Wan Rong
Encyclopedia
Lady Gobulo, Empress Xiaokemin (13 November 1906 – 20 June 1946), better known as Empress Wanrong, was the Empress of Puyi
, the last Emperor of China
and final ruler of the Qing Dynasty
. She became empress of the puppet state of Manchukuo
when Puyi was declared emperor of that state by the Empire of Japan
.
's eldest son Yonghuang, Prince Ding (定親王 永璜). Wanrong was educated in an American missionary school in Tianjin
, where she was tutored by Isabel Ingram
, and was given the Western name Elizabeth.
China's last emperor Puyi
, who was residing in the Forbidden City
as a non-sovereign monarch, was shown a series of photographs of women, and asked to select from them potential candidates to be his spouse. Puyi's first choice was Wenxiu and his second was Wanrong. Wanrong became empress while Wenxiu became an imperial consort because the Four Dowager Consorts (the widows of the emperors before Puyi) favoured Wanrong. The wedding of Puyi and Wanrong took place on 30 November 1922 when Puyi turned 16, and many expensive gifts were granted to the bride and her family. However Puyi never showed interest (sexual or otherwise) in either Wanrong or Wenxiu.
as emperor of the puppet state of Manchukuo
, there were rumours of his sexual involvement with various pageboys. Puyi's sister-in-law, Lady Hiro Saga
(wife of Pujie
), wrote of Puyi's relationship with young boys in her memoirs.
Wanrong started using opium when she was a teenager. According to Puyi's memoirs, it was fashionable for educated girls to smoke cigarettes at that time, and a small amount of opium was often added by the Chinese as an analgesic.
After Puyi was forced out of the Forbidden City by the warlord Feng Yuxiang
in 1924, he fled with Wanrong and moved to the foreign concession in Tianjin
. There, they resided in the Quiet Garden Villa in the Japanese Concession in Tianjin. In Tianjin, Wanrong grew to despise Puyi and they led increasingly separate lives.
With hope of restoring the Qing Dynasty
, Puyi accepted offers from the Empire of Japan
to head the new puppet state of Manchukuo
, and relocated to Changchun
, Jilin
, which had been renamed Hsinking, in March 1932. In 1934 the Japanese government proclaimed Puyi as the first Emperor of Manchukuo and Wanrong as Empress. The couple lived in the Russian-built Weihuang Palace (now the Museum of the Imperial Palace of the Manchu State), a tax office that had been converted into a temporary palace while a new structure was being built. Relations between Wanrong and Puyi remained strained, and she lived in a separate room, rarely coming out or eating meals with Puyi. Even after the move into Weihuang Palace, Wanrong continued to sleep in separate quarters. Realising her husband was only a puppet ruler with no real political power, and having all the burdens of an empress but little of the advantages (apart from living with luxuries), Wanrong's addiction to opium started to become serious. She was taking about two ounces of opium a day, a huge quantity, between July 1938 and July 1939.
Rumour has it that in 1940, Wanrong became pregnant by one of her servants, her driver Li Tieh-yu. Instead of having him executed, as he could have, Puyi paid him off and told him to leave the town. When Wanrong gave birth, the doctors killed the baby girl with a lethal injection. It is also speculated that in his memoir, Puyi wrote that he had thrown Wanrong's baby into a fire, but records such as this were deleted upon inspection before his memoirs were published. It can only be speculated how this may have affected Wanrong's mental health, and indeed from that moment she lived in a near-constant opium haze.
During the Evacuation of Manchukuo
during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in 1945, Puyi attempted to flee Manchukuo, leaving behind his Empress Wanrong, his concubine Li Yuqin
and some other imperial household members, ostensibly because his immediate entourage was at risk of arrest and the women would be safe.
Wanrong, her sister-in-law Hiro Saga
, and the other members of her group attempted to flee overland to Korea, but were arrested by Chinese Communist soldiers in Talitzou, Manchukuo, in January 1946. In April they were moved to a police station in Changchun, eventually released only to be rounded up again and locked up at a police station in Jilin
. Wanrong's opium supply had run out for a long time and she was suffering the effects of withdrawal. When Chiang Kai-shek
's army bombed Kirin, Wanrong and Hiro Saga were both moved to a prison in Yanji
, Jilin.
Wanrong died in the Yanji prison in June 1946 from the effects of malnutrition and opium withdrawal at the age of 39. Puyi did not receive news of her death until three years later.
