Johnston The foreign emperor in the Forbidden City

Early in the morning of March 3, 1919, at the Yuqing Palace in the Forbidden City, Pu Yi met with a blonde foreigner.

Yuqing Palace, was built by Emperor Kangxi for his original crown prince Yinren, and later Qianlong and Jiaqing lived here, and Tongzhi and Guangxu all regarded this place as a place to study.

Pu Yi also used this place as a study.

This year, Pu Yi was 13 years old and had abdicated for seven years, but according to the preferential treatment policy agreed at the beginning, he could still live in the Forbidden City and maintain the so-called "small court" as the "Emperor Sun".

The person who went to Yuqing Palace to meet Pu Yi on March 3 was an Englishman.

The Englishman was first led to the study room of the west wing of Yuqing Palace, bowed deeply three times to Pu Yi, who was sitting on a dragon chair and dressed in a dragon robe, and greeted St. Ann in Chinese. Pu Yi got up and shook hands with the British, who bowed again and exited the door.

By the time the British were summoned to enter the door again, Pu Yi had already changed into civilian clothes, and then bowed again—this time, it was Pu Yi who bowed to the British.

Because this is an apprenticeship ceremony, it is Pu Yi to meet his new teacher.

The name of this "imperial teacher" from England was Reginald Fleming Johnston.

He gave himself a Chinese name, Johnston.

On March 3rd, Johnston actually wrote a record:

He is the first foreign "emperor" in China's 2,000-year history – even if he has abdicated – to formally worship him.

Johnston was born in Scotland in 1874.

He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Edinburgh and a Master of Arts from the University of Oxford. After graduating, he was recruited as a trainee by the British Empire's Colonial Office after a rigorous examination and screening, and was subsequently sent to Hong Kong. Because of his outstanding performance, he worked his way up to the rank of private secretary to the Governor. He was so well appreciated by Hong Kong's Vice-Chancellor Lockhart that he followed him to Weihaiwei (then a British lease) in China as Lockhart's secretary.

Johnston was fascinated by the traditional Chinese culture as soon as he set foot on the land, not only did he learn to speak Chinese fluently, but he also studied Chinese culture extensively. Among Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, he admired Chinese Confucian culture the most, so he not only gave himself the Chinese name "Johnston" (a homonym to his English name "Johnston"), but also gave himself a word: "Zhi Dao" - exemplifying the Analects of Liren: "Shi Zhi Yu Dao" (the reader aspires to pursue the truth).

In 1906, at the age of 32, Johnston took a photo in Weihai.

Both the East and the West are in the experimental stage of the development of their respective societies, so it would be unwise for any hemisphere to impose its will and ideals on the other. ”

He even wrote an article under a pseudonym, accusing the ** religion of trying to change Chinese culture, which caused strong dissatisfaction in the Church of England - for this kind of "British traitor" behavior, many Britons directly accused him of being a "traitor to Britain." ”

Skepticism from home put Johnston's work at Weihaiwei in jeopardy, but at this critical moment, he received an unexpected invitation:

Would you like to be the teacher of the Emperor of China?

The one who sent out the invitation was Xu Shichang, who was the **big** at the time, and the one who recommended Johnston to him was Li Hongzhang's son Li Jingmai. Li Jingmai once stayed in Weihaiwei for a period of time, and had a good relationship with Johnston, knowing that this "foreign Confucian student" was not only a master of arts from Oxford University, but also loved Chinese culture, could speak fluent Chinese, and was a good candidate for an "imperial teacher".

At that time, Pu Yi still had several "emperors" around him, all of whom were famous Confucians: Chen Baochen, Zhu Yifan, Liang Dingfen ......However, these teachers are familiar with traditional Chinese culture, and they basically know nothing about modern science and technology and other aspects. Considering that the young "Emperor Xun" Pu Yi would eventually learn some knowledge and skills that kept pace with the times when he grew up, the "Internal Affairs Office" of the small court of the Xun Qing Dynasty, which had always been opposed, finally agreed to invite a "foreign teacher" to Pu Yi, at least so that the "emperor" could keep up with the pace of the outside world.

