Puyi (7 February, 1906 - 17 October, 1967), was the final Qing dynasty monarch. He became emperor at the age of two in 1908, but was forced to abdicate on 12 February, 1912 during the Xinhai Revolution. With the Establishment of Manchukuo as a puppet state Japan, he was installed as the Emperor Kangde during World War II.

After the death of the Guangxu Emperor, a two-year-old boy named Puyi, who was chosen by Empress Dowager Cixi, became the new ruler. He was the son of Prince Chun, who was the brother to the late Emperor Guangxu. His parents did not know that their son was going to be the emperor until the procession of eunuchs and guards came to take him away from his home. Puyi screamed and cried as he was taken away from his parents, and to calm him down, his wet nurse was allowed to accompany him to the palace. He was able to see his father at least, as Prince Chun was named prince regent and was the one who carried the two-year-old Puyi to his coronation ceremony where he was named the Xuantong Emperor.

In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution started. The "Articles of Favourable Treatment of the Great Qing Emperor after His Abdication" that Empress Dowager Longyu signed with the newly established Republic of China ensured that Puyi kept his imperial titles and was treated by the republic like a foreign monarch would. He was also allowed to stay in the northern part of the Forbidden City as well as and Summer Palace. He was allowed to keep all the eunuchs and other staff of the court, but no new servants were to be employed. When Puyi was thirteen years old, Sir Reginald Johnston, a Scottish diplomat, started serving as the emperor's tutor in the Forbidden City. He was hired by the president of the Republic of China, Xu Shichang, who believed that the monarchy would be restored one day. Young Puyi had never seen a foreigner before, and Johnston's features, namely his mustache, were very amusing to him. Under this new tutorship, Puyi finally started learning political science, history, and the English language. He started reading English books, such as Alice in Wonderland and philosophy texts. Johnston often told the young Puyi of his homeland, Scotland, which amazed the emperor to such an extent that he wanted to go and visit it. Puyi admitted he was intimidated by his new foreign tutor and felt respect for him that he could never feel for his Chinese teachers. This awe for Johnston made him willing to study more.

In 1922, Puyi was married to Gobulo Wanrong, a daughter of a Manchu aristocrat. She wasn't his first choice for a wife, but under the pressure of the dowager consorts, he married her. He was informed that his first choice was only suitable to be his consort. Puyi tried to escape the Forbidden City on June 4th, 1922, an escape that had nothing to do with his future marriage: He just wanted to go to Oxford to study. After the wedding, Puyi, Wanrong, and Wenxiu went to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, a place where emperors traditionally consummated their marriages. However, Puyi was young and inexperienced. Growing up surrounded by eunuchs, he had no knowledge of what was expected from him, and he fled, leaving the two women to spend the night alone. Puyi never fathered a child and had a series of unhappy marriages. This led people to believe he was homosexual. But there are no rumors of him having a male lover. Some believe he was just impotent. Since there are so many theories about his sexuality, it will probably always be shrouded in mystery.

The coup of 1924, which saw the warlord Feng Yuxiang take control over Beijing, was an event that turned Puyi's life upside down. Feng decided to revise the "Articles of Favourable Treatment," and on November 5th, 1924, Puyi's titles and privileges were abolished. He was expelled from the Forbidden City and became a private citizen of the Republic of China. He sought refuge in a Japanese embassy in Beijing due to the advice of his tutor Johnston, who felt that the Japanese tradition of worshiping their emperor as a god would be a much more suitable environment for Puyi. However, the Japanese had plans of using and controlling Puyi. Eventually, they relocated him to the Japanese Concession of Tianjin, where they could easily monitor and influence him without the Chinese government meddling. On February 23rd, 1925, Puyi took the train for Tianjin, wearing a simple Chinese gown.

His first wife, Wanrong, started consuming opium due to their new lifestyle, and their marriage started falling apart. In 1928, Puyi's consort Wenxiu declared that she had had enough of him. She simply walked out of the Japanese palace in Tianjin and filed for divorce.

