Wang Lianshou (; 1887 — 3 February 1946) was a Chinese court lady. She was the imperial

wet nurse A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeding, breastfeeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed if the mother dies, if she is unable to nurse the child herself sufficiently or chooses not to do so. Wet-nursed children may be known a ...

Puyi Puyi (7 February 190617 October 1967) was the final emperor of China, reigning as the eleventh monarch of the Qing dynasty from 1908 to 1912. When the Guangxu Emperor died without an heir, Empress Dowager Cixi picked his nephew Puyi, aged tw ...

, the last Emperor of China and final ruler of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. Wang played a prominent role in the nurture of Puyi. Puyi long regarded Wang Lianshou as his mother because of her dedication to him.

Biography

Wang Lianshou was born in 1887 in Renqiu county (now Jiaoyuanzhuang,

Dacheng County Dacheng County () is a county in the central part of Hebei province, China, bordering Tianjin to the northeast. It is the southernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Langfang. Administrative divisions Towns: *Pingshu, Hebe ...

Hebei Province Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

). At the age of 13, she fled to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

due to floods in her hometown. Born with the surname Jiao (焦), she married a servant surnamed Wang (王), who died of illness after she gave birth to a daughter. Later, Puyi bequeathed her the name of "Wang Lianshou," with "Wang" coming from her late husband and "Lianshou" meaning "continued longevity." In 1906, the year Puyi was born, a recruitment notice was posted at the palace gate, looking for a wet nurse for Puyi. After she saw the notice, she applied and was selected among 20 candidates for her good appearance and the quality of her milk. Two years after entering the palace, her own biological daughter starved to death, which she did not learn about until 6 years later. During the time she was feeding Puyi, they established a very tight bond. It has been said that she was a guiding light on the road of Puyi's life. She was the only person from the Northern Mansion allowed to go with Puyi. Puyi did not see his biological mother, Princess Consort Chun, for seven years. He developed a special bond with Wang and credited her as the only person who could control him; once, Puyi decided to "reward" a eunuch for a well done puppet show by having a cake baked for him with iron filings in it, saying, "I want to see what he looks like when he eats it". With much difficulty, Wang talked Puyi out of this plan. When Puyi was weaned at the age of nine, the dowagers decided that she was useless, so they threw her out without telling Puyi. After she left the palace, Puyi lost his temper and didn't listen to anyone. He kept asking the eunuchs and court ladies to find his wet nurse. Puyi especially hated

Empress Dowager Longyu Yehe Nara Jingfen (; 28 January 1868 – 22 February 1913), of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Yehe Nara clan, was the wife and empress consort of Zaitian, the Guangxu Emperor. She was empress consort of Qing from 1889 until her husband's death ...

for expelling Wang from the

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is the Chinese Empire, imperial Chinese palace, palace complex in the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasty L ...

. After Puyi married, he would occasionally bring Wang to the Forbidden City to visit him. After Puyi became the emperor of

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...

, he sought her out and brought her back to live in the palace. In her autobiography,

Hiro Saga was a Japanese noblewoman and memoir writer. She was the daughter of Marquis Saneto Saga and a distant relative of Hirohito, Emperor Shōwa. She was married in 1937 to Pujie, the younger brother of Puyi, the last monarch of the Qing dynasty of Ch ...

provided an account surrounding Wang's death, mentioning how she, her daughter

Husheng (born Aisin-Gioro Husheng; 13 March 1940), better known simply as Husheng or Kosei, is a Manchu-Japanese noblewoman. She was born in the Aisin Gioro clan, the imperial clan of the Qing dynasty. She is the younger daughter of Pujie, the younger ...

Wanrong Wanrong ( zh, link=no, t=婉容; 13 November 1906 – 20 June 1946), of the Manchu Plain White Banner Gobulo clan, was the wife and empress consort of Puyi, the last emperor of China. She is sometimes anachronistically called the Xuantong E ...

, Wang, and many others of the imperial household were captured by communist troops, transferred to the Public Security Bureau of

Tonghua Tonghua ( zh, s=通化 , p=Tōnghuà) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Jilin province, People's Republic of China. It borders North Korea's Chagang Province to the south and southeast, Baishan to the east, Jilin City to the north, ...

, and caught in the midst of the Tonghua incident. It was then that Wang was hit in the right wrist by a shell that flew into the building and bled out, as there was nothing around to stop the bleeding with.

In popular culture

*Wang was portrayed by Jade Go as the character Ar Mo in the 1987 film ''

The Last Emperor ''The Last Emperor'' () is a 1987 epic biographical drama film about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China. It is directed by Bernardo Bertolucci from a screenplay he co-wrote with Mark Peploe, which was adapted from Puyi's 1964 auto ...

.''

Notes

References

{{morecat, date=July 2021 1887 births 1946 deaths Wet nurses