What's more, Johnston's motherland, the United Kingdom, is a constitutional monarchy, which can be regarded as the right way.

Chen Baochen was a minister and scholar in the late Qing Dynasty. Before Johnston arrived, he was Pu Yi's closest teacher

In February 1919, Johnston went to Beijing after obtaining the consent of the British. After many rounds of meetings and talks, he was offered a contract to become the "Emperor's Master":

Become the teacher of the 13-year-old "Emperor Sun" Puyi, teaching English, mathematics, history, geography, naturalism, etc., with a monthly salary of 600 yuan, plus a stipend of 100 yuan, including accommodation.

At that time, Cai Yuanpei, the president of Peking University, offered Hu Shi, Chen Duxiu and others a top monthly salary of about 300 yuan, which was already staggering.

This contract was signed at Johnston's request, which once surprised the "Ministry of Internal Affairs" of the small imperial court

The emperor invited you to be a teacher, but you still have to sign a contract?

Johnston's contract with the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the time

His teaching schedule is based on Pu Yi's class schedule:

Every morning at 5:30 (6 o'clock in winter), Pu Yi gets up to class, and the teacher is Chen Baochen. At about 7:30 a.m., students and teachers begin to have breakfast, and classes resume at 8:30 a.m., usually Puyi's Manchu teacher, Iktan. At 10 o'clock, Zhu Yifan took over, and it went up to 11 o'clock.

After 11 o'clock there is lunch time, and then there is a lunch break. From half-past one, it is Johnston's class time, and the class lasts for two hours, until half-past three.

According to the original design, teaching English to the "emperor" was Johnston's main task.

But at first, Johnston found that Pu Yi knew nothing about English and had no interest in learning it. In Johnston's view, the 13-year-old Pu Yi was interested in current affairs, such as the situation in Europe before and after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, as well as the geography, astronomy, physics, and politics of Europe.

Johnston did not force Pu Yi to learn like the traditional Chinese "strict teacher", but first communicated with him in Chinese and slowly induced his interest. For example, one day he brought Pu Yi a tin box of fruit candy, and while Pu Yi was happy to eat fruit candy, he told him how the West produced fruit candy and tin boxes through chemical processes and machine assembly lines.

Johnston with Pu Jie, Runlin (Empress Wanrong's younger brother), and Pu Yi (from left to right) in the Imperial Garden of the Forbidden City

Originally, Johnston lived outside the Forbidden City. He was picked up by car every morning at Shenwumen, then got out of the car and walked to Yuqing Palace to teach Pu Yi a lesson, which the Internal Affairs Office considered to be nothing more than an emperor's "English teacher." But later, Johnston obviously got the treatment of the "emperor", and when he entered the palace, he could sit in a sedan chair carried by two people, and his official rank was also promoted to the second rank. Later, after marrying Wanrong, Pu Yi promoted Johnston to a first-class rank, and gave him the "nourishing fast" of the Imperial Garden to live in—allowing a foreigner to live in the Forbidden City, which was unheard of before.

Before Johnston came, Pu Yi had always been very dependent on Chen Baochen, who had been his teacher since he was 6 years old, and after Johnston's arrival, Pu Yi sighed:

Chen Baochen used to be my only soul, and after Johnston came, I had another soul. ”

Since the "emperor" is good to Johnston, the people around him naturally understand.

At that time, the "Beijing Times" had such a report:

It is said that Johnston, the emperor's English teacher, was rewarded by Concubine Jin. Concubine Jin was worried that his sore throat would be caused by his teaching fatigue, so she gave him some ginseng and American ginseng with special graciude. ”

And Johnston's "sweet troubles" are not the only ones.

After becoming a mentor and friend with Pu Yi, Johnston found that the number of letters he received had increased significantly.

