My Half of My Life (Full Version)

Author: Aisin Gioro Puyi
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2006-12-19
Features: This is the memoir of China's last emperor, Aisin Gioro Puyi. The book narrates in chronological order, starting with an introduction to his family background, then sequentially covering major life segments such as childhood, reign, exile, and reform. The language is accessible, with compelling storytelling, making it suitable for readers interested in the life of the last emperor. In the annals of Chinese and world history, he is the only example of a "True Dragon Emperor" who was transformed into an ordinary citizen. He has a tumultuous and and a. As a result, his works have attracted worldwide attention and remain bestsellers. On the 14th day of the first lunar month in the 32nd year of the Guangxu reign (1906), I was born in the of the Qing Dynasty. My grandfather Yixuan was the seventh son of Emperor Daoguang's Wenning and the Qing Dynasty's reign. After his death, he was posthumously honored as "Xian" (Wise), hence later known as. My father Zaifeng was the fifth son of my grandfather. Due to the early deaths of his third and fourth sons, his second son Zaohuo was taken to the palace by his aunt Empress Dowager Cixi and became emperor (reigning as Guangxu). Therefore, after my grandfather's death, my father inherited the title of prince, becoming the second and last. I was the eldest son of the second. On the 20th day of the tenth lunar month of my third year, Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu fell seriously ill, and she suddenly decided to appoint me as the heir to the throne, succeeding Emperor Guangxu and also succeeding Tongzhi (Zai Chun, the son of Empress Dowager Cixi and the nephew of Zaohuo's aunt). Two days after I entered the palace, Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi. On the second day of the twelfth lunar month, I ascended the throne—becoming the tenth and last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, with the reign title Xuantong. In the third year of the Xuantong reign, the Xinhai Revolution broke out, and I abdicated. My memories begin only after my abdication. However, to narrate the first half of my life, it would be clearer to start with my grandfather and my ancestral home, the. The once occupied three locations in Beijing. In the 10th year of the Xianfeng reign, the 19-year-old Yixuan was ordered by imperial decree to marry the younger sister of the Imperial Concubine Yihe Nala and, according to custom, was required to move out of the palace first. The mansion he was granted was located on the east bank of the Taiping Lake within the Xuanwu Gate, now the site of the Central Conservatory of Music. This was the first. Later, when Zaohuo became emperor, following the precedent of the Yongzheng era, the "emperor's ancestral seat" () was either converted into a palace, left vacant, or transformed into a temple like the Yonghe Palace (which was originally the residence of Emperor Yongzheng before his accession) to house deities. To make way for this "," Empress Dowager Cixi granted a Beizi Mansion in Shichahai to the and allocated 1.6 million taels of silver to renovate it. This was the second, also known as the "North Mansion" by locals. After I became emperor, my father became the Regent, providing another reason for moving. As a result, Empress Dowager Longyu (the empress consort of Emperor Guangxu and the niece of Empress Dowager Cixi and my grandmother) decided to build a new mansion for my father. This third mansion was located in the Jilin Garden area of the Three Seas (Nanshan) in Xiyuan. However, while the construction was underway, the Wuchang Uprising erupted, and thus, the third renovation of the, its two periods as a "," and its single reign as Regent—all came to an end along with the Qing Dynasty's history. During the darkest years of the Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi brought prosperity to the, and the Yixuan family served her loyally for half a century. My grandfather devoted his life to her service. My grandfather's biological mother was the Imperial Noble Consort Zhuangshun of Daoguang, born in the 22nd year of the Daoguang reign and died in the 16th year of the Guangxu reign. Turning to the imperial genealogy "Yuelu," Yixuan, during the eleven years of his brother the Xianfeng Emperor's reign, apart from being enfeoffed as at the age of ten when the Xianfeng Emperor ascended the throne, he did not receive any notable "favor." However, in the six months after the Xianfeng Emperor's death, when Empress Dowager Cixi's title first appeared,