Embroidery
In 1953, a 43-year-old woman died in Peicai Hutong, Xicheng, Beijing. The woman's name was Fu Yufang, but before she died, she kept telling her husband: "My name is Wen Xiu, and I was once the imperial concubine of the Qing Dynasty." ”
At this time, more than 40 years have passed since the fall of the Qing Dynasty, how can there still be an imperial concubine of the Qing Dynasty? The wife's name is obviously Fu Yufang, why is it called Wenxiu again? Her husband was puzzled by what she said on her deathbed.
In fact, this woman did not lie, she was indeed the last imperial concubine, Fu Yufang was just her scientific name, and her real name was Erdet Wenxiu. She was the first concubine in Chinese history to take the initiative to divorce the emperor.
Across the globe, in 1978, Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom became the first member of the British royal family to divorce, and in 2013, Japan's Empress Michiko announced through the Imperial Household Agency that she would not be buried with the emperor after her death, which was regarded as a silent rebellion of the commoner empress. In contrast, Shufei Wenxiu dared to divorce the emperor as early as the 1930s, a feat that could not be described as avant-garde.
At the age of 14, Wen Xiu became an imperial concubine
In the late nights of late November and early December 1922, two young girls were carried into the Forbidden City in palanquins. One of them was 14 years old, the other was 17 years old, still in ignorance, and had become a concubine and a queen of the last emperor Puyi. Wen embroidery is a concubine, and Wan Rong is a queen.
Although Puyi had abdicated at this time, the scenery that the emperor should have for the big wedding was not bad at all.
On February 12, 1912, Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, abdicated, and the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China for more than 260 years, came to an end. The Republic of China government allowed the Qing Emperor Puyi to retain the honorific title, Puyi and the harem temporarily lived in the Forbidden City, enjoying the annual support provided by the Republic of China government of 4 million taels, and the abdicated Puyi became the "Closed Door Emperor" in the Forbidden City.
The grand wedding cost 400,000 yuan, when the royal family's finances were already stretched, and all the funds were raised by the Qing Family to mortgage more than 40 boxes of precious cultural relics in the palace to the British HSBC Bank. In any case, the wedding was finally done in a beautiful way.
Wan Rong and Pu Yi
Empress Wanrong's family background is strong, and although Wenxiu is an aristocrat, the family has long declined. She is not very pretty, her figure is slightly plump, her nose is slightly "garlic", her face is not delicate enough, and she looks even more clumsy when standing next to the beautiful and delicate queen Wanrong. Empress Wanrong thought that her appearance was more beautiful than Wenxiu, and she was proud of herself in the main palace, and she was crazy and spoiled to Puyi, competing for favor and love, and she had to overpower Wenxiu everywhere.
WanRong advocated monogamy and opposed the emperor's concubines, so she always despised Lady Wenxiu. Wen Xiu could only live alone in changchun palace, with sad eyebrows and lonely lamps, and even eating alone.
Grace
Although the embroidery posture is inferior to the graceful appearance, she is a talented woman. Wen Xiu's grandfather, Xi Zhen, belonged to manchuria with a yellow flag and served as an official Shangshu. Wen Xiu entered primary school before the age of 7, she is talented, in the school, Chinese, arithmetic, drawing and music are excellent learning, deeply loved by teachers. Wen Xiu is very sensible, going to school during the day, helping his mother to do needlework at night, and he loves to read, and he sleeps under the oil lamp at night, reading himself as myopic eyes.
In "The First Half of My Life", Puyi mentioned that Wen Xiu had written an article "Deer in the Garden of Sorrows": "Spring is bright, red and green are full of gardens." Yu even walked in it, wandered to the heart, and shined Coke also. However, wild animals do not live in the house, so the deer are confined to their own, and the prisoners in the prison cannot be forgiven. Zhuang Ziyun: I would rather be born and drag my tail in Tuzhong than die as a bone for Guiye. "The elegant language shows that the ancient literary skills of wen embroidery are good, and it also reveals her personality that yearns for spiritual freedom."
The first imperial concubine to divorce the emperor
On November 5, 1924, he entered the palace as a concubine for less than two years, catching up with Feng Yuxiang's "forced palace incident". Puyi was ordered to move out of the palace immediately with his concubines and palace people to live in the Palace of Alcohol. Wen Xiu heard the news of "forcing the palace" and decided to die and bury qing, using scissors to pierce his throat, but fortunately was stopped by the eunuch, which almost led to a tragedy.
On February 24, 1925, Puyi's family and their cronies left Beijing and moved to Miyajima Street in the Japanese Concession of Tianjin, where they lived ——— Zhang Yuan's former villa, and later to Jingyuan in Xiechangli, Japanese Concession.
