Wanrong, the last woman to hold the title Empress of China was born on November 13, 1906, in Beijing. Born Gobulo Wanrong (Gobulo was her clan name) to Rongyuan, a Qing imperial Minister of Domestic Affairs, her mother died after her birth. She was raised by her stepmother, Aisin Gioro-Hengxian and her father, who believed she should have a good education. She attended school at the American missionary school in Tianjin, where she learned English and how to play the piano.
Wanrong with Puji. Source: (Wikimedia/colorized).
In 1922 when she was only 22, Wanrong married Puyi, the Xuantong Emperor. Empress Dowager Cixi had chosen him for the position when he was only two, in 1906, but he did not hold the position for very long, as he was forced to abdicate during the Xinhai Revolution in 1912. The abdication simply meant a loss of power, as he and his court continued to live in the Forbidden City because many expected the monarchy to be reinstated, which it was for a brief period in December 1915. During this brief restoration, Yuan Shikai was the emperor, but he abdicated in March 1916.
The Marriage Was Not A Fairy Tale Wedding
In her Empress regalia. Source: (Wikipedia/colorized).
Prior to the marriage, the Dowager Consorts showed Puyi photographs of girls they considered acceptable for him to marry when he was 16 years old in 1922. He preferred Wenxiu, but some of the Dowager Consorts were not happy with his choice. Puyi agreed to marry Wanrong, who was more attractive, but he kept Wenxiu as his concubine.
Puyi married both Wanrong and Wenxiu on the same night, October 21, 1922 (at this time in China, men could marry their concubines, and concubines were recognized as sexual partners and expected to bear children, just as a wife would). For the marriage night, he went with both Wanrong and Wenxiu to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility to consummate the marriages, but he fled and left them to sleep alone. Reportedly, Puyi did not know anything about sex and may have been a homosexual. He also was sadistic, as he was known to torment the eunuchs who waited on him, and he also admitted to having sadistic tendencies toward women.
Their Time In The Forbidden City Came To An Abrupt End
Wanrong, seated, with Isabel Ingram and Reginald Johston. Source: (Wikipedia/colorized).
During her time in the Forbidden City, Wanrong’s former piano teacher, Isabel Ingram, came to live there and she acted as Wanrong’s tutor. Wanrong and Puyi defied tradition by going to tea outside of the Forbidden City with Reginald Johnston, Puyi’s British tutor. Puyi and Wanrong learned English, and Western manners, and adopted the names Henry and Elizabeth. Wanrong also occasionally dressed like Ingram. Wanrong, who was already a smoker, adopted an opium habit at this point, although it was initially for stomach aches and headaches. After staying at Puyi’s father’s house in Beijing for a time, on January 24, 1925, Puyi moved to the Japanese concession in Tianjin. Wenxiu and Wanrong later followed, and they moved to the Quiet Garden Villa. During this time, Wanrong continued to smoke opium, and it became an addiction.
Her Husband Murdered Her Illegitimate Child
In 1931, Wenxiu got a divorce and left; she remarried, taught school for a while, and was working for a cleaning company when she died in 1953. In 1931, Puyi’s cousin Donghzen convinced Puyi to go to Manchuria; while there, the Japanese suggested he become the ruler of Manchukuo. Wanrong, unhappy living under Japanese rule, tried to escape unsuccessfully twice, and on March 1, 1934, Puyi was proclaimed emperor of Manchukuo, and Wanrong became empress. By 1938, she was smoking two ounces of opium a day. As her relationship with Puyi continued to disintegrate, she had at least two affairs and became pregnant. Puyi, who was not sleeping with his wife, knew that the child was not his, and when the infant was born, the child was killed. Whether Wanrong knew of her child’s fate is uncertain, as, according to Puyi, Wanrong was told the child was adopted. After this, Wanrong was locked in her quarters, and servants waited on her. According to a man who had served at the Palace, Wanrong was shackled in her room.
She Continued To Decline
Source: (Wikipedia/colorized).
Wanrong continued to decline, as she stopped washing her face, combing her hair, or even cutting her toenails. Her hair was cut short, and her teeth darkened as she continued to behave erratically, occasionally suffering from extreme bouts of madness. Reportedly, she struggled to walk in her later years and her eyesight deteriorated. When Li Yuqin arrived as Puyi’s concubine in 1943, she only saw Wanrong’s face once prior to 1945, when the regime collapsed.
Wanrong Died Alone In Prison
Source: (Wikipedia/colorized).
Puyi declared war on the United States and Britain in December 1941, joining Japan and Hitler then recognized the state of Manchukuo. The Soviets invaded Manchukuo on August 9, 1945, and Puyi fled the palace, leaving Wanrong and Li Yuqin behind along with Lady Saga, Wanrong’s sister-in-law. They tried to flee to Korea, but in January 1946, were captured by Chinese Communist guerillas and they took Wanrong with them. By this point, Wanrong was suffering from opium withdrawal and Lady Saga attempted to care for her. Sadly, because of her status as a former empress, she was put on display as she suffered, and people came from all over to witness her madness. As the Chinese Revolution was unfolding, Wanrong and Lady Saga were moved to a prison in Yanji. By the end of her life, she was unable to walk, and when the prisoners were moved to another location, they left her behind in Yanji. On June 20, 1946, she died of starvation, alone in her jail cell. Her place of burial is unknown, and her remains were never located. On October 23, 2006, her younger brother Runqi conducted a burial ritual for her at the Western Qing Tombs.