In October 2006, Wanrong's younger brother, Gobulo Runqi (1912–2007), had a tomb built for her at the Western Qing Tombs
.
in Bernardo Bertolucci
's 1987 film The Last Emperor
. The film elaborates specifically on her opium addiction and her spiral into deep depression, where she is portrayed as almost dying when she leaves Puyi. However there are a number of inaccuracies in the film, for instance, the teenage Puyi is shown being sexually intimate with his two wives when there is only contrary evidence.
Puyi
Puyi , of the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan, was the last Emperor of China, and the twelfth and final ruler of the Qing Dynasty. He ruled as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 until his abdication on 12 February 1912. From 1 to 12 July 1917 he was briefly restored to the throne as a nominal emperor by the...
, the last Emperor of China
Emperor of China
The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...
and final ruler of the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
. She became empress of the puppet state of Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
when Puyi was declared emperor of that state by the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
.
Early life and marriage to Puyi
Wanrong was of Daur ancestry. She was the daughter of Rongyuan (榮源), a Minister of Domestic Affairs (內務府大臣) in the Qing imperial court. Her mother was the fourth daughter of Yuchang (毓長), a descendant of Puxu (溥煦), an heir to the line of the Qianlong EmperorQianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796...
's eldest son Yonghuang, Prince Ding (定親王 永璜). Wanrong was educated in an American missionary school in Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
, where she was tutored by Isabel Ingram
Isabel Ingram
Isabel Ingram was an American tutor of Wan Rong, Empress and wife of the last emperor of China.-Early life:Born March 7, 1902, in Beijing , Northern China, Isabel Myrtle Ingram was the daughter of American Congregational missionary James Henry Ingram, MD and Myrtle Belle Ingram, his second wife...
, and was given the Western name Elizabeth.
China's last emperor Puyi
Puyi
Puyi , of the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan, was the last Emperor of China, and the twelfth and final ruler of the Qing Dynasty. He ruled as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 until his abdication on 12 February 1912. From 1 to 12 July 1917 he was briefly restored to the throne as a nominal emperor by the...
, who was residing in the Forbidden City
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...
as a non-sovereign monarch, was shown a series of photographs of women, and asked to select from them potential candidates to be his spouse. Puyi's first choice was Wenxiu and his second was Wanrong. Wanrong became empress while Wenxiu became an imperial consort because the Four Dowager Consorts (the widows of the emperors before Puyi) favoured Wanrong. The wedding of Puyi and Wanrong took place on 30 November 1922 when Puyi turned 16, and many expensive gifts were granted to the bride and her family. However Puyi never showed interest (sexual or otherwise) in either Wanrong or Wenxiu.
Relationship with Puyi
The union between Puyi and Wanrong never produced any heirs, and some historians state that they might never have been sexually intimate. Some believed Puyi was infertile, but this could have been a delicate way to avoid discussion of his sexuality. While living in ChangchunChangchun
Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located in the northeast of the People's Republic of China, in the center of the Songliao Plain. It is administered as a sub-provincial city with a population of 7,677,089 at the 2010 census under its jurisdiction, including counties and...
as emperor of the puppet state of Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
, there were rumours of his sexual involvement with various pageboys. Puyi's sister-in-law, Lady Hiro Saga
Hiro Saga
- External links :*...
(wife of Pujie
Pujie
-External links:**...
), wrote of Puyi's relationship with young boys in her memoirs.
Wanrong started using opium when she was a teenager. According to Puyi's memoirs, it was fashionable for educated girls to smoke cigarettes at that time, and a small amount of opium was often added by the Chinese as an analgesic.
After Puyi was forced out of the Forbidden City by the warlord Feng Yuxiang
Feng Yuxiang
Feng Yuxiang was a warlord and leader in Republican China. He was also known as the Christian General for his zeal to convert his troops and the Betrayal General for his penchant to break with the establishment. In 1911, he was an officer in the ranks of Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army but joined...
in 1924, he fled with Wanrong and moved to the foreign concession in Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
. There, they resided in the Quiet Garden Villa in the Japanese Concession in Tianjin. In Tianjin, Wanrong grew to despise Puyi and they led increasingly separate lives.
