The man known as Ai Xin Jue Luo Puyi (爱新觉罗·溥仪) [b. February 7th, 1906 – d. October 17th, 1967] – was the last person to be declared the ‘Emperor of China’ at the age of just 3-years old during 1908. Despite the Western-made (1987) film entitled ‘The Last Emperor’ attempting to give a ‘mysterious’ spin to his demise (as if he had Ascended to Heaven on the Back of a Dragon) – the reality was far more mundane. Following his release from prison in 1959 (where he had spent around 10-years in ‘Re-Education’ as a convicted ‘War Criminal’ due to his collaboration with the Imperial Japanese in Manchuria – the land of his Qing Dynasty ancestors) he married Li Shuxian (李淑贤) [1925-1997] a Nurse who worked in Beijing – whilst he pursued the career of a Gardener who rode a bicycle to and from work each day. His reign as Emperor had been overthrown in 1911 by the ‘Nationalists’ – within whose regime he existed until 1924 as a ‘Constitutional Monarchy’ – when he was finally ejected from the Forbidden City into the hands of the Imperial Japanese (the only nation that would offer him asylum – albeit with ‘strings attached’). He was then caught-up in Japanese scheming in Manchuria and became a ‘Puppet Emperor’ of the made-up country of ‘Manchukuo’ (which existed between 1932-1945) and was controlled directly from Tokyo.
Puyi issued his ‘Abdication Edict’ following the Unconditional Surrender of Imperial Japan to the Soviet and Western Allies on August 15th, 1945. In reality, Puyi’s life under Imperial Japanese rule was entirely staged-managed. On August 19th, 1945, Puyi was in a Waiting Room attempting to escape on a flight to Japan from the Shenyang Dongta Airport (situated in Manchuria – Northeast China). Together with Japanese Officials and a number of Imperial Japan’s Kwantung Army Generals – Puyi was captured by members of the Soviet Red Army Parachute Regiment (with NKVD Elements) – a Special Force despatched for this very important military operation! Many Soviet POWs had been captured by the Nazi Germans and sent to Manchuria – where they were illegally experimented upon by Unit 731 of the Imperial Japanese Army. Such Soviet prisoners were boiled alive, frozen to death, vivisected, castrated, and used in experiments testing various illnesses, gases, and munitions of all kinds. These Soviet men and women suffered alongside millions of Chinese people and other Asians – including a smaller number of Westerners. Despite the evil perpetuated by the machinations of Japanese fascism – the soldiers of the Soviet Red Army treated Puyi (and his Imperial Japanese allies) very well. Indeed, an NKVD Operative politely enquired of Puyi (in the Mancherian language), ‘Your Majesty – are you the Emperor of China?’
Puyi stayed in Tongliao until August 20th – whilst on August 21st, 1945, Puyi was transported by a Douglas aeroplane to the Chita No. 1 Military Airport in the Soviet Union. He was then imprisoned in the Molokovka Special Prison No. 30 until early November, 1945. He was later detained in Khabarovsk Special Prison No. 45 until the Spring of 1946. The favourable treatment he received at the hands of the NKVD in these Detention Centres, however, prompted Puyi to write to the Government of the Soviet Union many times – expressing his willingness to reside permanently in the USSR. This was a direct product of his studying of Marxist-Leninism – which led to him requesting membership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union! Some are of the opinion that Puyi pursued these objectives to avoid any attempts of himself being tried for ‘War Crimes’ and ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ whilst he was the Puppet Emperor of Manchukuo! My view, after reading his biography, is that his study of Marxist-Leninism was sincere and that he gained a great insight about his own life and existence through it. Of course, all this is completely omitted in the 1987 film ‘The Last Emperor’ (Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci). In the ‘Making Of The Last Emperor’ documentary, Melvin Bragg makes the extraordinarily incorrect statement that Puyi was ‘forced’ by his Soviet captors to attend the US administered War Crime Trials held in Tokyo! In fact, Puyi was summoned (like hundreds of others) to give an eye-witness account of the illegal behaviour of the Imperial Japanese fascists that he served. Moreover, the Director tells the half-truth that the Maoists did not demand that Puyi become a ‘Communist’ – whilst omitting Puyi’s experiemces explained above. I suspect Puyi was already a ‘Communist’ by the time he returned to China – a point often hidden (or obscured) within Western (Anti-Socialist) discourse.
On the morning of December 4th, 1959, the Fushun War Criminals Management Office announced that Puyi was the first individual to receive a full ‘Amnesty’ (No. 001) and a full ‘Pardon’ issued by the Communist Party of China (as advised directly by Mao Zedong [毛泽东] himself). After this, he took to working as a Gardener and riding a bicycle around Beijing. Through his study of Marxist-Leninist-Maoism – Puyi understood the world and his dialectical place within it as an ‘ordinary’ person once brought up to think that he was ‘divine’. In 1967, Puyi fell ill due to Uremia (a form of kidney-failure). After hearing the news, Premier Zhou Enlai (周恩来) instructed that he be sent to the Capital Hospital to receive treatment from both TCM and Western-trained Doctors (he was also declared ‘exempt’ from any Cultural Revolutionary action). When his condition was at its most critical, Premier Zhou assigned Pu Fuzho (蒲辅周) to visit him – and convey Premier Zhou’s personal greetings to him. Later, due to the extensive treatment proving ineffective, Puyi died at 2:30 am on the morning of October 17th, 1967. Puyi’s body was cremated in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations of the People’s Republic of China, and his ashes were placed in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in Beijing. In 1995, his widow – Li Shuxian -buried his ashes in the Hualong Royal Cemetery in Yi County, Hebei Province, 120 kilometres Southwest of Beijing. Puyi’s tomb is near the Qingxi Mausoleum.