Some of the letters were more subtle, such as the hope that their sons would study ink at the side of Johnston while Puyi was teaching Puyi to read, so that their children could also listen to the emperor's teachings, which Johnston believed they did in order to gain the status of a "fellow disciple of the emperor."

Some are more obvious, such as directly asking Johnston to help and let his relatives serve in the "court"; For example, Johnston was asked to arrange an audience with the emperor, saying that there was a major secret to report; For example, ask Johnston to submit a "recital", or write a letter directly to condemn someone. There are also those who are not very demanding, write to Johnston and ask him to help get a "emperor" signature.

Johnston also received letters from some ladies, not to express their admiration to him, but to recommend him to enter the palace as a "concubine". There are also those who come directly to the door, such as a pious missionary, hoping that Johnston can convert Pu Yi to **, so that the emperor's soul can be redeemed and even sublimated."

All in all, those people knew that Johnston and the "Emperor" had become teachers and friends, and they all hoped to use Johnston's influence to realize their demands.

Did Johnston really have that much influence on the "emperor"? It seems that there really is.

Not long after Johnston entered the palace, he discovered a detail: every time he looked at the clock, Pu Yi did not look at the small clock on the table, but looked at the big clock hanging on the wall.

If you have myopia, it's actually simple: just pair of glasses. But Johnston underestimated how difficult it would be in the Forbidden City – how could a true Chinese dragon wear a pair of Western glasses?

The request was raised, and there were objections all the way, from the internal affairs office to the imperial family, Pu Yi did not agree to wear glasses, and Concubine Duankang even threatened that if the emperor wore glasses, she would commit suicide by taking opium. But Johnston persevered all the way, even at the cost of resigning. In the end, Pu Yi made his own decision: I listen to the doctor.

Johnston invited the American doctor Howard for Pu Yi, and Howard checked that the "emperor" was really short-sighted, so he was given a pair of myopic glasses, and after Pu Yi put them on, he immediately felt a clear world. Dr. Howard didn't charge for it, but Pu Yi had someone give him a reward of 1,000 yuan afterwards.

Johnston and Puyi

After the Xinhai Revolution, the Chinese people cut off their long braids, and even many people in the Manchu royal family did the same. But Pu Yi was never allowed to cut his braids, because his braids represented the last dignity of all Manchurians.

Johnston always wanted Pu Yi to cut off his braids. He told Pu Yi that the Chinese's braids were "pigtails" in the eyes of Westerners, and he himself agreed. After learning the teacher's thoughts, Pu Yi insisted that the eunuch help him cut off his braids, the eunuch begged bitterly, Pu Yi was afraid of embarrassing the eunuch, so he locked himself in a room, cut off the braids and walked out.

More than 20 days later, in the entire Forbidden City, except for Chen Baochen, Liang Dingfen, and Zhu Yifan, the rest of the people followed the "emperor" to cut off their braids - this number is about 1,500 people.

Wear glasses, cut braids, wear a suit, pass **, ride a bicycle ......It is precisely because Johnston has become more and more influential on the "Sun Emperor" that all political forces have begun to pay attention to this British:

What exactly will he teach Pu Yi? Is it like other emperors to teach him to restore the country wholeheartedly, or to accept the reality and be a "hypocritical monarch" who is useful to the republic with peace of mind?

Johnston has its own plans for this.

According to Johnston's own words, he wanted to train Pu Yi to be a "gentleman" in the Confucian sense.

Johnston's impression of Pu Yi is very good, and from his recollections of Pu Yi, he uses almost all positive words: "smart", "lively", "humane", "humorous", "personable". And in his opinion, this "young son of heaven" is very pitiful in a sense, because he is imprisoned in the Forbidden City, and his nature is imprisoned.

Johnston, who came from England, of course, was in favor of China's implementation of a constitutional monarchy, so he hoped to train Pu Yi to be a person with scientific knowledge, enterprising spirit, ideals and achievements. In this way, you can be a hypocrite when you enter, and you can be a mortal when you retreat.

