The Extraordinary Life of The Last Emperor of China The Extraordinary Life of The Last Emperor of China Jia had contact with Li Shuxian, Puyi's widow, for nearly 30 years, and was the first person to collect Puyi's writings and record Li's recollections of her husband. He even wrote the epigraph on Puyi's casket. Jia also interviewed over 300 people who had associations with Puyi since the late Qing dynasty, thus making the book's authenticity irreplaceable. The book narrates Puyi's life from his entry into the Forbidden City at the age of three in 1908 to his death in 1967. It tries to avoid repeating the stories already mentioned
Emperor of China children of the empress, regardless of birth mother). In some dynasties the succession of the empress' eldest son was disputed, and because many emperors had large numbers of progeny, there were wars of succession between rival sons. In an attempt to resolve after-death disputes, the emperor, while still living, often designated a Crown Prince (太子). Even such a clear designation, however, was often thwarted by jealousy and distrust, whether it was the crown prince plotting against the emperor, or brothers plotting against each other. Some emperors, like the Yongzheng Emperor, after abolishing the position of Crown Prince, placed the succession