Chinese Language Text:
https://baike.baidu.com/item/爱新觉罗·溥仪/402281?fr=ge_ala
民国三十四年（康德十二年、1945年）8月8日，苏联对日宣战并进攻伪满洲国，伪满洲国政权覆灭。 [40]8月11日溥仪和随身官员及家属乘火车南逃，13日到达通化县大栗子沟。8月15日，日本投降，溥仪颁布《退位诏书》。 [41]8月19日，溥仪在沈阳东塔机场候机，准备前往日本，与日本关东军的将兵们于奉天机场的候厅室被苏联红军空降逮捕 [42-43]，留在通辽至8月20日。 8月21日，溥仪被1架杜格拉斯载到苏联赤塔一号军用机场，被囚于莫洛可夫卡30号特别监狱直到11月初。 [46]后被拘押在伯力45号特别监狱直至民国三十五年（1946年）春。 然而，在拘留所里受到优厚的待遇，令溥仪多次上书向苏联表示愿意永久居留苏联 ，请求加入苏联共产党，但也有推测认为有可能是溥仪害怕日后追究责任，故而申请永居。
民国三十五年（1946年）春夏之交，苏联内务部门对溥仪以下各伪满大臣开始了一系列传讯。溥仪开始不知道苏方这样做是为什么，直到8月苏方通知他到远东国际军事法庭当证人，他才明白。溥仪在苏联军方押解下前往日本。1946年8月10日，溥仪作为证人出席远东国际军事法庭。在法庭上，溥仪陈述了日本帝国主义奴役满洲的计划和实施过程。他详细叙述了九·一八事变后，天津日本驻军司令香椎浩平如何强迫他去旅顺，关东军参谋长板垣征四郎怎样威逼他从旅顺到长春去当“满洲国皇帝”，以及他如何遭受日本帝国主义者的监视，无权甚至无个人的人身自由。当溥仪控诉日本人杀害他妻子谭玉龄时，情绪开始失控，他用手使劲地拍打证人台。在讲到天皇裕仁送给他天皇神器宝剑和镜子时，溥仪再次无法抑制激动的情绪：“当我拿着这些东西回家时，家里人都哭了。这是我这一代人的耻辱。”日本战犯的辩护律师认为这是攻击日本天皇的祖先，溥仪大声回击：“我可没有强迫他们，把我的祖先当他们的祖先！”这句话引起哄堂大笑。但是，被转交给中华人民共和国中央人民政府后，溥仪承认由于惧怕日后被中国政府追究，作证时将部分责任推卸给日本方面（含如何到达内满洲），在部分涉及双方责任的地方皆有所保留。 从8月16日起，溥仪连续出庭8天，创下了远东国际军事法庭单人作证时间最长的纪录。作证完毕后，他又回到了收容所，继续他的特殊俘虏生活。
1947-1948年，溥仪被前苏联转移到同一城市的另一个看守所里，他仍享受与其他被拘人员不同的生活待遇。如仍可单独用餐，不必参加劳动，甚至不用打苍蝇、蚊子。
1950年7月30日，苏联通知溥仪引渡回中国时，他在45号收容所再次向翻译别尔缅阔夫提出留在苏联的要求 [54]。8月1日，溥仪与其他伪满洲国263名“战犯”在绥芬河由苏联政府移交给中国政府，送抚顺战犯管理所受到约十年的思想再教育与劳动改造。编号是981。
1967年，溥仪因患尿毒症病倒。周恩来总理闻讯后指示将他安排到首都医院进行中西医会诊。在病情最危急时，周总理又指派蒲辅周去给他看病，并转达周总理对他的问候，后因医治无效，于1967年10月17日凌晨2时30分去世。溥仪的遗体依据中华人民共和国的有关法规火化，骨灰安放在北京八宝山革命公墓。1995年，他的遗孀李淑贤将他的骨灰葬于北京西南120千米的河北省易县华龙皇家陵园，溥仪墓在清西陵附近。
长期以来，人们对中国的末代皇帝溥仪的称呼都是宣统帝或者清废帝、末代皇帝、逊帝等，因为他没有庙号和谥号，他去世时是平民身份，所以没有谥号。但爱新觉罗家族在台湾的后裔于1967年给溥仪上了庙号“宪宗”和谥号“配天同运法古绍统粹文敬孚宽睿正穆体仁立孝襄皇帝”。“但溥仪所谓的谥号，庙号并不算是正式的谥号、庙号，这个庙号和谥号是家族内定的，未获国民认可。
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 