In other words, Johnston hoped that one day if Pu Yi left the so-called "emperor" throne, he would also be able to live on his own ability.

Pu Yi stands on the roof of the Forbidden City

At one point, Johnston received a letter from a person claiming to be a Tsar in exile in the United States who was organizing an "Association of Abdicated Monarchs" inviting Pu Yi to join and become a "significant member." Johnston showed the letter to Pu Yi, who smiled and said that it would be interesting if each abdicated emperor could learn an instrument and form a band

The members of this band are all eminent monarchs who once wore crowns, and such a band is never before and is sure to bring great joy to the world. ”

In addition to teaching English, Johnston did his best to open some eyes to this "young genius".

In May 1922, Pu Yi was very interested in the "new literary movement" of the outside world at that time, so Johnston selected a few articles by Hu Shi to show him, and then invited Hu Shi to enter the palace to meet Pu Yi. Hu Shi and Pu Yi were both interested in this meeting, and the two sides talked a lot.

Hu Shi also specially consulted Johnston before entering the palace: You shouldn't have to kneel to the emperor, right? After receiving an affirmative answer, Hu Shi only bowed when he saw Pu Yi, but after he left the palace, he was questioned by some people, thinking that he knelt to the emperor of the old era.

In April 1924, Rabindranath Tagore, Asia's first Nobel laureate in literature, visited China and was criticized by some in China. According to Johnston's own words, he "did not want Tagore to think that the Chinese lacked manners before returning home", so he showed Pu Yi a few Tagore's poems and then asked Pu Yi to "summon" Tagore into the palace.

In the Forbidden City, Pu Yi met Tagore, and the two sides had a pleasant chat, which Johnston was also very satisfied with.

Pu Yi and Rabindranath Tagore pose for a photo in the Imperial Garden

However, he still overestimated his own abilities and also downplayed one question:

Behind Pu Yi is the court culture and system that has been precipitated for two thousand years.

Although this system has withdrawn from the stage of history, the ashes still exist, and the spark is still there.

From the day Johnston entered the Forbidden City, he looked out of place.

According to the rules of the Qing court, when a new official takes office, his subordinates can come to congratulate Shun on leading a red envelope. Although the Forbidden City was already a "small court" at that time, the eunuchs still continued this rule and happily came to receive rewards from "Lord Zhuang".

Johnston's response put the eunuchs in a dilemma: it was okay to receive a red envelope, but everyone had to write a receipt.

Being an "emperor" in the Forbidden City is something Johnston, who is obsessed with traditional Chinese culture, is happy to do, but at the same time, it also makes him fall into a knot of self-contradiction

On the one hand, he enjoys some of the "officialdom culture" in traditional Chinese culture very much, such as being officially sealed, wearing official clothes, sitting in a sedan chair, and greeting each other, and being called "Lord Zhuang". But on the other hand, he can't stand the "unspoken rules" and bad habits of officialdom spawned by China's thousand-year-old imperial system.

Johnston dressed in the official uniform of the Qing Dynasty

In Johnston's view, this "internal affairs office" in the Forbidden City is the root of all corruption: there are many personnel in the institution, most of them are "bloodsuckers" attached to Puyi, and all kinds of ** corruption is amazing. Johnston once learned that once for the renovation of the palace, the Ministry of Internal Affairs spent 80,000 yuan on the books, but in the end it was only 80 yuan in the hands of the craftsmen, and the rest of the money was eaten up in the middle of the intertwined links.

What made Johnston even more angry was that there were countless priceless jewels and cultural relics in the Forbidden City, but they had been guarded and stolen by the people of the Internal Affairs Bureau, and Pu Yi had no idea how many treasures he had, nor could he know how many of them had been secretly sold in the palace by the people of the Internal Affairs Office under his command for money.

