I recently read this book researching a writing project and I think it should be mandatory reading for anyone interested in imperial or modern China.

It’s the autobiography of Puyi Aisin-Gioro, the last emperor of China. His life was insane. He was put on the throne aged 2 and abdicated 3 years later, but kept his title and was raised in the Forbidden City as essentially a prisoner - all so the corrupt palace officials could keep getting money from the government. He betrays the country and becomes a puppet emperor of “Manchukuo” under Japan’s colonial rule. After the war he is captured by the Soviets and then transferred to China when the Communist party won the civil war. Throughout his imprisonment, and to his great surprise, he is treated humanely and over a period of 10 years in prison manages to reform his entire outlook and become an upstanding citizen.

We talk a lot about deprogramming the cultists but I think there’s not been much discussion about how it can be done. The last few chapters of this book give a great illustration of reeducation that is compassionate and effective.

The book has received some criticism for being propaganda, and certainly the CCP took the view that his reformation would be an excellent demonstration of their progress and undoubtedly treated him well - but he wasn’t exempt from any of he duties and obligations in prison or anything like that. Anyway I haven’t seen any allegations of falsehood regarding his account.