Summary of Henry Pu Yi's The Last Manchu

By IRB Media

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#1 I was the Emperor apparent of the Ch’ing Dynasty. I refused an imperial summons from the Forbidden City delivered by the Grand Councillor. My family was humiliated by my refusal to obey the imperial edict. However, I was told several years later that it was agreed to waive all protocol and allow my wet nurse to carry me to the palace.

#2 The first year of my reign showed the high officials the difficulties that were coming. The word defeat appeared frequently in the official history of the Ch’ing Dynasty, and the more times it appeared, the more it indicated the intensity of the approaching storm.

#3 The Wuchang uprising of October, 1911, had sparked off responses from revolutionaries all over the country, and when the Manchu commander in chief of the imperial forces proved incapable of directing the modernized Peiyang Army to resist the Republican forces, my father as Prince Regent had no choice but to recall Yuan Shih-kai from retirement.

#4 Yuan Shih-kai, the political favorite of all parties, was able to force my father, the Prince Regent, into retirement. He took over the palace treasury and compelled the high officials and princes to contribute money for the support of the Army.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822505469

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Insights on Henry Pu Yi's The Last Manchu

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I was the Emperor apparent of the Ch’ing Dynasty. I refused an imperial summons from the Forbidden City delivered by the Grand Councillor. My family was humiliated by my refusal to obey the imperial edict. However, I was told several years later that it was agreed to waive all protocol and allow my wet nurse to carry me to the palace.

#2

The first year of my reign showed the high officials the difficulties that were coming. The word defeat appeared frequently in the official history of the Ch’ing Dynasty, and the more times it appeared, the more it indicated the intensity of the approaching storm.

#3

The Wuchang uprising of October, 1911, had sparked off responses from revolutionaries all over the country, and when the Manchu commander in chief of the imperial forces proved incapable of directing the modernized Peiyang Army to resist the Republican forces, my father as Prince Regent had no choice but to recall Yuan Shih-kai from retirement.

#4

Yuan Shih-kai, the political favorite of all parties, was able to force my father, the Prince Regent, into retirement. He took over the palace treasury and compelled the high officials and princes to contribute money for the support of the Army.

#5

The Republican side decided that if Yuan Shih-kai agreed to a republic, they could achieve it quickly. They invited him to become the first president, and he agreed. However, he had been planning to abdicate in favor of his son, and he was now trying to frighten the royal family and the Empress Dowager Lung Yu so that they would consent to his abdication.

#6

I abdicated on February 12, 1912, and my father returned to his house. Yuan Shih-kai, meanwhile, was organizing a provisional republican government. The Republic of China was to pay me an annual allowance of $4,000,000, and I was to be allowed to retain my usual bodyguard.

#7

I was emperor of China from 1911 to 1924, when I was forced out by the National Army. I lived a purposeless and aimless life under the Republic of China. I was 10 when my grandmother and mother began to come to the palace to see me, and they brought one of my brothers and one of my sisters to play with me.

#8

I was used to people kneeling before me and touching their heads on the ground. I was used to the rank of Emperor and servant being restored when people bowed and spoke words of respect.

#9