Under Johnston's repeated persuasion and supervision, Pu Yi decided to take action to rectify the internal affairs office: announcing that the annual expenses of the internal affairs office would be reduced from 6 million yuan to 500,000 yuan. What is even more frightening is that Pu Yi ordered an inventory of the treasures in the Forbidden City, checked the accounts in the palace, and also asked for random sampling of various things.

Johnston apparently underestimated the "collaborative ability" and "spirit of resistance" of the Chinese bureaucracy.

Shortly after the issuance of the clearance order, a treasure of the Forbidden City suddenly arrived at Johnston's house, and the person who sent it said was a reward from the emperor. Johnston insisted on showing the emperor's reward message, or else he would be thrown out of the door, and the giver would eventually return with the treasure. Johnston then asked Pu Yi for confirmation, and the latter said that he had never asked anyone to give a gift.

But within a few days, something beyond Johnston's imagination happened

On the evening of June 26, 1923, the Jianfu Palace in the Forbidden City suddenly burst into flames, and the fire was fierce until noon the next day.

The scene after the fire at Kenfugu Palace

Pu Yi, who has rarely been angry, was furious about this:

A discerning person can see at a glance that this is clearly someone destroying evidence in order to evade inspection.

To this end, Pu Yi did something that can be recorded in the annals of modern Chinese history:

He ordered all the eunuchs in the Forbidden City, except for a very small number of eunuchs, to be dismissed from the palace - China's eunuch system, which came to a complete end.

After this incident came to an end, Johnston actually wanted to do his best to help Pu Yi accomplish one thing: move to the Summer Palace.

According to the "Qing Family Preferential Conditions" agreement between Nanjing and the Qing Dynasty royal family at that time, the Qing Dynasty royal family could only temporarily live in the Forbidden City, and the final place of residence was the Summer Palace.

Johnston was very much in favor of Pu Yi leaving the "cage" of the Forbidden City and living in the Summer Palace, for this reason, he was very concerned about the "relocation project" of the Summer Palace, and Pu Yi also trusted him very much, appointed him as the general manager of the Summer Palace, and handled all relocation matters.

However, there is little time left for Johnston.

On October 23, 1924, the "Beijing Coup" broke out.

Feng Yuxiang, who was killed by lightning from the front line, drove away ** Cao Kun overnight, and the situation over the imperial capital suddenly changed.

On November 5, what Johnston had been fearing happened

At 9 o'clock in the morning, Feng Yuxiang's confidant Lu Zhonglin led a team to rush into the Forbidden City from Shenwu Gate, asking to see "Mr. Puyi", and read out a document: "Amendment to the preferential conditions of the Qing Dynasty".

In fact, this document is not an "amendment", but overturns the previous "Agreement on Preferential Treatment of the Qing Dynasty", stipulating that the Qing Dynasty will abolish the imperial title from now on, move out of the Forbidden City within the specified time, and all property in the Forbidden City will be counted and confiscated.

Pu Yi was driven out of the Forbidden City.

It was a rather thrilling time for Pu Yi, because rumors abounded that Feng Yuxiang's soldiers had washed the Forbidden City and killed all the people, and that Pu Yi had been imprisoned and ready to be publicly executed at any time—"As long as the emperor of China is here, China will not be at peace." ”

In this matter, Johnston still played a role: he used his status as a foreigner to mediate in the consulates of various countries, and finally sent Pu Yi and his party to the Japanese consulate through some methods.

Johnston later defended himself in his memoirs:

The Japanese minister had no idea that the emperor would come to the embassy district until I told him, and it was only after my repeated pleas that the minister agreed to accept the emperor. To be precise, 'Japanese imperialism' had nothing to do with the 'Emperor's Exodus' incident. ”

But even as Johnston put it, he had to admit that his "students of the emperor" had no control over what happened when they entered the Japanese sphere of influence. Later, without Johnston's knowledge, Pu Yi went to the Japanese Concession in Tianjin, an incident that made Johnston very disappointed and angry: first, he was kept in the dark, and second, he knew that the Japanese would take advantage of Pu Yi.

