• Tervell [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      I think it's referring to Puyi, although technically he wasn't exactly the Chinese emperor by the time the communists won (the monarchy was overthrown back in 1912) - the Japanese had installed him as an emperor in Manchukuo. After the war, he got reeducated and eventually ended up working as a janitor and gardener in Beijing.

      • mhtribute [comrade/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Li also noted like everybody else who knew him that Puyi was an incredibly clumsy man, leading her to say: "Once in a boiling rage at his clumsiness, I threatened to divorce him. On hearing this, he got down on his knees and, with tears in his eyes, he begged me to forgive him. I shall never forget what he said to me: 'I have nothing in this world except you, and you are my life. If you go, I will die'. But apart from him, what did I ever have in the world?". Puyi showed remorse for his past actions, often telling her, ''Yesterday's Puyi is the enemy of today's Puyi.'

        For the most part i'm against reeducating monarchs but in this case i'll give Puyi a pass. Seems like he ended up a changed man.