Yuyan
Encyclopedia
Yuyan style name
Yanrui , nickname Xiaoruizi , was a Chinese calligrapher and a member of the Manchu Aisin Gioro
clan, the imperial clan of the Qing Dynasty
. He claimed that he was appointed heir by Puyi
, the Last Emperor of China
. His claim is the subject of the travel adventure book The Empty Throne by British journalist Tony Scotland.
, Beijing
, Yuyan was the second son of Pucheng (溥偁) and Jinggui (敬貴), a lady of the Manchu Fuca (富察) clan. His grandfather was Zailian (載濂; 1854 - 1917), son of Yicong (1831 - 1889), the fifth son of the Daoguang Emperor
. He was a distant cousin of the Xuantong Emperor (Puyi
), the Last Emperor of China.
In 1936 Yuyan was summoned by Puyi, who had been enthroned as ruler of the puppet state of Manchukuo
in 1934 by the Empire of Japan
, to join his imperial court in Changchun
, Jilin
. Yuyan was very close to Puyi and was known as Xiaoruizi (小瑞子; or "Little Rui").
, Yuyan was arrested by the Russians and imprisoned from 1945 to 1950 near Khabarovsk
in the Soviet Union
's Far East Region
along with Puyi
. He was later sent back to China, where he was incarcerated in the Fushun
War Criminals Management Centre
in Liaoning
from 1950 to 1957.
Yuyan was a pretender
to the Chinese throne. He claimed that Puyi appointed him as heir when they were both imprisoned in Russia in 1950. In his autobiography, Puyi wrote only that he considered selecting Yuyan as his heir, but there were no official documents to support Yuyan's claim. Under a succession law adopted in 1937, Puyi's younger brother Pujie
became next in line in succession to the throne.
Following his release from Fushun, Yuyan worked as a Chinese language teacher, and later in a haberdashery factory. He was arrested in 1959 and sent for hard labour at a public security detention centre near Beijing
. Yuyan was arrested again in 1966 during the Cultural Revolution
and sent to do hard labour in Shanxi
. He was only released in 1979 and allowed to return to Beijing, where he became a road sweeper.
in Beijing
.
Yuyan is the main character in the book The Empty Throne: The Quest for an Imperial Heir in the People's Republic of China (1933) by the British journalist Tony Scotland. Scotland was searching for an heir to the imperial throne of China.
Chinese style name
A Chinese style name, sometimes also known as a courtesy name , is a given name to be used later in life. After 20 years of age, the zì is assigned in place of one's given name as a symbol of adulthood and respect...
Yanrui , nickname Xiaoruizi , was a Chinese calligrapher and a member of the Manchu Aisin Gioro
Aisin Gioro
Aisin Gioro was the family name of the Manchu emperors of the Qing Dynasty. The House of Aisin Gioro ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which established a republican government in its place. The word aisin means gold in the Manchu language, and "gioro" is the name of the place in...
clan, the imperial clan 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....
. He claimed that he was appointed heir by 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...
, 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...
. His claim is the subject of the travel adventure book The Empty Throne by British journalist Tony Scotland.
Early life
Born in WangfujingWangfujing
Wángfǔjǐng , located in Dongcheng District, Beijing, is one of the Chinese capital's most famous shopping streets. Much of the road is off-limits to cars and other motor vehicles, and it is not rare to see the entire street full of people. Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty there have been...
, Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, Yuyan was the second son of Pucheng (溥偁) and Jinggui (敬貴), a lady of the Manchu Fuca (富察) clan. His grandfather was Zailian (載濂; 1854 - 1917), son of Yicong (1831 - 1889), the fifth son of the Daoguang Emperor
Daoguang Emperor
The Daoguang Emperor was the eighth emperor of the Manchurian Qing dynasty and the sixth Qing emperor to rule over China, from 1820 to 1850.-Early years:...
. He was a distant cousin of the Xuantong 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...
), the Last Emperor of China.
In 1936 Yuyan was summoned by Puyi, who had been enthroned as ruler 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...
in 1934 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...
