Pujie

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Pujie, William
Prince Aisin-Gioro Pujie and Hiro Saga, 1937 wedding photo
Spouse Tangshixia
Lady Hiro Saga
Issue
Princess Huisheng
Princess Yunsheng
Full name
Aisin Gioro Pujie
愛新覺羅溥傑
Father Zaifeng
Mother Youlan
Born (1907-04-16)16 April 1907
Beijing, Qing Dynasty
Died 28 February 1994(1994-02-28) (aged 86)
Beijing, China
Zaifeng, Prince Chun with his eldest son Puyi on his left, and his second son Pujie on his lap. Photo taken in the end of 1907.

Aisin-Gioro Pujie (Chinese: 愛新覺羅溥傑 (Traditional), 爱新觉罗溥杰 (Simplified), Àixīnjuéluó Pǔjié ; Japanese: 愛新覚羅溥傑, Aishinkakura Fuketsu) (16 April 1907 – 28 February 1994) was born into the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan and was the younger brother of the last Emperor of China, Puyi. His English name is William.

Biography

Early life

Pujie was the second son of Zaifeng and his wife Youlan. As a child, he was brought to the Forbidden City in Beijing to be a playmate and classmate to his brother Puyi. A well-known incident recounted how the young Puyi threw a tantrum when he saw that the inner lining of one of Pujie's coats was yellow in colour, as yellow was traditionally a colour reserved only for the Emperor.[1]

In 1929, Pujie was sent to Japan for studies. He graduated from the Gakushuin Peers’ School and became fluent in the Japanese language. He then went on to the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, graduating in July 1935.

Pujie was first married in 1924 to a Manchu princess, Tangshixia(唐石霞), but they had no issue. He left his wife behind when he went to Japan for studies, and the marriage was dissolved some years later. After graduation from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, Pujie agreed to an arranged marriage with a Japanese noblewoman. Pujie selected Lady Hiro Saga (1914–1987), who was a relative of the Japanese Imperial Family, from a photograph from a number of possible candidates vetted by the Kwantung Army.[2] As his brother Puyi was without a direct heir, the wedding had strong political implications, and was aimed at both fortifying relations between the two nations and introducing Japanese blood into the Manchu imperial family.

The engagement ceremony took place at the Embassy of Manchukuo in Tokyo on 2 February 1937 with the official wedding held in the Imperial Army Hall at Kudanzaka, Tokyo, on 3 April. In October, the couple moved to Hsinking, the capital of Manchukuo, where Puyi was then the Emperor.

Manchukuo

As his elder brother Puyi had no children, Pujie was regarded as first in line to succeed to the Manchukuo throne, and the Japanese officially proclaimed him as heir apparent. However, he was not appointed by his brother as heir to the Qing dynasty,[citation needed] as imperial traditions stated that a childless emperor should choose his heir from one of the next generations of the family[citation needed]. While in Manchukuo, Pujie served as honorary head of the Manchukuo Imperial Guards. He returned briefly to Japan in 1944 to attend the Army Staff College.

At the time of the collapse of Manchukuo during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria of August 1945, Pujie initially attempted to escape to exile in Japan with his brother. However, as it became apparent that no escape was possible, he opted to return to Hsinking in an unsuccessful attempt to surrender the city to Kuomingtang forces of the Republic of China, rather than have the city fall into Russian hands.

Pujie was arrested by the Soviet Red Army, and was sent to prison camps in Chita and Khabarovsk in Siberia with his brother and other relatives. With the Sino-Soviet rapprochement after the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Pujie was extradited to China in 1950.

Under the People's Republic of China

On his return to China, Pujie was incarcerated in the Fushun War Criminals Management Centre. A model prisoner, he became a symbol of leniency by the communist regime, joined the Communist Party of China, and later served in a number of important posts.

In 1978, Pujie became a deputy from Shanghai at the 5th National People's Congress. He subsequently served as deputy from Liaoning, Politburo Standing Committee Member, and Vice Chairman of the Nationalities Committee of the 6th National People's Congress in 1983. He was appointed Deputy Head of the China-Japan Friendship Group from 1985. He rose to a seat on the Presidium of the 7th National People's Congress in 1988. From 1986, Pujie was also Honorary Director for the Handicapped Welfare Fund.[3]

In addition, he served as a technical advisor on the 1987 film The Last Emperor.

Ancestry

Descendants

Pujie had two daughters.

  • Huisheng 慧生 (1939–1957) – H.H. Princess (Chün Chu Kung Chu) Huisheng, was born at Hsinking on February 1938 and educated privately and then studied at Gakushuin University. She was killed (murdered) on 10 December 1957 in what appears to have been a murder-suicide.
  • Yunsheng 嫮生 (born 1941) – H.H. Princess (Chün Chu Kung Chu) Yunsheng was educated privately and then studied at Gakushuin Women's University in Tokyo. She later married Kosei Fukunaga, a Japanese aristocrat employed in the automobile industry in Tokyo. She has five children.

In 1961, Pujie was reunited with his wife with permission by Chinese premier Zhou Enlai. The couple lived in Beijing from 1961 until her death in 1987.

Under the terms of a succession law adopted in 1937, Pujie, as the emperor's full brother, was heir when Puyi died in 1967. Pujie had no sons. When he died, the right of succession passed to his nearest male relative, namely Jin Youzhi, his half-brother.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Cotter, Kids Who Rule, pp.76
  2. ↑ Lebra, Above the Clouds pp.213
  3. ↑ Mackerras, The Cambridge Handbook of Contemporary China. PP73

Bibliography

  • Behr, Edward (1977). The Last Emperor. Bantam. ISBN 0-553-34474-9. 
  • Cotter, Edward (2007). Kids Who Rule: The Remarkable Lives of Five Child Monarchs. Annick Press. ISBN 1-55451-062-7. 
  • Lebra, Takie Sugiyama. (1987). Above the Clouds: Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-07602-8. 
  • Mackerras, Colin; Amanda Yorke (1986). The Cambridge Handbook of Contemporary China. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-38755-8. 

External links

Pujie
Born: 16 April 1907 Died: 28 February 1994
Titles in pretence
Preceded by
Kangde Emperor
(Puyi)		 — TITULAR —
Emperor of China
17 October 1967 – 28 February 1994
Reason for succession failure:
Empire abolished in 1912		 Succeeded by
Puren
— TITULAR —
Emperor of Manchukuo
17 October 1967 – 28 February 1994
Reason for succession failure:
Empire abolished in 1945
Pretenders to the Chinese throne since 1912
1912–1967
1967–1994
1994–Present
Current heir
Authority control
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