Puwei

Puwei (; 30 December 1880 – 10 October 1936), courtesy name Shaoyuan, was a Manchu prince and statesman of the late Qing dynasty. He was a member of the Prince Gong peerage, and held the title from 1898 until his death.

Life

Life during the Qing dynasty

He was a part of the House of Aisin-Gioro. Puwei's biological father was Zaiying, the second son of Yixin. Since Yixin's eldest son Zaicheng died without an heir, Puwei was adopted as Zaicheng's son by the Empress Dowager Cixi's decree. After the death of Zaicheng, Puwei assumed the title of prince and became the second generation Prince Gong. Puwei was also appointed as the minister of anti-smoking. During the 1911 Revolution, he organized the Royalist Party with Shanqi and others in an attempt to restore the Qing Dynasty, and he refused to sign the abdication edict. It is rumored he said "As long as I'm here, we will fight. The Qing Empire will never perish".

Life after the Qing dynasty

After the Qing dynasty fell, Puwei bought a house on the seaside of Qingdao and brought all his family members from Beijing. When the Japanese army captured Qingdao in 1914, his house, that was built along the sea was naturally exposed to the naval gunfire. One night, after his residence had been shelled several times, Puwei and his family hurried to a friend's house. He took refuge in his residence, but before he could move in, it was shelled too and an entire wall of a room was destroyed. Even in this situation, Puwei still tried to remake the disbanded Zongshe Party, and secretly organized armed forces in the Liaodong area in a desperate attempt to restore the Qing dynasty.

In 1922, China took back the sovereignty of Qingdao from the Japanese. Puwei, who was determined to restore the Qing, left Qingdao after living there for 10 years and went to Dalian, which was under Japanese rule at the time. Before leaving, he gave some of the furniture to Kang Youwei. After experiencing these futile intrigues, Pu Wei became increasingly frustrated. At this time, he also began to realize the difficulty of life financially.

Puwei was immature when it came to employing people. The person that was responsible for managing his property took a lot of money from him. He originally owned thousands of acres of fertile land, and every year the land rent could fully guarantee his royal life, but as the years passed, the person took the money from selling a large area of land and kept the money for himself. He also smuggled out a large number of books and antiques from the Forbidden City. Later, in order to cover up such a large-scale theft, a eunuch set fire to the Forbidden City. Puwei, who became increasingly financially unable, even had to abandon his two-horse glass-covered carriage. After moving north to Dalian, his life became more difficult, and political frustration made his health deteriorate. In October 1936, in a hotel in Changchun, the 56-year-old last Prince Gong passed away due to poverty and illness.

Claim to the throne

Puwei is the direct grandson of the first generation Prince Gong, Yixin. Yixin's eldest son Zaicheng was supposed to inherit the throne, but he died early. Since Puwei was Zaicheng's adopted son, he had a claim to the throne.

After the Mukden Incident, Japan occupied Manchuria and contacted Puyi to establish a puppet regime. Puyi hesitated and did not agree immediately. Japan then asked Puwei to become Emperor. After hearing the news, Puyi left Tianjin and hurriedly took a boat to Lushun, but the Japanese still felt that Puyi's reputation was greater, so they established the puppet Manchukuo with Puyi as the Chief Executive, and Puwei lost another opportunity to proclaim himself emperor.

Death

Death In January 1936, Pu Wei, who was poor and sick, went to Xinjing to wait for Pu Yi's summons, and died suddenly in the Xinhua Hotel at the age of fifty-six. The then Emperor of Manchukuo, Puyi, was advised by relatives and nobles of the Qing royal family and agreed to let Pu Wei's heirs continue to inherit the throne of Prince Gong. At that time, all of Pu Wei's adult heirs had died early, and the title could only be inherited by the eldest and seventh son Yu zhan, who was allowed to study in the Puyi’s private school in the Manchukuo Imperial Palace. Later, Pu Yi described Pu Wei as a martial arts figure in his memoirs "The First Half of My Life".

After Pu Wei's death, the situation of other family members was desolate. The lesser wife lady Zhang took her two youger sons and went to live with her oldest biological son Yu Zhan and moved to Changchun, New Capital. Soon after, the other lesser wife lady Zhougiya, with her two biological children, remarried to puwei’s security guard named Zhang from the white Banner in Manchuria to make a living.

Family

Mother and father

*Adoptive father: Zaicheng (1858–1885), eldest son of Prince Gong Yixin, posthumously named Prince Gongguomin.
*Biological father: Zaiying (1861–1909), second son of Prince Gong Yixin, was given the title of Beile of Prince Zhong
*Mother: second Primary Consort Lady Heseri (继夫人赫舍里氏), Daughter of Heseri Chongling.

Concubines and wives
* Primary Consort: Lady Bilu, of Mongolia royal family (嫡福晉碧魯氏)
* secondary consort: (側福晉)
** Lady Jiagiya
** Lady Zhang
** Lady Zhougiya

Children
*First son: Unnamed, deceased.
*Second son: Yulin (毓嶙; 1905-?)
*Third son: Yuwan (毓岏; 1906-?)
*Fourth son: Yusong (毓崧; 1907-?)
*Fifth son: Yufen (毓岎; 1909-?)
*Sixth son: Unnamed, deceased
*Seventh son: Yuzhan, Prince Gong (毓嶦; 1923–2016)
*Eighth son: Yulu (毓嵂; 1926-?)
*Ninth son: Unnamed, deceased
*Tenth son: Yurong (毓嶸; 1930-?)
*Eleventh son: Yuyong(毓嵱; 1932-?)
*Daughter: Yunxia (蕴霞; 1934- ?)

Grandchildren
*Hengshou 恒铄，(Hakesh)
*HengQian 恒钤，(Cherry)
*HengQin 恒钦，(Cecilia)
*Hengyan 恒鋺, (Jasmine)

References

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1880 births
1936 deaths
Manchu politicians
Qing dynasty imperial princes
Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan