China should have killed Puyi, he didn’t deserve to live. Like I get the Russians killed the Romanovs out of necessity but looking back on it now regicide really was the best decision. And you know, I’m not saying this because I want ALL monarchies to die, like the Hawaiian monarchy gets critical support from me. Like I’m judging Puyi on an individual case, I don’t think he should have died because he was a monarch, I think he should have died because he was directly responsible for collaborating with the Japanese government killing millions of Chinese.
No one "deserves" anything. Killing Puyi would not have brought his dead countrymen back to life, whereas keeping him alive was helpful to those that still live.
Those moralistic brainworms skew your ability to evaluate positives and negatives.
I think keeping Puyi alive was a massive propaganda win for the CPC, which far outweighs whatever justice might have been achieved by executing him. With the Soviets case, when there is literally a monarchist army currently fighting you that would love to rally around any person with the right surname, ending the line makes sense - but China had been a republic for almost forty years by the time the Civil War ended, nobody was clamoring for a restoration especially since the idea of one had been directly associated with the Japanese invasion and occupation, so Puyi and any descendants he made were completely nonthreatening.
far outweighs whatever justice might have been achieved by executing him.
There was none. Families of victims generally don't find closure after an execution, but people who go through restorative processes do. Retribution isn't justice, it's just a second murder.
Puyi was what :mao-wtf: would call a "teachable moment"
I would call Puyi’s Mao’s greatest failure which honestly says alot about how awesome Mao was.
:mao-shining: greatest failure was not committing to total nuclear war with Capital
idk he didn't seem to cause any harm afterwards, so who cares?
if we're talking about abstract ideas like justice, it seems using him as a teachable moment has a lot more utility than just killing him.
you may be interested in castro's take on post-revolution justice, i think he talks about it in his autobiography
nah they got his ass with a long prison sentence and relentless recanting & repudiation of his old life. real art to making the a big symbol of the old regime into a mouthpiece for the revolution.
and there was no consequence because he had no supporters. this is why you murder reactionary leaders, because they can lead and rally---Puyi was alienated from every corner and wretchedly useless personally.
yes you're correct, he deserved to die. that's why it was such a big dick move to keep him alive and turn him into a symbol of their movement instead. after all, if that dude can become a communist, anyone can
Counter point, he was raised from childhood to be "royalty". A large chunk of the decisions made were from all the rest of the people in government.