In 1931, Japan started the invasion of Manchuria after Puyi wrote to the Japanese minister of war expressing his wish to be restored to the throne. Japan offered to install him as emperor of the newly conquered Manchuria instead, and he accepted. Wanrong did not want to follow her husband, though, as she saw his actions as treasonous. It was Puyi's cousin, Eastern Jewel, who finally convinced Wanrong to follow her husband since it was her duty. Eastern Jewel, also known as Yoshiko Kawashima, was a Manchu princess who worked as a spy for the Japanese government. She was openly bisexual and often dressed as a man. Her spy career was over when she got too famous for her deeds and instead started appearing in newspapers and on the radio. She was used as a propaganda tool for pro-Japanese politics. She was arrested on November 11th, 1945, in Beijing and tried as a domestic traitor rather than a war criminal. In March of 1948, she was executed by a bullet in the back of her head after being convicted of treason.

Protected by the Japanese, Puyi left Tianjin for Manchuria, even though the Chinese government issued an arrest warrant for him, declaring him to be a traitor. When he arrived in Port Arthur, he met Masahiko Amakasu, a Japanese general known for his brutality on the battlefield. He bragged about killing women and children to Puyi, who slowly began to realize that he was a prisoner in Manchuria, as he was forbidden from leaving his hotel. During 1932, the new state of Manchukuo was organized with Puyi as its chief executive. In 1933, Puyi was told he was finally going to be installed as the emperor of Manchukuo. After the coronation, since Changchun had no palaces, Puyi, who was now addressed by the title Kangde, moved into the Salt Tax Palace, an administration building from when Russia was in Manchuria. There, he lived as a prisoner, heavily guarded by the Japanese army. He wasn't allowed to leave the palace without the permission of the Japanese generals.

His wife Wanrong had developed an affair with Puyi's driver, Li Tiyu and from that relationship, a girl was born. Japanese officials decided to poison the newborn baby, and to punish her, Wanrong had to watch her daughter die. Wanrong lost all of her will to live after the death of her child and spent her days numbing her pain with opium. In 1942, Puyi lost his concubine, Tan Yuling, who he believed was poisoned by the Japanese doctors who killed Wanrong's daughter. Even though he was pressured by Japanese officials, Puyi did not want to take a Japanese concubine. Instead, he chose a lowborn sixteen-year-old Chinese girl named Li Yuqin.

On August 14th, 1945, Puyi learned of Japan's surrender by listening to the speech of Hirohito over the radio. This was also his first time hearing about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as the Japanese generals never bothered to tell him. The very next day, Puyi abdicated as emperor, stating that Manchukuo was once again part of the Republic of China. He planned to escape by plane to Japan, leaving behind his wife Wanrong and his concubine. His brother's wife and their two daughters were also left behind. Puyi did not want to leave women and children behind, but the Japanese wouldn't take them as they saw the lives of men as more important. This was the last time Puyi saw Wanrong. However, instead of a Japanese plane coming to pick him up, a Russian one showed up. Puyi and his entourage were all arrested by the Red Army, and those he left behind were all captured by Chinese communists.

After the negotiations between Russia and Maoist China, Puyi was transferred back to China in 1950. Mao Zedong, the leader of communist China, saw value in keeping Puyi alive. If he could break Puyi and remodel him to become a communist, no one could deny the power of the Chinese communist system. He was brought to the Fushun War Criminals Management Centre, where he spent the next ten years until he was declared to be reformed.

In December of 1959, Puyi was allowed to leave the center as Mao regarded him as a successfully reformed man. Puyi was given a job as a street sweeper, and he had to live in an ordinary apartment building with his sister. On his first day as a sweeper, he got lost, as he had never walked the streets of Beijing before. After six months, he found employment at the Beijing Botanical Garden, where he said that he loved to work, as he found peace in gardening. In 1962, he married a nurse named Li Shuxian. He loved her very much and wouldn't leave her side when she was ill. He often told her that she was his whole world and that he would die if she left.

Puyi wrote his autobiography with the help of ghostwriter Li Wenda and was even encouraged by Mao Zedong himself. This autobiography had the purpose of promoting communism and tells the story of his endorsement of the new Chinese regime. The book was titled Wode Qian Bansheng (The First Half of My Life), but it was translated into English as From Emperor to Citizen. It took four years for Li Wenda to write the book based on Puyi's stories and interviews. A few years later, Puyi died of kidney cancer and heart disease on October 17th, 1967, at the age of 61. His body was cremated according to Chinese laws. His ashes were placed next to other Communist Party dignitaries at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery. In 1995, Li Shuxian, Puyi's widow, transferred his ashes to the Hualong Imperial Cemetery, where they still lie next to the other emperors of the Qing dynasty.