Jin Youzhi
Jin Youzhi (Chinese: 金友之, 21 September 1918 – 10 April 2015), born Aisin Gioro Puren, was a politician and historian who was the nominal head of the Aisin Gioro clan, the imperial clan of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, from 1994 until his death in 2015. He was the fourth and youngest son of Prince Chun, and a younger half-brother of Puyi, the Last Emperor of China. Instead of using his Manchu clan name "Aisin Gioro" as his family name, Puren adopted "Jin" as his new family name. "Jin" means "gold" in Mandarin, as does "Aisin" in the Manchu language. His courtesy name was "Youzhi"; he is best known as "Jin Youzhi". The Chinese media referred to him as "The Last Emperor's Younger Brother" or "The Last Imperial Younger Brother (最后的皇弟).[1]
Jin Youzhi | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Head of the House of Aisin Gioro | |||||
Period | 28 February 1994 – 10 April 2015 | ||||
Predecessor | Pujie | ||||
Successor | Jin Yuzhang | ||||
Born | Aisin Gioro Puren (愛新覺羅 溥任) 21 September 1918 Shichahai, Beijing, China | ||||
Died | 10 April 2015 96) Beijing, China | (aged||||
Consorts | Jin Yuting (died 1971)Zhang Maoying (m. 1975) | ||||
Issue | Yuzhang Yuquan Yulan Yukun Yucheng | ||||
| |||||
House | Aisin Gioro | ||||
Father | Zaifeng, Prince Chun of the First Rank | ||||
Mother | Lady Denggiya |
Jin Youzhi | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chinese | 金友之 | ||||||
| |||||||
Puren | |||||||
Chinese | 溥任 | ||||||
|
Life
Jin was born in the Prince Chun Mansion in Shichahai, Beijing. After receiving an early education in Chinese classics and traditional art, he established a public primary school in the Prince Chun Mansion in 1947 with support from his father. He was the principal of the school while his sister was a teacher there. The school was later donated to the Chinese government, after which Jin continued working as a teacher until retiring in 1988. In his retirement, Jin wrote books on the history of the Qing dynasty and literature. He served three terms as a delegate to the Municipal Political Consultative Conference of Beijing, and was also a researcher in Chinese history at the Beijing Research Institute.
Jin was the heir to the Manchu throne under the rule of primogeniture, but he repudiated his claim. The 1937 Manchukuo succession law, the latest agreed-upon succession rule of the Aisin Gioro clan, does not provide for succession by a half-brother of the previous emperor.[2]
Family
Consorts and Issue:
- Wife, of the Jin clan (金氏; d. 1971), personal name Yuting (瑜庭)
- Yuzhang (毓嶂; b. May 1942), first son
- Yuquan (毓峑; b. 1946), second son
- First daughter, personal name Yukun (毓琨)
- Married Mr. Du (杜), and had issue (one son)
- Second daughter, personal name Yucheng (毓珵)
- Married Mr. Qiao (喬), and had issue (one son)
- Yulan (毓嵐; b. December 1948), third son
- Wife, of the Zhang clan (張氏), personal name Maoying (茂瀅)
Ancestry
Jiaqing Emperor (1760–1820) | |||||||||||||||||||
Daoguang Emperor (1782–1850) | |||||||||||||||||||
Empress Xiaoshurui (1760–1797) | |||||||||||||||||||
Yixuan (1840–1891) | |||||||||||||||||||
Lingshou (1788–1824) | |||||||||||||||||||
Imperial Noble Consort Zhuangshun (1822–1866) | |||||||||||||||||||
Lady Weng | |||||||||||||||||||
Zaifeng (1883–1951) | |||||||||||||||||||
Deqing | |||||||||||||||||||
Cuiyan (1866–1925) | |||||||||||||||||||
Youzhi (1918–2015) | |||||||||||||||||||
Lady Denggiya (1896–1942) | |||||||||||||||||||
References
- 满清皇室后裔百态人生:和普通人一样生活 Archived 2012-07-22 at Archive.today, 2005-03-24. "Attitudes of the descendants of the Manchu royalty: Their lives as ordinary people"
- "Text of the Law Governing Succession to the Imperial Throne", March 1, 1937, Article 5: "In the absence of sons or descendants, the brothers of the reigning emperor, borne of the same mother, and their male-line descendants succeed according to age".
Jin Youzhi Born: 16 April 1907 Died: 28 February 1994 | ||
Titles in pretence | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Pujie |
— TITULAR — Head of Aisin Gioro family 1994-2015 Reason for succession failure: Empire abolished in 1945 |
Succeeded by Jin Yuzhang |