In the days of living in Zhang Garden, Wen Xiu was snubbed, she said: "Puyi and Wanrong live on the second floor, and I live in a room next to the Puyi reception hall downstairs. Although we live in the same building, no one interacts with anyone, like strangers on the road. WanRong chengtian placed the queen's big shelf, domineering. Puyi especially listened to her words, and I was treated coldly by the two of them. My relationship with Puyi is also getting worse and worse every day. "The out-of-favor Wenxiu was very miserable and lonely, suffering from neurasthenia and insomnia, and often read until dawn.
The snobbish eunuch and maid saw that Wenxiu did not have Puyi's favor, treated her coldly, and served her very unsatisfactorily. The eunuchs around Wanrong were favored by their masters and behaved wildly, even daring to face Wen Xiu with direct offense and evil words. After moving to Jingyuan, Puyi's control over Wenxiu was very strict, and Wenxiu was not allowed to take a step out of Jingyuan casually, and Wenxiu was completely put under house arrest by Puyi.
In 1930, the government of the Republic of China promulgated the Civil Code of the Republic of China, which clearly stipulated that voluntary divorce was allowed. Once Wen Xiu met his friend Yu Fen, the well-informed Yu Fen reminded Wen Xiu: "Now that it is the Republic of China era, Puyi has been thrown out of the palace again, he is no longer a 'little emperor', but also to abide by the law." According to the legal provisions of 'equality between men and women', you can ask a lawyer to write a complaint against Puyi for abusing his wife, fight a divorce lawsuit with him, and ask him for alimony. ”
Without love, wenxiu, who was restricted and suppressed by Puyi and Wanrong in various major and small things, was stubborn and had new ideas.
On August 25, 1931, Wen Xiu obtained Puyi's special permission, accompanied by his sister Wen Shan, under the guardianship of the eunuch Zhao Changqing, and took Puyi's car to Tianjin to relax. Where did Puyi think that this wandering was the beginning of Wen Xiu's liberation from his tragic fate. After Wen Xiu left Jingyuan by car, he instructed the driver to drive the car to the Minguo Hotel in Tianjin, got off the car and stayed in room 37, and then told the eunuch Zhao Changqing: "You go back by yourself first." The eunuch Zhao was confused, and Wen Xiu took out a letter that had been written long ago, asking Zhao Changqing to hand it over to Puyi, and relayed: "I will sue the emperor to the court and decide to divorce him." ”
Through Yu Fen and Wen Shan's appearance, Wen Xiu hired three lawyers, Zhang Shaozeng, Zhang Shijun and Li Hongyue, and filed a complaint with the court: "Accuse Puyi of abusing Wen Xiu 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. ”
The day after Wen Xiu escaped from Jingyuan, such a striking headline as "The Change of the Family of the Former Qing Dynasty Emperor" appeared on the prominent pages of major newspapers and periodicals in Tianjin. At that time, the "Guoqiang Bao" titled "Puyi Concubine Divorce" and said that this was "the first concubine revolution in thousands of years that the emperor's mansion broke the problem." Therefore, some people later called the divorce of Wen Xiuhua "Shufei Revolution". There are many people who support wen embroidery, and everyone runs to publicize it, putting Puyi in a very embarrassing situation. In the whole process of development, public opinion played a very crucial role.
People discussed the equality of men and women on this topic, criticized the polygamy that prevailed in society at that time, and for a time won the sympathy of the whole world, and people praised her courage and revolutionary spirit, and her move caused a shocking social impact.
Embroidery and grace
Wenxiu initially asked for alimony of 500,000 yuan, and later concessions to 150,000, and finally reached a fixed amount of 55,000, but it must be paid in one lump sum, and the procedures must be completed in the shortest possible time. After the divorce, Puyi did pay Wenxiu 55,000 yuan, allowing Wenxiu to take away the clothes and daily necessities he wore. He also asked Wen Xiu not to do anything that would damage Puyi's reputation after returning to live in Beiping's mother's home.
Wen Xiu and Puyi divorced, can be regarded as a miracle that broke the sky, the Ai Xin Jue Luo family ruled China for more than 200 years, there has never been an empress or imperial concubine who dares to challenge divorce, Wen Xiu is the first to propose, and the only successful. In order to maintain his face, the day after Puyi signed a divorce agreement with Wenxiu, he issued an edict: Abolish Shufei Wenxiu as a shuren. Having encountered such a face-damaging thing, Puyi still had to save some face for himself no matter what.
From the time he fled Jingyuan to the formal signing of the divorce agreement, Wen Xiu did not meet Puyi again. Just 19 days after Wen Xiu and Puyi completed the divorce procedures, Puyi boarded the Japanese wheel alone, fled to the northeast, and went to his puppet manchukuo, where he was anxious to turn to Japan and go to the northeast to "revive the great cause". Wen Xiu, on the other hand, went to Beijing.
