Preface

I am overjoyed that My Husband Puyi is to be published. Aixinjuelo Puyi was the last Emperor of the Chinese feudal society era. He was placed on the throne as Emperor Xuantong at the young age of three, but less than three years later his forced abdication was announced. Afterwards, according to The Articles Provided for the Favourable Treatment of the Great Qing Emperor after his Abdication, decided upon by the Provisional Government of the Republic of China, he was still allowed to live in the inner court of the Forbidden City, acting as an Emperor "behind closed doors"¹. For the following 13 years he lived this role, until in 1924, when he was expelled from the Forbidden City by the celebrated Christian General, Feng Yuxiang. Following this, it was arranged that he would stay at the Japanese Concession in Tianjin.

In 1932, the Japanese secretly sent him to Northeast China to be the Puppet Emperor of the "Manchukuo"² set up by Japanese Imperialists. With the final surrender of the Japanese Imperialists in August 1945, Puyi then fell captive to the Russian Red Army, being escorted first to Chits, then to Khabarivsk (two Russian cities in the far east, close to Northeast China), where he was placed under house-arrest for a period of five years.

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese and the Soviet Union Governments, following bilateral talks, finally decided to extradite Puyi back to China. Puyi was then detained for ten years at Fushun War Criminals Prison³, located in Northeast China. He was reeducated and remoulded there, through physical labour and being imbued with Communistic ideas. Finally Puyi realized his wrongdoing, so repented for his role in aiding the Japanese Imperialists in enslaving the people in Northeast China. He started a new life, with a completely different outlook, which resulted in him becoming an honorable, respected citizen of the New China, and my good husband.

His autobiography The First Half of My Life - from Emperor to Citizen has been popular at home and abroad, as a book which has continued to rivet the world's attention, since it was published in 1964. Now, to the reading public who are interested in Puyi, I'd like to present with this book, My Husband Puyi which is about his new life, after being granted special amnesty in 1960. He enjoyed this new life for only eight years, as he died of kidney cancer in 1967. Eight years is a much shorter period compared with the first half of his life which lasted for more than fifty years, but much more valuable, if viewed in the light of his life's significance. Puyi and I had been married for five and half years, but if taking into account from the day we were introduced to each other, we were together for almost six years. We were fortunate to have experienced a sweet courtship, a happy home life and our attendances to each other when we were both ill.

Wang Qingxiang and I at my home in 1979

In 1984, the first edition of my memoirs, Puyi and I was published, creating a major sensation in China. In its preface, I explained how I came to write the book, as follows: I remember that it was in September of 1979, when Mr. Wang Qingxiang, an historian from the Historical Research Institute with the Jilin Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, paid a visit to my home. He urged me to write the memoirs of my husband, for he believed that it would prove to be a great contribution to our Chinese nation. The principle we agreed on was that I should write down every event and sentence as they came to my mind, and that he would help me to draw out my memories to the greatest extent possible. He said to me, "Your memoirs must be first-hand data as precise as possible. They will be an invaluable document for historical research. So every single word of it must conform to historical facts." I also held this view.

My memoirs were written intermittently during a period of six months. Whenever I thought of the past, I relived the memories of the life that we had spent together more than ten years earlier. It had been as though my husband was standing lifelike in front of me, when the reminiscences flooded back to me. I have no idea of how many times I laughed while savouring the happiness and sweetness of that time or how often the tears suddenly welled up in my eyes, due to the sadness of losing him. My memoirs may not be perfect but I'm confident that they are realistic. While helping me with the compilation of my memoirs, Mr. Wang Qingxiang reiterated that his desire was to make an accurate historical record and that he preferred to omit any unclear details, where my memory failed me. My original memoir, Puyi and I is the result of our mutual cooperation. First, he collated my oral accounts by cross-referencing them with the manuscript left by Puyi. Then, he came to Beijing to go over every single word and sentence together with me. I'm glad that the final text successfully conveys the essence of my spoken accounts. Of course, my memoirs mostly show Puyi's home life. They obviously couldn't cover every aspect of the second half of his life. In order to get a well-rounded view of citizen Puyi, my memoir should be read alongside Puyi's own diary and articles, which were written during this period, to supplement your understanding.

Twelve years later, Mr. Wang Qingxiang and I again worked happily together to thoroughly revise Puyi and I by adding to it with many more details of our common life. My difficult experiences during the Cultural Revolution as Puyi's widow significantly contrasted with my improved life and situation in the new era. By 1978, China had begun to implement the progressive policy of reform and was opening up its doors to the outside world. During the previous ten years, more and more Chinese and foreign reporters, historians, readers of my book, tourists and personalities of various circles had come to visit me. These visits greatly helped me with my book revision and they also aroused again affection and love for my dear husband. These foreign reporters had often laden me with various questions about our courtship, marriage, our daily life and work, our tours, our times in hospital, as well as the relationships between Puyi and some members of the former Aixinjuelo Royal Clan and also between him and the State Leaders. To answer their questions adequately, I used to write down the key points as I remembered them. Later on these recollections naturally became useful material for the revision of my former memoirs. I named the revised book My Husband Puyi, hoping that it might convey my affection for my dear husband. Finally, I'd like to express my gratitude to all the friends who have helped me, as well as the readers who will enjoy the reading of this book.

Li ShuXian (1924-1997)

September 23rd, 1996

Notes

1　Following the success of the Wuchang Uprising on October 10th 1911, to ensure the abdication of Emperor Xuantong (Puyi), the Provisional Government of the Republic of China, after negotiations with a representative of the Qing Dynasty Government, "The Articles" were formulated. They also stipulated that, following his abdication, Puyi's title of dignity would be retained, that he should receive an annual allowance of four million taels of silver, and that he could also live in the inner court of the Forbidden City.

2　To permanently annex Northeast China, the Japanese Imperialists concocted "Manchu Kingdom", namely "Manchukuo" there in 1932. Puyi was made its puppet emperor, "Emperor Kangde". Its governments at all levels were completely controlled by Japanese. Manchukuo was smashed in 1945.

3　This was a special prison for politically important high-ranking Chinese and Japanese war criminals.