Puyi

Puyi 溥儀
Portrait of Puyi, c. 1930s–1940s
Emperor of the Qing dynasty
First reign	2 December 1908 – 12 February 1912
Predecessor	Guangxu Emperor
Successor	Monarchy abolished
Regents	Zaifeng, Prince Chun (1908–1911) Empress Dowager Longyu (1911–1912)
Prime Ministers	Yikuang, Prince Qing Yuan Shikai
Second reign	1 July 1917 – 12 July 1917[a]
Prime minister	Zhang Xun
Emperor of Manchukuo
Reign	1 March 1934 – 17 August 1945
Predecessor	Himself as Chief Executive of Manchukuo
Successor	Position abolished
Prime Minister	Zheng Xiaoxu Zhang Jinghui
Chief Executive of Manchukuo
In office	18 February 1932 – 28 February 1934
Predecessor	Position established
Successor	Himself as Emperor
Prime Minister	Zheng Xiaoxu
Born	(1906-02-07)7 February 1906 Prince Chun Mansion, Beijing, Qing China
Died	17 October 1967(1967-10-17) (aged 61) Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, People's Republic of China
Burial	Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery, later reburied in the Hualong Imperial Cemetery, Yi County, Hebei
Consorts	Wanrong ​ ​ (m. 1922; died 1946)​ Wenxiu ​ ​ (m. 1922; div. 1931)​ Tan Yuling ​ ​ (m. 1937; died 1942)​ Li Yuqin ​ ​ (m. 1943; div. 1957)​ Li Shuxian ​ (m. 1962)​
Era dates Qing Xuantong (宣統; 1909–1912, 1917) Manchukuo Datong (大同; 1932–1934) Kangde (康德; 1934–1945)
House	Aisin Gioro
Dynasty	Qing (1908–1912, 1917) Manchukuo (1932–1945)
Father	Zaifeng, Prince Chun
Mother	Gūwalgiya Youlan (biological) Empress Xiaodingjing (adoptive) Wang Lianshou (adoptive)
Seal[b]
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	溥儀
Simplified Chinese	溥仪
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Pǔyí Bopomofo ㄆㄨˇ ㄧˊ Wade–Giles Pʻu3-i2 Tongyong Pinyin Pǔ-yí IPA [pʰù.ǐ]
Xuantong Emperor
Traditional Chinese	宣統帝
Simplified Chinese	宣统帝
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xuāntǒng Dì Bopomofo ㄒㄩㄢ ㄊㄨㄥˇ ㄉㄧˋ Wade–Giles Hsüan1-tʻung3 Ti4 Tongyong Pinyin Syuan-tǒng Dì IPA [ɕɥɛ́n.tʰʊ̀ŋ tî] Yue: Cantonese Jyutping syun1 tung2 dai3 IPA [syːn˥ tʰoŋ˧˥ tɐi˧]

This article contains Manchu text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Manchu alphabet.

Puyi^[c] (7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967) was the final emperor of China, reigning as the eleventh and final monarch of the Qing dynasty. He became emperor at the age of two in 1908, but was forced to abdicate in 1912 as a result of Xinhai Revolution at the age of six. During his first reign, he was known as the Xuantong Emperor, with his era name meaning "proclamation of unity".

Puyi was briefly restored to the Qing throne by the loyalist general Zhang Xun from 1 July to 12 July 1917. He was first wed to Empress Wanrong in 1922 in an arranged marriage. In 1924, he was expelled from the Forbidden City and found refuge in Tianjin, where he began to court both the warlords fighting for control over parts of the weak Republic of China and the Japanese who had long desired control of China. The Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1932 resulted in the puppet state of Manchukuo being established by Japan, who chose Puyi to become its chief executive, using the era name "Datong".

In 1934, he was declared emperor of Manchukuo, prompting writer Wen Yuan-ning to quip that Puyi "holds the world's record for the number of times that any mortal may ascend and abdicate the throne."^[1] Puyi nominally reigned under the era name "Kangde" 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. During this period, he largely resided 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 surrender of Japan in 1945, Puyi fled the capital and was eventually captured by the Soviets who had occupied the country; he was extradited to the People's Republic of China in 1950. After his capture, he never saw his first wife again; she died of starvation in a Chinese prison in 1946.

Puyi was a defendant at the Tokyo Trials and was later imprisoned and re-educated as a war criminal for 10 years. After his release in 1959, he wrote his memoirs (with the help of a ghostwriter) and became a titular member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China. His time in prison greatly changed him, and he expressed deep regret for his actions while he was emperor. He died in 1967 and was ultimately buried near the Western Qing tombs in a commercial cemetery.

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