After the abdication of the last emperor, Puyi, he still lived in the Forbidden City for more than ten years, until he was expelled from the palace by Feng Yuxiang in 1924, and then traveled to many places and lived in exile for many years.
Puyi was later detained in the Fushun War Criminals Institute for ten years, but returned to Beijing after being granted amnesty in 1959, and because of his special status, the state took care of him, not only to solve his living problems, but also to transfer him to work in the botanical garden.
After working in the Botanical Garden for a year, Puyi was transferred to the Cultural and Historical Materials Research Committee, and then transferred several times, and in 1964 he joined the Central Museum of Culture and History as a librarian.
During his stay at the Museum of Culture and History, Guo Moruo learned of Puyi's arrival, and planned to invite him to serve as his assistant to conduct research on literary and historical materials, but Puyi only replied with five words "politely refused" after receiving the invitation.
Refused Guo Moruo's invitation
When Pu Yi entered the Museum of Culture and History, Guo Moruo was studying the historical materials of the Qing Dynasty, and when he learned that the former emperor came to the Museum of Culture and History to take office, he planned to ask Pu Yi to be his assistant, after all, in his opinion, Pu Yi would definitely know some history well and be able to help his academic research.
At this time, although Pu Yi was a librarian of the Museum of Culture and History, he did not make achievements in the academic field, but Guo Moruo did not mind, but valued his identity, and then sincerely invited Pu Yi to serve as an assistant.
In order to invite Puyi, Guo Moruo can be described as full of sincerity and promises to provide a high salary. It stands to reason that this is a good job, but when Puyi received the invitation, he did not show excitement, but was very flat, and I think it was also, decades of turbulence and displacement had already made him look down on everything.
Pu Yi did not let Guo Moruo wait for a long time, he quickly replied to Guo Moruo's five words, which directly dispelled Guo Moruo's idea of asking Pu Yi to be an assistant.
Because these five words are: I don't know Manchu.
As the emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Puyi did not understand Manchu, how could this not be said? However, Puyi did say so, and after receiving the reply, Guo Moruo understood what he meant.
But then again, does Puyi really not understand Manchu? Even if he can't read Manchu, he can always say a few words, right? Don't you always don't understand it at all?
Pu Yi did not understand Manchu
We can find the answer in Pu Yi's autobiography, My First Half of Life, in which Pu Yi clearly writes about his achievements in the Manchu language.
According to Puyi's self-statement, he knew some Manchu vocabulary, or he could say that he didn't speak fluently, stammered, and the most spoken word was "Yili", which means "flat", presumably this may have been an experience during his stay in the Forbidden City after abdication.
According to Pu Yi's own words, he is not ignorant of Manchu, but he cannot be said to be proficient, if you use one word to describe Pu Yi's Manchu level, it is probably "half a sandwich meal"?
But if we look at other historical sources, we will find that Pu Yi should have lied here, and according to the records in the "Diary of Prince Alcohol Zaifeng", Pu Yi systematically studied Manchu when he was a child.
The original text of the historical source is: As for Chinese Qingwen, it is the foundation of our dynasty, and I sent the named deputy capital Iktan to teach it at any time...
The "Chinese Qingwen" here naturally refers to Manchu, so we can learn that soon after Puyi ascended the throne, he was assigned to teach Manchu, and even after his abdication, Iktan still taught Puyi to learn Manchu in the Forbidden City.
Therefore, Pu Yi said in his autobiography that his Manchu text was extremely bad and not credible, but "My First Half of Life" was a "reflective" autobiography written by Pu Yi when he was in charge of war criminals, and he was still a war criminal at that time.
According to this calculation, Puyi should not lie in the book, after all, if reflection still uses lies, then there is no need for reflection.
In addition, in the Forbidden City, there are documentary records of successive emperors of the Qing Dynasty studying Manchu, as well as a manuscript written by Puyi while studying English while living in the Forbidden City after his abdication.
So Puyi should have mastered Manchu, so why did he say in his autobiography that his Manchu level was very bad? Even refused Guo Moruo's invitation on the grounds that "I don't understand Manchu"?
"Not Manchu" is really self-preservation
If you want to know the reason why Puyi said that he did not understand Manchu, you can combine his life experience to see that years of upheaval and life as a war criminal have made him develop a cautious and subtle character, and he will always act carefully.
Since the fall of the Qing Dynasty, Puyi's identity has become very sensitive, and he later established the puppet Manchukuo with the support of the Japanese, and made many mistakes during this period, which forced him to develop a vigilant character in the future.
During the period of Fushun war criminals, the reason why Pu Yi wrote the words "Manchu is extremely bad" in his autobiography is likely to represent Pu Yi at this time, who has decided to draw a line with the past, after all, he has received long-term ideological reform and education here, which may represent Pu Yi's determination.
After receiving the amnesty, Puyi also maintained this attitude, no longer had anything to do with the Manchu Qing, and said goodbye to the past completely, which can be seen from the fact that he married an ordinary Han woman.
When receiving Guo Moruo's invitation, Pu Yi may have considered problems and angles that we as bystanders could not imagine, although we have no way of knowing what Pu Yi considered after receiving the invitation at that time, but from his actual Manchu level, refusing the invitation on the grounds of "not understanding Manchu" should be a disguised shirk.
Combined with all aspects, Puyi's statement that he did not understand Manchu was most likely an act of self-protection for him, and this self-protection was very necessary in the sensitive and special context of the time.
Epilogue:
As the last emperor, the second half of Pu Yi's life should be considered very good among the last monarchs of previous dynasties, but after all, we are not Pu Yi, and we can't really look at the problem from his point of view, just like he said that he didn't understand Manchu, we were only speculating, and we couldn't fully understand his considerations, as for the real reason, maybe only he himself knew.
#历史开讲 #