Puyi

Puyi 溥儀
Puyi c. 1930–1940
Emperor of the Qing dynasty
First reign	2 December 1908 – 12 February 1912
Predecessor	Guangxu Emperor
Successor	Monarchy abolished
Regent	Zaifeng (1908–1911) Empress Dowager Longyu (1911–1912)
Prime Ministers	Yikuang Yuan Shikai
Second reign	1 – 12 July 1917[a]
Prime Minister	Zhang Xun
Emperor of Manchukuo
Reign	1 March 1934 – 17 August 1945
Predecessor	Himself (as Chief Executive)
Successor	Position abolished
Prime Minister	Zheng Xiaoxu Zhang Jinghui
Chief Executive of Manchukuo
In office 18 February 1932 – 28 February 1934
Prime Minister	Zheng Xiaoxu
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Himself (as Emperor)
Born	(1906-02-07)7 February 1906 Prince Chun's Mansion, Beijing, China
Died	17 October 1967(1967-10-17) (aged 61) Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China
Burial	Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery, later reburied in the Hualong Imperial Cemetery, Yi County, Hebei
Consorts	Gobulo Wanrong ​ ​ (m. 1922; died 1946)​ Erdet Wenxiu ​ ​ (m. 1922; div. 1931)​ Tan Yuling ​ ​ (m. 1937; died 1942)​ Li Yuqin ​ ​ (m. 1943; div. 1957)​ Li Shuxian ​ (m. 1962)​
Era dates Qing Xuantong (宣統; 1909–1912, 1917) Manchukuo Datong (大同; 1932–1934) Kangde (康德; 1934–1945)
House	Aisin-Gioro
Dynasty	Qing (1908–1912, 1917) Manchukuo (1932–1945)
Father	Zaifeng, Prince Chun of the First Rank
Mother	Gūwalgiya Youlan
Seal[b]

This article contains Manchu text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Manchu alphabet.

Puyi^[c] (7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967) was the last emperor of China, reigning as the eleventh and final monarch of the Qing dynasty. In 1908, when the Guangxu Emperor died without an heir, Empress Dowager Cixi picked his nephew Puyi, aged two, to succeed him as the Xuantong Emperor. Puyi's father, Zaifeng, Prince Chun, served as regent for his son before Puyi was forced to abdicate in 1912 as a result of the Xinhai Revolution, which ended two millennia of imperial rule and established the Republic of China.

The Empress Dowager Longyu signed the Imperial Edict of the Abdication of the Qing Emperor on Puyi's behalf, and in return the royal family was offered the Articles of Favorable Treatment, which allowed him to retain his imperial title and continue to live in the Forbidden City. From 1 to 12 July 1917, Puyi was briefly restored to the Qing throne by the loyalist general Zhang Xun, and in 1924 he was expelled from the capital by warlord Feng Yuxiang after a coup. Puyi found refuge in Tianjin, where he began to court both various warlords and the Japanese, who had long desired control of China. After the Japanese invaded Manchuria and established the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932, they installed Puyi as the state's chief executive.

In 1934, Puyi was declared emperor of Manchukuo and crowned under the era name "Kangde". He largely resided in the Manchukuo Imperial Palace in Changchun, where his personal life was closely watched by the Japanese. He never held any real power, only able to sign edicts that the Japanese gave him. At the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945, Puyi fled the capital and was captured by the Soviet Red Army. In 1946, he testified at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, and in 1950, was repatriated to the People's Republic of China. Puyi was then imprisoned and re-educated as a war criminal until his release in 1959.

After his release, Puyi wrote an autobiography (with the help of a ghostwriter) and became a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. His time in prison greatly changed him, and he expressed deep regret for his actions while he was emperor. He died in 1967 and was ultimately buried near the Western Qing tombs in a commercial cemetery. Puyi married five times, but had no children.
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