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Zai Feng
Prince Chun and father of the last emperor Puyi, who ruled as regent from 1908, dismissed Yuan Shikai and resigned the regency weeks after the Wuchang uprising
In a council hall, a long table holds an unrolled map scroll, a brass-cornered chest and a brush pot, with tall-backed chairs around it and a bronze lamp at the left; a figure stands with their back turned on the balcony at the right, with palace roofs beyond.
Also known as Zi Bohan
Zaifeng, a son of Yixuan, Prince Chun, and half-brother of the Guangxu emperor, was born in 1883 and inherited the title of Prince Chun after his father's death on 1 January 1891. In 1901 he went to Germany as special envoy to apologise for the killing of the German minister Ketteler in Beijing. When the Guangxu emperor died in 1908, Cixi chose Zaifeng's eldest son Puyi as emperor, and Zaifeng became prince regent for the Xuantong reign. Early in 1909 he sent Yuan Shikai home on the pretext of a foot ailment, and in 1911 he formed a cabinet so dominated by imperial clansmen that it was called the princes' cabinet. After the Wuchang uprising he gave up the regency on 6 December 1911 and withdrew to his residence; he died in Beijing in 1951.
Life and times
Dates 1883 CE–1951 CE