Manchukuo
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
, Puyi accepted offers from the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
to head the new puppet state of Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
, and relocated to Changchun
Changchun
Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located in the northeast of the People's Republic of China, in the center of the Songliao Plain. It is administered as a sub-provincial city with a population of 7,677,089 at the 2010 census under its jurisdiction, including counties and...
, Jilin
Jilin
Jilin , is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west...
, which had been renamed Hsinking, in March 1932. In 1934 the Japanese government proclaimed Puyi as the first Emperor of Manchukuo and Wanrong as Empress. The couple lived in the Russian-built Weihuang Palace (now the Museum of the Imperial Palace of the Manchu State), a tax office that had been converted into a temporary palace while a new structure was being built. Relations between Wanrong and Puyi remained strained, and she lived in a separate room, rarely coming out or eating meals with Puyi. Even after the move into Weihuang Palace, Wanrong continued to sleep in separate quarters. Realising her husband was only a puppet ruler with no real political power, and having all the burdens of an empress but little of the advantages (apart from living with luxuries), Wanrong's addiction to opium started to become serious. She was taking about two ounces of opium a day, a huge quantity, between July 1938 and July 1939.
Rumour has it that in 1940, Wanrong became pregnant by one of her servants, her driver Li Tieh-yu. Instead of having him executed, as he could have, Puyi paid him off and told him to leave the town. When Wanrong gave birth, the doctors killed the baby girl with a lethal injection. It is also speculated that in his memoir, Puyi wrote that he had thrown Wanrong's baby into a fire, but records such as this were deleted upon inspection before his memoirs were published. It can only be speculated how this may have affected Wanrong's mental health, and indeed from that moment she lived in a near-constant opium haze.
During the Evacuation of Manchukuo
Evacuation of Manchukuo
The Evacuation of Manchukuo occurred during the Soviet Red Army's invasion of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo as part of the wider Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation of August 1945....
during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in 1945, Puyi attempted to flee Manchukuo, leaving behind his Empress Wanrong, his concubine Li Yuqin
Li Yuqin
Li Yuqin , also known as the "Last Imperial Concubine" , was the fourth wife and last Imperial Concubine of Puyi, the last Emperor of China's Qing Dynasty....
and some other imperial household members, ostensibly because his immediate entourage was at risk of arrest and the women would be safe.
Wanrong, her sister-in-law Hiro Saga
Hiro Saga
- External links :*...
, and the other members of her group attempted to flee overland to Korea, but were arrested by Chinese Communist soldiers in Talitzou, Manchukuo, in January 1946. In April they were moved to a police station in Changchun, eventually released only to be rounded up again and locked up at a police station in Jilin
Jilin
Jilin , is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west...
. Wanrong's opium supply had run out for a long time and she was suffering the effects of withdrawal. When Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
's army bombed Kirin, Wanrong and Hiro Saga were both moved to a prison in Yanji
Yanji
Yanji , also known as Yeon'gil from its Korean name , is the seat of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, eastern Jilin province, Northeast China. Its population is approximately 400,000 of which a large section is ethnic Korean...
, Jilin.
Wanrong died in the Yanji prison in June 1946 from the effects of malnutrition and opium withdrawal at the age of 39. Puyi did not receive news of her death until three years later.
In October 2006, Wanrong's younger brother, Gobulo Runqi (1912–2007), had a tomb built for her at the Western Qing Tombs
Western Qing Tombs
The Western Qing Tombs are located some southwest of Beijing in Hebei province near the town of Yixian. The Western Qing Tombs is a necropolis that incorporate four royal mausoleums where seventy-eight royal members in all are buried...
.
Portrayal in media
Empress Wanrong was portrayed by Joan ChenJoan Chen
Joan Chong Chen is a Chinese American actress, film director, screenwriter and film producer. She became famous in China for her performance in the 1979 film Little Flower and came to international attention for her performance in the 1987 Academy Award-winning film The Last Emperor...
in Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers...
's 1987 film The Last Emperor
The Last Emperor
The Last Emperor is a 1987 biopic about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China, whose autobiography was the basis for the screenplay written by Mark Peploe and Bernardo Bertolucci. Independently produced by Jeremy Thomas, it was directed by Bertolucci and released in 1987 by Columbia Pictures...
. The film elaborates specifically on her opium addiction and her spiral into deep depression, where she is portrayed as almost dying when she leaves Puyi. However there are a number of inaccuracies in the film, for instance, the teenage Puyi is shown being sexually intimate with his two wives when there is only contrary evidence.