The Qing Dynasty is dead, who is to blame? This issue has caused widespread controversy. Most people would point the finger at the Empress Dowager Cixi, who wielded enormous power in the late Qing Dynasty. However, Pu Yi mentioned another person by name in his memoirs, arguing that Yuan Shikai was to blame for the fall of the Qing dynasty.
As an important strategist and military strategist in the late Qing Dynasty, Yuan Shikai had a profound impact on the fate of the Qing Dynasty. After the Xinhai Revolution, he sought to restore the rule of the Qing Dynasty and established an auxiliary government dedicated to the restoration of the emperor. However, Yuan Shikai's selfish ambition for power led to the complete collapse of the Qing Dynasty.
Pu Yi recalled that on his deathbed, Yuan Shikai revealed to him some truths about the fall of the Qing Dynasty. Yuan Shikai admitted his mistake by admitting that in the late Qing Dynasty, his desire to become the ruler of the empire led to his collusion with the Empress Dowager Cixi. Yuan Shikai originally hoped that by cooperating with the Empress Dowager Cixi, he would be able to inherit the throne after the death of the Empress Dowager Cixi and become the monarch of the new Qing Dynasty.
However, Yuan Shikai was frustrated by his collusion with the Empress Dowager Cixi, and he failed to become the ruler of the Qing Dynasty as he wished. This made Yuan Shikai disappointed and angry, and he turned to cooperate with Sun Yat-sen of the Xinhai Revolution. Although Yuan Shikai eventually became the provisional president of the Republic of China, his destructive role within the Qing Dynasty cannot be ignored.
Yuan Shikai's ambitions eventually led to the success of the Xinhai Revolution, but he did not become China's savior. On the contrary, the way he ruled after becoming the provisional president of the Republic of China led to a series of civil strife and conflicts, plunging him into chaos. The foundations of Qing rule had been shaken, and Yuan Shikai's lust for power further weakened the Qing's influence.
Thus, from Puyi's point of view, the Qing dynasty died from Yuan Shikai's lustful power and conspiracy with the Empress Dowager Cixi. Yuan Shikai's exploitation of the Qing Dynasty and the betrayal of the Xinhai Revolution plunged the Qing Dynasty into an irreparable predicament. Although Empress Dowager Cixi, as the last empress to hold real power, also bears some responsibility for the decline of the Qing Dynasty, Yuan Shikai's betrayal is the real culprit.
However, controversy remains about the hands of whom the Qing dynasty fell. Some people believe that the fall of the Qing Dynasty was a historical inevitability, the end of an era, and could not be blamed on individual figures. They believed that the Qing Dynasty itself had many inherent shortcomings and contradictions, and could not adapt to the changes at home and abroad at that time, so it eventually came to an end.
In any case, the long-standing controversy over who died in the Qing Dynasty also reflects the different interpretations and understandings of historical events. However, both the Empress Dowager Cixi and Yuan Shikai took on important roles in history and had a profound impact on the fate of the Qing Dynasty. We should examine and study this period of history objectively in order to have a deeper knowledge and understanding of history.