Puyi one of the of the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan, commonly known as Pu Yi, was the last Emperor of China, the second-to-last Khan of Mongolia and the twelfth and final ruler of the Qing dynasty.
Background
Nephew of Emperor Guangxu, Puyi was selected successor to the ailing emperor by the Empress Dowager Cixi. Barely three years old when he was crowned as Emperor Xuantong in 1908, his father, Prince Chun, acted as the regent. The 1911 Revolution soon ended the Qing dynasty. Puyi abdicated on February 12, 1912, at the age of six. According to the agreement arranged by Yuan Shikai, the deposed emperor was allowed to live tem¬porarily in the Forbidden City, with an annual subsidy from the republican government.
Education
Puyi continued to live in the Forbidden City during the warlord years. It was in June 1917 when the loyalist warlord, Zhang Xun, restored the former Manchu emperor to the throne. Challenged by other warlords, Zhang and his army quickly left the capital. The abortive restoration lasted only 12 days. In 1924 during the second Zhili-Fengtian War, Feng Yuxiang drove the imperial family out of the Forbidden City. For half a year, Puyi and his entourage temporarily took residence in the Japanese embassy. In 1925 they quietly moved to the Japanese concession in Tianjin.
Career
In Tianjin, Puyi's advisers were divided on the prospect of a restoration. Chen Baochen, whom Puyi considered the most loyal man he ever knew, was pessimistic. A patriotic loyalist, Chen objected to seeking foreign help. Both Zheng Xiaoxu and Luo Zhenyu were ambitious. They were ready to enlist outside support for the restoration cause. Through different channels, Zheng and Luo had been making contacts with the Japanese. After the Manchurian Incident in September 1931, Doihara Kenji, head of the secret service of the Japanese Kwancung Army, paid a visit to Puyi and discussed the possibility of establishing a Manchurian state under his leadership. Chen Baochen opposed the proposal, while Zheng Xiaoxu favored it. Puyi decided to cast his lot with the Japanese and left for Port Arthur in November.
On March 7, 1932, Puyi became the chief executive of Manchukuo under the reign title of Datong. Two years later, he was installed as Emperor Kangde. His role as Japanese puppet ended with the defeat of Japan in 1945. Captured by Soviet troops, Puyi was imprisoned in Khabarovsk for five years, during which he served as a witness at the war crimes trial in Tokyo. In 1950 the Soviet government returned him to the People’s Republic of China. The former Manchukuo emperor spent nine more years in a reform prison in Harbin before his release. Living a new life as gardener in the Beijing botanical garden, Puyi died on October 17, 1967. His memoirs, drafted in the Harbin prison, were edited and published in Beijing in 1964 under the title of Wodi qian bansbeng (The First Half of My Life).