Puyi

Puyi (Chinese:溥儀; Pronounced P'oo-y'ee) (February 7, 1906 - October 17, 1967) of the Manchu Aisin-Gioro ruling family was the Xuantong Emperor (宣統皇帝) of China between 1908 and 1924 (ruling emperor between 1908 and 1912, and non-ruling emperor between 1912 and 1924), the tenth and last emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty to rule over China.

Name

In English he is known more simply as Puyi (Pu-i in Wade-Giles romanization), which is in accordance with the Manchu tradition of never using an individual's clan name and given name together, but is in complete contravention with the traditional Chinese and Manchu custom whereby the private given name of an emperor was considered taboo and ineffable. It may be that the use of the given name Puyi after the overthrow of the empire was thus a political technique, an attempt to express desecration of the old order. Indeed, after Puyi lost his imperial title in 1924 he was officially styled "Mr. Puyi" (溥儀先生) in China. His clan name Aisin-Gioro was seldom used. He is also known to have used the name "Henry"¹, a name allegedly chosen with his English language teacher, Scotsman Reginald Johnston, in reference to King Henry VIII of England. However, the name Henry was merely used in communication with Westerners between around 1920 and 1932, and is never used in China.

Related Topics:
Wade-Giles - Clan - Given name - Taboo - 1924 - ¹ - Reginald Johnston - Henry VIII of England - 1920 - 1932

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