Ancient Chinese moral standards required women to "three from four virtues." On marriage issues, women have little autonomy and it is always the man who has the final say. When the relationship between husband and wife broke down and the marriage came to an end, it was often the man who divorced his wife, and never the woman who divorced the husband- let alone the concubine who divorced the emperor.
However, during the Republic of China period, there was a concubine who publicly issued a statement in the newspaper asking for a divorce from the last emperor Puyi, which caused a sensation. This concubine is called Wen Xiu.
Born in 1909, Wen Xiu was a Manchurian yellow flag bearer, whose roots were Miao Hong, and who also came from a family of official eunuchs. In 1922, Wen Xiu, who was not yet 14 years old, was elected to the imperial palace and became a concubine of the last emperor Puyi, and was given the title of Lady Concubine. At that time, the Qing Dynasty had already collapsed, and Puyi and others temporarily lived in the Forbidden City according to preferential conditions, maintaining the posture of a small imperial court.
At the beginning of entering the palace, Wen Xiu's relationship with Puyi was acceptable. But with the passage of time, the relationship between the two has a gap. Wen Xiu received a school education when he was a child and had a certain amount of knowledge. During the Republic of China period, the concept of equality between men and women gradually became popular. Wen Xiu began to pursue an equal married life.
In 1924, after Puyi was expelled from the Forbidden City by Feng Yuxiang, he left Beijing and moved to the Japanese Concession in Tianjin to live in Japan. Wen Xiu was greatly worried about this, and often advised Puyi not to trust the Japanese. Puyi did not listen to the advice, but instead hated Wen Xiu and often spoke ill of her. Wen Xiu washed his face with tears all day, and also stabbed himself in the abdomen with scissors on the night of Chinese New Year's Eve one year, intending to commit suicide.
After Puyi knew, he did not go to see Wenxiu, but he said angrily: "She used to use this trick to scare people, and no one should pay attention to her." ”
Wen Xiu became more and more disappointed in Puyi. On August 25, 1931, Wenxiu moved out of Puyi's residence, and then published a public newspaper declaring that he wanted to divorce Puyi, and also hired three lawyers, Zhang Shaozeng, Zhang Shijun, and Li Hongyue, to file a complaint with the court: "Accuse Puyi of abusing Wenxiu and making it unbearable." Puyi was physically ill and lived together for nine years, but he was not lucky. Decided to divorce and demanded 500,000 yuan for personal daily clothing and alimony. ”
This is the "knife and concubine revolution" that has been rumored to be boiling over. Newspapers in Beijing, Tianjin and other places caught such "explosive" news, and naturally wanted a "stir-fry" to make Puyi lose face.
Wen Xiu's move, which was nothing more than a groundbreaking move at the time, caused great controversy. Wen Xiu, a brother of Wen Xiu's clan, published an article in the newspaper accusing her, "And Emperor Manyunxun (Puyi) did not abuse Ru, that is, if he was indeed ill-treated, he should endure death in Ru to repay the kindness of the qing room." This means that even if Puyi really abused Wenxiu, Wenxiu should also endure.
Wen Xiu unceremoniously used the laws of the Republic of China as a basis for replying to the letter to fight back: "Because my sister lived alone for nine years and did not receive equal treatment, she entrusted a lawyer to negotiate a way to live elsewhere, but this only required Emperor Sun (Puyi) to give humane treatment in accordance with the laws of the Republic of China, and not to let the remains of her parents be humiliated to death by extrajudicial humiliation." Unexpectedly, my brother repeatedly accused my sister of running away, divorcing her, and cheating money..." Under Wenxiu's reasoned and well-founded counterattack, more people sympathized with and understood Wenxiu.
On October 22, 1931, Puyi and Wenxiu signed a divorce agreement. After the divorce, Puyi paid Wenxiu 55,000 yuan as alimony.
55,000 yuan was also a huge amount of money in the 1930s. However, Wen Xiu paid the lawyer's fees, was cheated out of a sum by Yu Fen, the daughter of his distant cousin Yu Zhang, and then thanked the relatives and friends who helped, only 26,000 yuan was left. This money, no matter what, can not live the second half of life, Wen Xiu can only find another life.
In 1932, after Wenxiu changed his name to Fu Yufang, he became a teacher of Chinese language and drawing in a private primary school in Beiping. Wen Xiu liked the job and had a great time with the children. But I don't know how to do it, after the tabloid reporters found out about her whereabouts, they came to interview and report. Wen Xiu was so annoyed that he quit his job as a teacher, bought a bungalow in Liu Hai Hutong in Beiping, and lived a secluded life with his sister Wen Shan.
After Wen Shan got married, she moved out. As a weak woman, Wen Xiu was often blackmailed by bad people and became a poor person. She had to sell her house in Bangs Alley and rent another house to live in. In order to make a living, she pasted cartons, set up a cigarette stand, and worked as a coolie in the bricklayers' team, and tasted the hardships of life.
In 1945, under the introduction of a friend, Wen Xiu came to the North China Daily as a proofreader and lived a relatively stable life. The president of the North China Daily, Zhang Mingwei, is very concerned about Wenxiu's life, and also helps her matchmaking and marries her cousin Liu Zhendong. Liu Zhendong was a native of Henan, and after becoming a soldier, he was gradually promoted to major officer because he was willing to bear hardships and stand hard work.
In the summer of 1947, the 36-year-old Wen Xiu married Liu Zhendong, who was in his 40s, and began the second marriage of his life. After marriage, they rented 3 houses in Baimi Xie Street in the Xicheng District of Beiping and settled down.
By the way, from 1907 to 1909, Zhang Zhidong, a famous minister of the late Qing Dynasty, spent the last two years of his life on Baimi Xie Street.
On September 18, 1953, Wen Xiu died at home at the age of 44 due to a sudden myocardial infarction. At that time, Puyi was still studying and reforming at the Fushun War Criminals Management Center.