The Wikipedia article on Puyi is very complete, good for a start, you can also read his own book "From Emperor to Citizen" which details his life written by "himself" (Ghost writer actually, but yeah). Of course, one must understand that he might be trying to clean up his reputation in his book, but nevertheless it is a good read, especially when he details the fall of Manchukuo when the Soviets invaded in August 1945, how literally everyone panicked and deserted.
My great grandmother was a victim of Stalinist repression - they were simple peasants at the wrong place at the wrong time, falsely denounced as anti-Soviet agents, almost died after being deported from home, struggled to rebuild their lives, etc. etc. When asked about communism in the 1980s, she said, "It's wonderful that everyone has bread to eat now, but they shouldn't have killed the tsarevich Aleksey." So her own suffering wasn't a systematic problem with communism for her, but the murder of an innocent child was.
You can chuck it up to peasants slavishly loving their Tsar and so on, but the centuries of the monarchs being symbolically linked to the peasants are not to be dismissed lightly. No one missed the aristocracy, few people missed the monarchy, but plenty of people were outraged by the murder. Whatever the crimes of the royalty, the treatment of Puyi was the smarter choice and made the transition smoother. (The emperor of Viet Nam endorsed Ho Chi Minh's original revolution too, by the way... before he was back in French hands and died as a useless drunken playboy.) It may have been deemed a necessity in the fog of war, but it's a shame that it happened - the spilled blood of children.
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The story of Puyi is fascinating, everyone should read about it.
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The Wikipedia article on Puyi is very complete, good for a start, you can also read his own book "From Emperor to Citizen" which details his life written by "himself" (Ghost writer actually, but yeah). Of course, one must understand that he might be trying to clean up his reputation in his book, but nevertheless it is a good read, especially when he details the fall of Manchukuo when the Soviets invaded in August 1945, how literally everyone panicked and deserted.
Is The Last Emperor a good movie? I'm assuming it isn't that bad since China let them film there (although it was Deng era).
I owe you that one, I have not seen the movie.
I've read about Puyi on Wikipedia and saw the movie is on HBO Max. Might give it a watch after my midterms are over.
It was my favorite struggle session. I can only imagine the Feds reading that thread
My great grandmother was a victim of Stalinist repression - they were simple peasants at the wrong place at the wrong time, falsely denounced as anti-Soviet agents, almost died after being deported from home, struggled to rebuild their lives, etc. etc. When asked about communism in the 1980s, she said, "It's wonderful that everyone has bread to eat now, but they shouldn't have killed the tsarevich Aleksey." So her own suffering wasn't a systematic problem with communism for her, but the murder of an innocent child was.
You can chuck it up to peasants slavishly loving their Tsar and so on, but the centuries of the monarchs being symbolically linked to the peasants are not to be dismissed lightly. No one missed the aristocracy, few people missed the monarchy, but plenty of people were outraged by the murder. Whatever the crimes of the royalty, the treatment of Puyi was the smarter choice and made the transition smoother. (The emperor of Viet Nam endorsed Ho Chi Minh's original revolution too, by the way... before he was back in French hands and died as a useless drunken playboy.) It may have been deemed a necessity in the fog of war, but it's a shame that it happened - the spilled blood of children.