Hansonius

EMPEROR MALGRE LUI 不自在的皇帝 --选自《Imperfect Understanding 不够知己》温源宁 著 In the long history of mankind there have been many commoners made emperors; there have been many emperors forced to abdicate the throne;there have also been some exiled emperors who made a successful struggle back to the throne, as, in the case of Napoleon I. But there have been few, if any, instances where a man was made emperor three times without knowing why and apparently without relishing it. Believe it or not, Mr. Henry Puyi holds the world's record in the number of times that any mortal may ascend and abdicate the throne-that is, after March 1 when he will be crowned for the third time. Yes, Henry was born lucky- if being an emperor as he was can be considered as such. At the age of four, his late uncle Emperor Kwang Hsu died and as he left no offspring, Empress Dowager Tsu Hsi picked Henry as the nearest of kin to be the successor. So, in 1909 when he was a mere infant, Henry was ceremoniously enthroned and was supposed to reign und