For the rapid changes in historical development, Stalin once lamented: ""
There is nothing eternal in the world, everything is changing, everything is developing. ''
However, in the trend of history, many things will be eliminated at the same time as development, and the feudal dynasty that has existed in Chinese history for more than three thousand years will eventually perish in such an era change. As the last emperor in Chinese history, the life of Ai Xinjueluo Puyi also became turbulent and displaced in such a specific historical environment.
"The Emperor of the Qing Dynasty" and the "Puppet Emperor" are often puyi's first impressions left on posterity, but in such a chaotic and complicated change of dynasties, the situation of the ""loser" emperor of the Qing Dynasty also makes us sympathize and understand. In the last years of the Qing Dynasty, Puyi's reign was also very short, he had ascended the throne twice, but neither lasted long, and even his second reign was not more than half a month.
He ascended the throne at the age of three and first learned about the government
After the "Penghu Reform Law" in 1909, Empress Dowager Cixi decided to abolish the Guangxu Emperor for her own benefit, and after much deliberation, chose Puyi, who was less than three years old at the time, to ascend the throne as emperor. Puyi, who is still young and ignorant of the world, has become an emperor in such a confused way, and it is not difficult for us to imagine: a three-year-old child is at the age of first understanding the world.
It was supposed to have had an innocent, carefree childhood
However, he fell prey to the chaotic court battles, which undoubtedly had a huge impact on his young mind.
In this way, although he was the nominal emperor, he was actually only a tool for Empress Dowager Cixi to take power.
Soon after, Empress Dowager Cixi died, how could this young and ignorant child manage the vast dynastic state? During this period, there was inevitably chaotic struggle and interference among the various factions of the imperial court, and various problems also appeared within the dynasty at this time, and social contradictions were further planned. Coupled with the further deepening of the western aggressive forces, the rule of the Qing Dynasty at this time has been in turmoil, and under the impact of such contradictions, the huge dynasty finally collapsed suddenly overnight.
Dynasties declined and families were destroyed
In the third year of Puyi's reign, the Wuchang Uprising broke out, which dealt a heavy blow to the qing dynasty in the last days. The already fragmented dynastic rule, under the joint blow of such contradictions between the East and the West, finally withered away in the tide of the development of the times.
In 1912, with the establishment of the Republic of China, Puyi also announced his formal abdication.
At this time, Puyi was only six years old, and he experienced such the pain of losing his family and destroying the country.
Perhaps the six-year-old child at that time did not perceive what it meant to change the dynasty, he only knew that his life had changed as a result, and even his abdication edict was issued in the name of the empress.
Although Puyi has abdicated,
However, the government of the Republic of China at that time still gave many preferential conditions to the dynastic nobles
。 Not only did he agree to Puyi's temporary residence in the Forbidden City, but also gave his family a certain amount of material compensation every year, and Puyi still lived a luxurious life. This is, Puyi's life is still quite relaxed and comfortable, and he also entered a private school to start studying. There was even a famous master of traditional Chinese studies, Wang Guowei, who gave lectures to his professor, but his learning content was still mainly based on the four books and five classics in ancient times, and he did not come into contact with too many modern things, nor did he learn advanced Ideas and Concepts in the West.
In the sixth year of the Republic of China, Zhang Xun was restored, and Puyi once again ascended to the position of emperor. This time Puyi was not so lucky, after just twelve days of reign, Puyi was once again ousted from the throne. During this restoration struggle, the Forbidden City was also partially destroyed by bombs. Perhaps this is also the first time that Puyi has truly seen the cruelty of war, and his short and stable life has finally been broken.
War is approaching, puppet emperor
The arrogance of the war is gradually approaching the city of Beijing, and Puyi's life has become a mess. Due to the deepening of the Northern Expedition, the Kuomintang lost its powerful patron, and after experiencing the Beijing coup, Puyi was finally forced to leave the Forbidden City. In this way, he also lost the environment on which he depended and was displaced by the smoke of war. At the same time, this is also an important turning point in Puyi's life.
The homeless Puyi later fell into the conspiracy of the Japanese army, and after he was forced to abdicate and the restoration failed, the Japanese side threatened to "take in Puyi", in fact, under such a guise to deepen the aggression against China. In the twenty-third year of the Republic of China, the Japanese army occupied the three northeastern provinces, established the puppet state of Manchukuo, and pushed Puyi to the throne of the puppet state of Manchukuo. That's it
Puyi once again became a "puppet emperor",
It became a tool for the Japanese to control the regime to realize its aggressive plot.
Life under the steps, labor reform body is correct
Later, Puyi was captured by the Soviet Union in the War of Resistance Against Japan, and in this way, a generation of emperors became prisoners of other countries. Even so, he still received relatively generous treatment in prison with his special status,
There were even many requests to remain in the SOVIET Union
。 In 1950, Puyi was extradited back to China on the advice of the Soviet government. After returning to China, Puyi did not continue to enjoy the privileges of being a nobleman, but was sent to Lushun to begin his nearly ten years of labor reform.
In the labor reform, Puyi was able to transform himself in a calm and down-to-earth living environment, and this labor reform had a great impact on his life. It was also in his labor reform that
He began writing his autobiography, The First Half of My Life.
This work not only describes his fluctuating past life, but also reflects the decline and demise of a feudal dynasty in the context of a specific era. This is also of great significance to the study of the history of the Qing Dynasty in later generations, and this work has been adapted into film and television works many times.
For the rest of your life, ordinary life
After the founding of New China, Puyi, who was in the midst of labor reform, still received amnesty and began to live as an ordinary person. In 1960, he began his career at the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences with a letter of introduction. In fact, he is doing ordinary and ordinary work, from pouring water to watering flowers to cleaning, he has done all kinds of dirty work, and he also experiences the life of ordinary people in such a work life.
Coupled with the fact that Puyi was not well educated, his life was even more difficult.
Puyi was greedy when he was young, and even forgot to eat because of play, let alone study.
Whether it is Chinese or Manchu, it is a mess. As a generation of emperors, but without deep cultural skills, it is inevitable that people will feel embarrassed. Perhaps it is precisely for this reason that Puyi's second half of life was buried in the ordinary and lived an extremely ordinary life.
Even when he needed to register for marriage, the staff handed the information form to Puyi, and the illiterate Puyi just stared at the desktop. This also made the staff feel quite embarrassed and embarrassed, the staff thought that he was a farmer illiterate,
When the staff asked for the address and name, Puyi said that he lived in the Forbidden City, and people were startled and stood up to ask for his name.
At that time, the Forbidden City had become the Forbidden City, which of course could not be filled in the household registration book as a home address.
And when the staff asked about the level of education, Puyi could not answer,
He confided the names of all his teachers, and even the master of traditional Chinese studies, Wang Guowei, was once his teacher.
The staff who had considered several times finally filled in the column of Puyi's education level
junior high school
And the former emperor ended up only getting a junior high school education.