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The Last Emperor of China: My Husband Puyi
This is a NEW BOOK. For some reason, Amazon will not allow this book to be listed as new.
280 pages
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 26, 2017
Puyi was the last emperor of China before the Revolution. After ten years of re-education in prison he settled down as an "ordinary" citizen, marrying a nurse, Li Shuxian, and engaging in the day to day life of the 1960s in Beijing. This (auto)biography was told by his wife, Li Shuxian decades after Puyi's death and recounts her own experience as his wife.
I found this book fascinating. I particularly liked the opening chapter about Li Shuxian's life up until she met Puyi. It's remarkable to read about how the big changes in Chinese society affected ordinary people. After her marriage, the reader gets to see the strange social situation of the time - when Puyi was both revered for his status but at the same time expected to live as a comrade:
'Once, when Premier Zhou Enali invited Puyi, along with other chief guests, to a function, he introduced Puyi to the guests by saying, "This is Emperor Xuantong of the Qing Dynasty." Puyi replied loudly, "Now, I'm a citizen of the People's Republic of China."'
The reader is then shown the drastic changes and horrors that occurred during the Cultural Revolution, and is then finally taken through to more recent times.
The book is engaging and easy to read. The translation is very good, but it is still possible to hear Shuxian's distinctly Chinese voice. I have two small issues with the book. Firstly, I think Li Shuxian assumes that her readers have already read Puyi's biography, and, as I haven't, I found myself wanting more details about how everything fits together; secondly, she comes across as defensive at times. I get the impression that she wants to detract her critics and have the final say of her and Puyi's lives together. As I haven't read her critics some of this was lost on me and I got a bit bored. I also would have liked to have read more about Shuxian herself instead of Puyi!
I found this book fascinating. I particularly liked the opening chapter about Li Shuxian's life up until she met Puyi. It's remarkable to read about how the big changes in Chinese society affected ordinary people. After her marriage, the reader gets to see the strange social situation of the time - when Puyi was both revered for his status but at the same time expected to live as a comrade:
'Once, when Premier Zhou Enali invited Puyi, along with other chief guests, to a function, he introduced Puyi to the guests by saying, "This is Emperor Xuantong of the Qing Dynasty." Puyi replied loudly, "Now, I'm a citizen of the People's Republic of China."'
The reader is then shown the drastic changes and horrors that occurred during the Cultural Revolution, and is then finally taken through to more recent times.
The book is engaging and easy to read. The translation is very good, but it is still possible to hear Shuxian's distinctly Chinese voice. I have two small issues with the book. Firstly, I think Li Shuxian assumes that her readers have already read Puyi's biography, and, as I haven't, I found myself wanting more details about how everything fits together; secondly, she comes across as defensive at times. I get the impression that she wants to detract her critics and have the final say of her and Puyi's lives together. As I haven't read her critics some of this was lost on me and I got a bit bored. I also would have liked to have read more about Shuxian herself instead of Puyi!
July 28, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. It was quite touching, learning how Puyi became a private citizen, and what is was like to be married to the former Emporor. I got an insight into communist Chinese culture as well. The book was touching-as their love affair was indeed precious.
April 21, 2024
Easy read
December 12, 2008
This book is essentially a collection of anecdotes about the last Manchu emperor Puyi by his last wife Li Shuxian. Though it is filled with tempting photographs depicting his life as emperor and later Japanese puppet, the text mainly covers his final years in the 1960s.
It is difficult to gauge how much we are to trust the contents. It is easily apparent that Puyi, and his wife, became important vehicles of Communist propaganda after he was released from Fushun prison and developed ties to Zhou Enlai. She rarely strays from depictions of him as a thoroughly reformed, if scatterbrained, lover of China's new liberation. The only time she contradicts this is in her depiction of him as a daring voice willing to stand up for his friends when they came under attack during the cultural revolution. She offers almost unbelievable stories of his complete inability to perform simple daily tasks. These are difficult to buy since she met him years after his long imprisonment.
The book had enough interesting anecdotes to make a few hours in the airport pass, and it is interesting to find out how much he was coddled by Communist government officials in his final years and used as an ideal reformed citizen of the New China. However, unsurprisingly given the editor and origins of the work, the book seems rather lazily compiled and doesn't try much to explore more critically some of the more issues involved in his life.
It is difficult to gauge how much we are to trust the contents. It is easily apparent that Puyi, and his wife, became important vehicles of Communist propaganda after he was released from Fushun prison and developed ties to Zhou Enlai. She rarely strays from depictions of him as a thoroughly reformed, if scatterbrained, lover of China's new liberation. The only time she contradicts this is in her depiction of him as a daring voice willing to stand up for his friends when they came under attack during the cultural revolution. She offers almost unbelievable stories of his complete inability to perform simple daily tasks. These are difficult to buy since she met him years after his long imprisonment.
The book had enough interesting anecdotes to make a few hours in the airport pass, and it is interesting to find out how much he was coddled by Communist government officials in his final years and used as an ideal reformed citizen of the New China. However, unsurprisingly given the editor and origins of the work, the book seems rather lazily compiled and doesn't try much to explore more critically some of the more issues involved in his life.
March 12, 2013
The Last Emperor of China: My Husband Puyi by Li Shuxian The story of the last emperor of China's later years, as told by his last wife, Li Shuxian. I'm giving this book a higher rating than I normally would simply because it is a first person account of his later years, by his last wife. it has many interesting photos and personal reminisces. It tells a lot about their life together- though they were only married about 6 years, as well as much about his life before she came on the scene. (I am now hoping I can find his own autobiography: the First Half of My Life.) It's interesting to read about their home, friends, time during the Cultural Revolution, etc. It is not particularly well written and the translator makes some basic mistakes with English that I can't understand why her English collaborator didn't fix. If you are interested in China though, it is worth looking for.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews