Puru (artist)
Puru | |
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Born |
Aisin-Gioro Puru (愛新覺羅 溥儒) August 30, 1896 Beijing, China |
Died |
November 18, 1963 67) Taipei, Taiwan | (aged
Cause of death | Lymphatic cancer |
Resting place | Yangmingshan No. 1 Public Cemetery |
Residence | Linyi Street, Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan |
Ethnicity | Manchu |
Education |
Hosei University, Beijing, 1913 MA University of Berlin, Germany, 1917 Ph.D. University of astronomy in Berlin, Germany, 1922 Biology Ph.D. University of Berlin, Germany, 1922 Honorary doctorate from Seoul National University, 1955 |
Occupation | Painter, professor, politician |
Employer |
Kyoto Imperial University (1928-1928) Peking National College of Art (1934-1949) Republic of China National Assembly Representative (1947-1963) National Taiwan Normal University Art Department (1950-1963) Tunghai University Art Department (1955-1963) |
Spouse(s) |
Luo Qingyuan Lee Moyun |
Children |
Yuli Taohua Yucen Yuqi |
Parent(s) |
Zaiying (father) Lady Xiang (mother) |
Puru | |||||||||
Chinese | 溥儒 | ||||||||
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Pu Xinyu | |||||||||
Chinese | 溥心畬 | ||||||||
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Puru (August 30, 1896 - November 18, 1963), also known as Pu Xinyu with Xinyu as his courtesy name, was a traditional Chinese painter and calligrapher. He was a member of the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan, the ruling house of the Qing dynasty. He was a cousin to Puyi, the final ruler of the Qing dynasty and the last Emperor of China. It was speculated that Puru would have succeeded to the Chinese throne if Puyi and the Qing government were not overthrown after the 1911 Xinhai Revolution.[1] Puru was reputed to be as talented as the famous southern artist Chang Dai-chien. Together, they became known as "P'u of the North and Chang of the South.".[2]
Life
Puru was born in the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan as the second son of Zaiying (載瀅), a son of Yixin (Prince Gong). His mother was Lady Xiang (項氏), a secondary spouse of Zaiying.
Puru was once selected as a potential candidate to succeed the Guangxu Emperor, but his cousin Puyi was the chosen one. He was a student at the University of Berlin. After he returned from Europe, he retreated into the Western Mountains, where he spent many years in Jietai Monastery to concentrate on his studies. After the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, he changed his family name to "Pu".
In 1947, Puru was appointed by Chiang Kai-shek as a Manchu representative at the Constitutional National Assembly. He was strongly against Puyi's cooperation with the Empire of Japan, foresaw the unrest in China and fled to Taiwan in the same year as Chang Kai-shek did.[3]
In Taiwan, Puru made a living by selling paintings and calligraphy works during the first months of his arrival in Taipei. He lived in a Japanese-style house on Linyi Street in Taipei that the government provided for him. He was appointed in October 1949 as a professor of fine arts at the National Taiwan Normal University. In 1959, he held a two-week-long art exhibition at the National Museum of History with 318 works on display.
Puru died in 1963 and was buried in the Yangmingshan No. 1 Public Cemetery in Taipei.
Family
- Father: Zaiying (載瀅; 1861 - 1909), second son of Yixin, Prince Gong (sixth son of the Daoguang Emperor).
- Mother: Lady Xiang (項氏), a secondary spouse of Zaiying.
- Spouses:
- Luo Qingyuan (羅清媛)
- Li Moyun (李墨雲)
- Children:
- Pu Taohua (溥韜華), Puru's eldest daughter.
- Pu Yuli (溥毓岦), Puru's eldest son.
- Pu Yucen (溥毓岑), Puru's second son.
- Pu Yuqi (溥毓岐), Puru's godson.
See also
- Manchu people in Taiwan
- Chang Dai-chien
- Qigong (artist)
- Guanghua Temple (Beijing)
- Qing Dynasty nobility
- Ranks of Imperial Consorts in China#Qing
References
Chinese Master Painter Pu Ru Master Fuxin Yu
External links
- Comprehensive Biography of Pu Ru
- Pu Ru Paintings and Calligraphy Exhibition
- Poems and writings of Pu Ru
- Catalog of Pu Ru's painting collection
- Chinese calligraphy painting master 溥心畬 Pu Hsin-Yu 1/5 on YouTube
- Straddling East and West: Lin Yutang, a modern literatus: the Lin Yutang family collection of Chinese painting and calligraphy, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Puru (see table of contents)