, to join his imperial court in 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...
. Yuyan was very close to Puyi and was known as Xiaoruizi (小瑞子; or "Little Rui").
Life in the People's Republic of China
After the fall of ManchukuoManchukuo
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...
, Yuyan was arrested by the Russians and imprisoned from 1945 to 1950 near Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk is the largest city and the administrative center of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. It is located some from the Chinese border. It is the second largest city in the Russian Far East, after Vladivostok. The city became the administrative center of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia...
in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
's Far East Region
Russian Far East
Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean...
along with 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...
. He was later sent back to China, where he was incarcerated in the Fushun
Fushun
Fushun is a city in Liaoning, China, about 45 km east from Shenyang, with a population about 2,138 090 inhabitants at the 2010 census and an area of 11,271 km2, including 713 km2 of the city proper. Fushun is situated on the Hun He . It was formerly called Fouchouen in French...
War Criminals Management Centre
Fushun War Criminals Management Centre
Fushun War Criminals Management Centre , also known as Liaodong No. 3 Prison or Liaoning No. 3 Prison was the site of the re-education of Manchuko, Kuomintang and Japanese prisoners of war, held by China from 1950 onwards. It was located in the Xinfu District of Fushun city, Liaoning Province,...
in Liaoning
Liaoning
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the northeast of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "辽" , a name taken from the Liao River that flows through the province. "Níng" means "peace"...
from 1950 to 1957.
Yuyan was a pretender
Pretender
A pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
to the Chinese throne. He claimed that Puyi appointed him as heir when they were both imprisoned in Russia in 1950. In his autobiography, Puyi wrote only that he considered selecting Yuyan as his heir, but there were no official documents to support Yuyan's claim. Under a succession law adopted in 1937, Puyi's younger brother Pujie
Pujie
-External links:**...
became next in line in succession to the throne.
Following his release from Fushun, Yuyan worked as a Chinese language teacher, and later in a haberdashery factory. He was arrested in 1959 and sent for hard labour at a public security detention centre near Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. Yuyan was arrested again in 1966 during the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
and sent to do hard labour in Shanxi
Shanxi
' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
. He was only released in 1979 and allowed to return to Beijing, where he became a road sweeper.
After release from prison
Yuyan was a calligrapher and poet. In 1987 he was appointed as a state consultant on the restoration of the Prince Gong MansionPrince Gong Mansion
The Prince Gong's Mansion or Gong Wang Fu Museum is located in the western part of central Beijing, China, north of the Shichahai Lake...
in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
.
Yuyan is the main character in the book The Empty Throne: The Quest for an Imperial Heir in the People's Republic of China (1933) by the British journalist Tony Scotland. Scotland was searching for an heir to the imperial throne of China.
Ancestry
Family
- Elder sister: Yujuying (毓菊英), married Chen Yingsan (陳英三), son of Chen Zengshou (陳曾壽).
- Spouses:
- Magiya Jinglan (馬佳靜蘭), a Manchu, married Yuyan in 1943.
- Zhang Yunfang (張雲訪), married Yuyan after Magiya Jinglan died in 1948 in TianjinTianjin' 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...
.
- Children:
- Hengzhen (恆鎮; b. 1944), eldest son, born to Magiya Jinglan, married Tu Yanling (塗艷玲).
- Hengkai (恆鎧; b. 1945), second son, born to Magiya Jinglan, married Liu Xiujuan (劉秀娟).
- Hengjun (恆鈞; b. 1966), third son, born to Zhang Yunfang, married Fan Qin (范秦; b. 1971).
- Grandchildren:
- Hengxing (恆星; b. 1977), name also spelled as Hengxing (恆鍟), Hengzhen and Tu Yanling's son.
- Jin Yinghui (金英輝; b. 1980), also named Qiqi (啟琪), Hengkai and Liu Xiujuan's son.
- Jin Qitong (金啟桐; b. 29 October 1996), Hengjun and Fan Qin's daughter.