Summary of Henry Pu Yi's The Last Manchu

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 I was the Emperor apparent of the Ch’ing Dynasty. I refused an imperial summons from the Forbidden City delivered by the Grand Councillor. My family was humiliated by my refusal to obey the imperial edict. However, I was told several years later that it was agreed to waive all protocol and allow my wet nurse to carry me to the palace. #2 The first year of my reign showed the high officials the difficulties that were coming. The word defeat appeared frequently in the official history of the Ch’ing Dynasty, and the more times it appeared, the more it indicated the intensity of the approaching storm. #3 The Wuchang uprising of October, 1911, had sparked off responses from revolutionaries all over the country, and when the Manchu commander in chief of the imperial forces proved incapable of directing the modernized Peiyang Army to resist the Republican forces, my father as Prince Regent had no choice but to recall Yuan Shih-kai from retirement. #4 Yuan Shih-kai, the political favorite of all parties, was able to force my father, the Prince Regent, into retirement. He took over the palace treasury and compelled the high officials and princes to contribute money for the support of the Army.