Puyi (1906–1967) was chosen to lead China when he was only two years old. Taken from his parents, he was brought to the Forbidden City and crowned as the Xuantong Emperor. Thousands of eunuchs and servants would kneel before him, yet he was a lonely child who was never allowed to leave the palace walls or interact with the outside world.
In 1912, when Puyi was only six, the Xinhai Revolution ended the Qing Dynasty. China became a Republic, and the boy-emperor was forced to abdicate (give up) his throne. However, a "Articles of Favourable Treatment" allowed him to keep his title and live in the northern half of the Forbidden City, while the new government managed the country from the southern half.
For the next twelve years, Puyi lived a strange, sequestered life. Inside the Inner Court, it was as if the Revolution never happened—servants still treated him as a god. But outside the gates, China was changing rapidly. He began to learn English from a tutor named Reginald Johnston, who gave him his first bicycle and introduced him to Western ideas.
In 1924, a warlord named Feng Yuxiang took control of Beijing. He ignored the old agreements and gave Puyi just three hours to leave the Forbidden City forever. Puyi fled to the Japanese-controlled area of Tianjin, leaving behind the only home he had ever known. For the first time in 500 years, the palace was without an Emperor.
In the 1930s, the Japanese military invaded northeast China (Manchuria). They invited Puyi to become the leader of a new state called Manchukuo. Puyi agreed, hoping to restore the Qing Dynasty. In reality, he had no power and was a "puppet" used by the Japanese to make their occupation look legal to the world.
At the end of World War II in 1945, the Soviet Union captured Puyi as he tried to flee to Japan. He was eventually returned to the new Communist government of China. Instead of being executed, he was sent to the Fushun War Criminals Management Centre, where he spent ten years learning how to take care of himself, dress, and clean—skills he never learned as an Emperor.
In 1959, Puyi was granted a special pardon. He returned to Beijing, but not as a king. He lived as a regular citizen and took a job as a gardener at the Beijing Botanical Garden. He even visited the Forbidden City as a tourist, having to buy a ticket to enter his own former home. He later worked as a researcher and writer for the government.
Puyi died in Beijing in 1967 due to complications from kidney cancer. Unlike the emperors before him who were buried in massive, secret imperial tombs with gold and jewels, Puyi was initially cremated. His life story remains one of the most incredible "rags-to-riches-to-rags" tales in history, marking the true end of ancient China.
Analyze the text to answer the following questions.
1. Vocabulary: In Section 5, why is Puyi described as a "puppet" emperor?
2. Turning Points: Compare Puyi's life in the Forbidden City before 1924 to his life in Beijing after 1959.
3. Inference: How did Reginald Johnston (Section 3) influence Puyi’s perspective of the world?
4. Analysis: Why was it symbolic that Puyi had to "buy a ticket" to enter the Forbidden City in his later life?