citizen: The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Puyi|last1=Aisin-Gioro|first=Puyi|origyear=1964|year=2002|publisher=Foreign Languages Press|isbn=978-7-119-00772-4|language=zh|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/fromemperortocit00puyi}} – original
** {{cite book | title= The Last Manchu: The Autobiography of Henry Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China | last1= Pu Yi | first= Henry |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing | origyear= 1967| year= 2010 |isbn=978-1-60239-732-3}} – translation
===By others===
* {{cite book|last=Headland|first=Isaac Taylor|title=Court life in China|year=1909|publisher=F.H. Revell|url=http://www.romanization.com/books/courtlifeinchina/index.html|isbn=978-0-585-15029-1}}
*{{cite book|last=Fenby|first=Jonathan|title=Chiang Kai-shek China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost|publisher=New York: Carroll & Graf|year=2004|isbn=978-0786713189|url=https://archive.org/details/chiangkaishekchi00fenb}}
* {{cite book|last=Driscoll|first= Mark| title=Absolute Erotic, Absolute Grotesque: The Living, The Dead, and The Undead in Japan's Imperialism, 1895–1945| publisher=Durnham: Duke University Press| year=2010|isbn=978-0822347613}}
* [[Reginald Johnston|Johnston, Reginald Fleming]] (1934, 2008). ''[[Twilight in the Forbidden City]]''. Soul Care Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-9680459-5-4}}
* {{cite book|last=Li Shuxian|title=My Husband Puyi: Puyi yu wo / [Li Shuxian kou shu ; Wang Qingxiang zheng li ; Changchun shi zheng xie wen shi zi liao yan jiu wei yuan hui bian]|origyear=1984|year=2006|publisher=Chuan guo xin hua shu dian jing xiao|isbn=978-7-208-00167-1}}
:Puyi's fifth wife [[Li Shuxian]]. Memories of their life together were ghost written by Wang Qingxian. An English version translated by Ni Na was published by China Travel and Tourism Press.
* {{cite book|last=Behr|first=Edward|title=The Last Emperor |year=1987|location=Toronto|publisher=Futura|isbn=978-0-7088-3439-8}}
:Companion to Bernardo Bertolucci's film of the same name.
*{{cite book|last=Young|first= Louise| title=Japan's Total Empire: Manchuria and the Culture of Wartime Imperialism| publisher=Los Angeles: University of California Press| year=1998|isbn=978-0520219342}}
*{{cite book|last=Weinberg|first=Gerhard|title=A World In Arms A Global History of World War II |year=2005|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-61826-7}}
==See also==
{{Portal|China|History|World War II|Biography}}
* [[Chinese emperors family tree (late)]]
* [[Dynasties in Chinese history]]
* [[List of heads of regimes who were later imprisoned]]
* [[List of monarchs who lost their thrones in the 20th century]]
== Notes ==
{{notelist}}
== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}
=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |title = S.M. Ali, a Commemorative Volume |first1=S. M. |last1=Ali |first2=Fowzia |last2=Ally |first3=Syed Manzoorul |last3=Islam |year=1997 |publisher=S.M. Ali Memorial Committee |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0AJlAAAAMAAJ |isbn = |accessdate=10 March 2014 |ref = {{harvid||}} }}
* {{cite book |title = The Last Emperor |first=Edward |last=Behr |year=1987 |publisher=Futura |location=Toronto| ref = {{harvid||}} }}
* {{cite journal |title = Rule of Law in a Brave New Empire: Legal Rhetoric and Practice in Manchukuo |first=Thomas |last=Dubois |journal= Law and History Review |year=2008 |volume= 26 | issue=Summer 2008 |pages=285–319 |doi=10.1017/S0738248000001322 |ref = {{harvid||}} }}
* {{cite book |title = Park Chung Hee and Modern Korea The Roots of Militarism, 1866–1945 |first=Carter |last=Eckert |year=2016 |publisher= Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge| ref = {{harvid||}} }}
* {{cite book |title = The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China|first=Mark C. |last=Elliott |volume= |edition=illustrated, reprint |year=2001 |publisher = Stanford University Press |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_qtgoTIAiKUC |isbn = 978-0804746847 |accessdate=10 March 2014 |ref = {{harvid||}} }}
* {{cite book |title= Emperor Qianlong: Son of Heaven, Man of the World |first=Mark C. |last=Elliott |year=2009 |publisher= Longman |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=WpsMAQAAMAAJ |isbn= 978-0321084446 |accessdate= 10 March 2014 |ref= {{harvid||}} }}
* {{cite book |title = The Origins of the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific |first= Akira |last= Iriye |year=1987 |publisher= Longman |location= London |isbn = 978-0582493490 |ref= {{harvid||}} }}
