Puyi

Also known as Xuantong Di · Qingmo Di · Ai Xin Jue Luo · Pu Yi

Puyi, of the Aisin Gioro clan, was the eldest son of Zaifeng, Prince Chun, and was born in Beijing in February 1906. When the Guangxu Emperor died in November 1908, Empress Dowager Cixi named him heir; he was enthroned before turning three with his father as regent, and the Xuantong reign began the next year. After the 1911 revolution Empress Dowager Longyu issued the abdication edict in his name on 12 February 1912, and the Articles of Favourable Treatment let him keep his title and live on in the Forbidden City. Zhang Xun restored him for twelve days in 1917, and Feng Yuxiang's coup expelled him from the palace in 1924. With Japanese backing he headed Manchukuo from 1932, as its emperor from 1934. Captured by Soviet troops in 1945, he was handed to the People's Republic of China in 1950 and pardoned in 1959. He joined the national committee of the CPPCC in 1964 and died in Beijing in October 1967; his autobiography appeared in 1964.