Johnston's mission as "imperial teacher" also came to an end with Pu Yi losing his last "imperial power", and he returned to Weihaiwei as the last chief executive of Weihaiwei. However, in the following years, he still kept in touch with Pu Yi in the Japanese concession in Tianjin.

Led by Johnston (back row, first from right), the Canadian Governor Wellington and his wife visited Pu Yi and his wife's residence in Tianjin.

The Chinese obviously did not want to see this happen, and they tried to persuade Pu Yi not to do that through various means, and some of them naturally thought of Johnston.

At that time, Johnston was indeed in China as the representative of the British side involved in the affairs related to the "Gengzi Indemnity". On October 15, 1932, he rushed to Tianjin and had a long talk with Pu Yi – he felt that "the emperor had made up his mind."

The picture shows Pu Yi's "Killing Sun Dianying". According to Johnston, the robbery of the tomb of the warlord Sun Dianying in 1928 greatly shocked Pu Yi and had an important impact on his later decision to go to Manchuria.

Johnston recalled: "The emperor was a forgiving man, and he could forgive many things, including threats, humiliations, and transgressions, but he could not forgive disrespect to his ancestors." ”

The Emperor is well aware of my activities, and if he needs my assistance, I will act immediately as soon as he speaks to me personally. ”

Soon after, Pu Yi really went to Manchuria.

In Johnston's memoirs, the following sentence is used:

The emperor eventually returned to his native land. ”

Johnston eventually returned to England.

In 1934, he wrote a memoir of his experience as an "emperor" in the Forbidden City, which was published as a book entitled "Twilight in the Forbidden City".

When the book was published, it became a sensation in Europe, and then it was published in Japanese and Chinese.

On the title page of the book, Johnston writes:

I would like to present this book to His Majesty Emperor Puyi to commemorate the good friendship established in the Forbidden City fifteen years ago, and to express my heartfelt wishes to compare this book with myself and his people living inside and outside the Great Wall. After this twilight and long night, a new and better dawn is ushering in. ”

Twilight in the Forbidden City.

Each room in the house was named by Johnston: Songzhu Hall, Weihaiwei Hall, Emperor Hall, ......There is also an exhibition hall among them, which displays all kinds of court clothes, headwear, ornaments and so on that Pu Yi gave him.

On major holidays, Johnston would always invite friends and family to the island, and on this day, he would inevitably wear the official uniform of the Qing Dynasty to welcome guests, every year.

Johnston died in his hometown of Edinburgh on March 6, 1938, at the age of 64.

On the roof of his mansion on the island, a flag still flies.

Some say that it is the dragon flag of the Qing Dynasty, and some say that it is the national flag of the puppet Manchukuo.

It is very likely that Johnston actually hung up.

Because it's not the flag that he values, it's the people.

List of high-quality authors

End of this article).This article mainly refers to **:

1. Dusk in the Forbidden City (by Johnston, translated by Zhang Changli, Wuhan University Press, December 2014).

2. "The Last Emperor Johnston" (Ren Qiuping, "Learning Expo", 2014.05).

3. "Twilight Forbidden City: Johnston's Imperial Years" (Sun Beibei, National Humanities and History, Issue 15, 2019).

4. "The Chinese Love of Johnston, the Last Emperor" (Shi Jicheng, "Education for the Elderly (Home for the Elderly)", Issue 04, 2020).

5, "The Foreign Emperor in the Forbidden City" (Gao Xi, "Monthly Reading", 2017 Issue 07).

6. "The Last Emperor Johnston" (Liu Dongli, "Chinese Studies", 2011.02).

7. "Johnston on Puyi: The Life History of the Last Emperor Connects a Modern History of China" ("Reporter Observation", Issue 01, 2020).

8. "Johnston was hired as Puyi's master contract" (Xie Xiaohua, Historical Archives, 2009.01).