* {{cite book |title= From Emperor to Citizen: The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi |author=Puy |first2= William John Francis |last2=Jenner |translator = [[William John Francis Jenner]] |edition = illustrated, reprint |year=1987 |publisher= Oxford University Press |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=RZNxAAAAMAAJ |isbn = 978-0192820990 |accessdate = 10 March 2014 |ref = {{harvid||}} }}
* {{cite journal |title= "Saint Joan" From A Chinese Perspective: Shaw and the Last Emperor, Henry Pu-Yi Aisin-Gioro |first=Kay |last=Li |journal= Shaw |volume=29 |issue=2009 |pages= 109–126 |ref= {{harvid||}} }}
*{{cite book |title= The Russian Fascists Tragedy and Farce in Exile 1925–45 |author=Stephan |first=John |year=1978 |publisher= Harper & Row |isbn=978-0-06-014099-1 |ref = {{harvid||}} }}
* {{cite book |title= The Last Manchu: The Autobiography of Henry Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China |author=Henry Pu Yi |editor-first=Paul |editor-last=Kramer |year=2013 |publisher= Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ivYsAgAAQBAJ |isbn= 978-1626367258 |accessdate= 10 March 2014 |ref = {{harvid||}} }}
{{refend}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Pu Yi|<br />Pu Yi}}
* {{cite web |title= Five Wives of The Last Emperor Puyi |url= http://history.cultural-china.com/en/48History6760.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091215215941/http://history.cultural-china.com/en/48History6760.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 15 December 2009 |publisher= Cultural China |accessdate= 9 August 2010 |df = }}
* [http://www.royalty.nu/Asia/China/PuYi.html Royalty.nu: Extended Bio]
* [http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/99/0927/gardens.html ''TIME'': Last Emperor's Humble Occupation]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051210051247/http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/55/045.html Li Xin, Pu Yi's Widow Reveals Last Emperor's Soft Side]
* [http://www.art-virtue.com/painting/history/ching/PuRu/bio-PuRu.htm Pu Ru (溥儒), Pu Yi's cousin, accomplished Chinese brush painter and calligrapher]
* {{PM20|FID=pe/003237}}
*[[The Last Emperor|The Last Emperor, Film 1987]]
{{S-start|noclear=1}}
{{S-hou|[[Aisin-Gioro|House of Aisin-Gioro]]|7 February|1906|17 October|1967}}
{{S-reg|}}
{{S-bef
| before = [[Guangxu Emperor]]
}}
{{S-ttl
| title = [[Emperor of China]]<br>[[List of emperors of the Qing dynasty|Emperor of the Qing dynasty]]
| years = 2 December 1908 – 12 February 1912
}}
{{S-non
| reason = Position abolished<br />{{nobold|{{small|[[Qing dynasty]] was ended in 1912}}}}
}}
|-
{{S-new
| reason = [[Manchukuo]] was created in 1932
}}
{{S-ttl
| title = [[Chief Executive of Manchukuo]]
| years = 9 March 1932 – 28 February 1934
}}
{{S-non
| reason = Position abolished<br />{{nobold|{{small|[[Manchukuo]] became an empire in 1934}}}}
}}
|-
{{S-new
| reason = [[Manchukuo]] became an empire in 1934
}}
{{S-ttl
| title = [[Emperor of Manchukuo]]
| years = 1 March 1934 – 15 August 1945
}}
{{S-non
| reason = Position abolished<br />{{nobold|{{small|[[Manchukuo]] was ended in 1945}}}}
}}
|-
{{S-hou|[[Aisin-Gioro|House of Aisin-Gioro]]|7 February 1906||17 October 1967}}
{{S-pre}}
{{S-bef
| before = [[Guangxu Emperor]]
}}
{{S-tul|title=[[Aisin Gioro|Head of Aisin Gioro family]]|years=1908–1967}}
{{S-aft
| after = [[Pujie]]
}}
{{S-end}}
{{Head of Aisin Gioro}}
{{Qing emperors}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puyi}}
[[Category:Puyi| ]]
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:1967 deaths]]
[[Category:1900s in China]]
[[Category:1910s in China]]
[[Category:20th-century Chinese monarchs]]
[[Category:Child rulers from Asia]]
[[Category:Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan]]
[[Category:Chinese fascists]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in the People's Republic of China]]
[[Category:Deaths from kidney cancer]]
[[Category:Emperors from Beijing]]
[[Category:Heads of government who were later imprisoned]]
[[Category:Heads of state of former countries]]
[[Category:Heads of state of unrecognized or largely unrecognized states]]
[[Category:Monarchs who abdicated]]
[[Category:People of Manchukuo]]
[[Category:People of the 1911 Revolution]]
[[Category:People's Republic of China politicians from Beijing]]
[[Category:Members of the 4th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference]]
[[Category:Qing dynasty emperors]]
[[Category:Qing dynasty Buddhists]]
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[[Category:Rulers deposed as children]]
[[Category:World War II political leaders]]
[[Category:World War II prisoners of war held by the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Monarchs imprisoned and detained during war]]
[[Category:Republic of China people born during Qing]]
[[Category:Heads of state convicted of war crimes]]
[[Category:Fascist rulers]]
[[Category:Dethroned monarchs]]' |