The second half of his life of poverty
Wen Xiu was only 22 years old when she divorced Puyi, and she returned to Beijing from Tianjin, but by this time she had nowhere to go. His mother, Chiang, had died a few years earlier, and the courtyard he had been rewarded with had been sold privately by a relative of the family. At this time, the younger sister Wen Shan also broke off relations with her husband's family, and the sisters had to rent a house to live.
At the time of divorce, Wen Xiu received 55,000 yuan of alimony from Puyi, but after paying the lawyer's honorarium, the commission of the MiddleMan, the hotel room fee during the divorce and various personal expenses, wen Xiu only had 26,000 yuan left in his hands at this moment.
From 1932, Wen Xiu finally began a new life, and she restored Fu Yufang's scientific name. At the private Sicun Primary School on Beijing's Fuyou Street, he worked in a classroom, specializing in Chinese and drawing. She stopped eating lazy parasites and began to feed herself. Although life is no longer extravagant, her mood is happy.
The embroidery is beautifully written, the foundation of the Chinese language is good, and the students are very fond of this teacher. Originally, life was not alarming, who expected that a few months later, someone would know her identity as an imperial concubine, many newspaper reporters came to interview her, and there were good people who deliberately harassed her to see the style of the imperial concubine, and the chaotic onlookers made the school's teaching order chaotic, and also put Wenxiu in a very embarrassing situation. At the end of 1933, Wen Xiu had to quit his job.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Beijing fell, and the pseudo-police and security chief blackmailed her one after another, and after a few years, Wenxiu's life became more difficult. In order to survive, she did a lot of work, pasting packaging cartons, selling cigarettes in the streets and alleys of The Horse Street, working as a coolie in the tile team, and finally fainting on the street because she could not withstand heavy physical exertion.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the 36-year-old Wen Xiu was introduced to the North China Daily newspaper as a newspaper proofreader, and once again lived a self-supporting life, Wen Xiu cherished this job, very serious and conscientious, deeply won the weight of president Zhang Mingwei, Zhang Mingwei knew Wen Xiu's origin, was very sympathetic to her, and introduced his cousin Liu Zhendong to her. Liu Zhendong served as a major quartermaster under Li Zongren.
In 1947, Wenxiu married Liu Zhendong, at this time she was 36 years old, after marriage the husband and wife had a harmonious relationship, Wenxiu lived the happiest period of her life.
At the beginning of 1949, when Beijing was peacefully liberated, Liu Zhendong had been a Kuomintang officer, and his heart was panicked and wanted to flee to Taiwan, Wen Xiu persuaded him to stay, and frankly explained the historical problems. Two years later, because of Liu Zhendong's good performance, the Beijing municipal government lifted supervision of him and assigned him to the Xicheng District cleaning team as a worker. In order to facilitate work, Liu Zhendong moved to the West Exit of Peicai Hutong in Xicheng District.
Wan Rong and Pu Yi
Liu Zhendong changed from an officer to a worker, and with the change of his identity, Wenxiu's life changed from wealth to simplicity, and the couple frothed each other and lived an ordinary and happy civilian life together. Wen Xiu's health has always been bad, suffering from stomach disease, heart disease, in order to make a living, she once entrusted someone to introduce her to be a nanny, but people saw her face full of illness and refused to hire.
On September 18, 1953, Wen Xiu died at home due to myocardial infarction, and when Wen Xiu died, Liu Zhendong always stayed by her side. Wen Xiu was only 43 years old when he died. They were childless all their lives. Afterwards, Liu Zhendong's cleaning team helped nail a thin coffin with wooden planks and buried the embroidery in the righteous field outside the Anding Gate.
She was luckier than Wanrong
Perhaps compared with Wanrong, Wen Embroidery is already very lucky. Relying on her own struggle and efforts, she exchanged an ordinary life belonging to a normal person, and eventually became the master of her own destiny.
What about the Empress Wanrong?
Wanrong and Puyi worked together as puppets of the Japanese, and she was not willing to go on like this, and twice entrusted people to try to help her escape from the northeast. In May 1932, when she learned that Lytton's investigation team had arrived in Dalian, she wrote a secret letter to Gu Weijun and asked him to help her escape from Changchun. Another time was in August 1933, when the wife of Zhao Xinbo, the president of the puppet Manchurian National Court, went to Japan to see a doctor, and Wan Rong asked her to help her go to Japan to see a doctor. As a result, both escapes ended in failure.
Puyi
Without freedom of bitterness, coupled with Puyi's physical problems, she had an affair with Puyi's bodyguards, was beaten into the cold palace by Puyi, and Wanrong smoked a lot of cigarettes all day to anesthetize herself. After Japan's defeat and surrender, Puyi fled, but abandoned Wanrong, and finally Wanrong, who was already delirious, died in a mad way, and after death, the bones were nowhere to be found.
Puyi later recalled Wen Xiu and said with emotion: "Now that I think about it, fortunately, she divorced me as soon as possible, and later did not become wanrong's second." ”