Twilight in the Forbidden City

Author - Sir Reginald, Fleming Johnston ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Paperback Book item from XIAOMINA was reviewed on 16-Oct-2008.

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1) Paperback Book Twilight in the Forbidden City by XIAOMINA. You may have heard that "Twilight in the Forbidden City" is the book that Bernardo Bertolucci´s movie "The Last Emperor" is "based" on. If at all, however, this is true only with regard to the first part of the movie (the book was published in 1934, just as Pu-Yi had ascended the throne of "Manchukuo"), and actually, the book should not be read or understood in this limited sense at all. Primarily, this is the personal account of a British diplomat and scholar of the Chinese history, society and culture who, at some point in his career, was appointed to the (for a westerner: virtually unprecedented) position of tutor to China´s last monarch. True, those who have seen Bertolucci´s movie will recognize individual events described in this book, such as the emperor´s birthday and wedding ceremonies (Bertolucci obviously used Johnston´s description of the birthday rituals as a model for the spectacular coronation ceremonies at the beginning of the movie - as Johnston had not yet been made tutor at that point, he could not give an eyewitness account of that event), and Johnston´s constant battle with the corrupt and reactionary palace eunuchs, as best exemplified by the fight over the emperor´s glasses (without which Pu-Yi arguably would have lost eyesight before long).

But Johnston´s book is not merely a biography of the emperor. Rather, it is an account of the last period of the Manchu empire, and of the Chinese society in the second half of the 19th and the first decades of the 20th century. In addition to the author´s personal impressions gained inside and outside the imperial palace, up to and including Pu-Yi´s dramatic flight from the Forbidden City in 1924, which ultimately ended in the Japanese legation, the book also renders Johnston´s view of the role of the major foreign powers at the time (Japan, Russia, the U.S., Germany and, of course, his native England), and the emperor´s predecessors and their politics, such as the powerful empress dowager Tzu-Hsi (named "the Venerable Buddha"), the reform attempts of the unfortunate emperor Kuang-Hsü (which earned him, at the age of 28, lifelong humiliation, imprisonment and ultimately death in a tiny and windowless building within the imperial palaces), the Boxer Movement, and the brief and likewise unlucky interlude of the reign of Pu-Yi´s father (Kuang-Hsü´s brother), Prince Chun.

Johnston was a monarchist and fiercely loyal to Pu-Yi personally, so don´t expect him to treat any of the popular movements which ultimately brought the monarchy to an end with much sympathy or at least, objectivity. He probably also underestimated the dangers to China (and the Manchu dynasty) growing out of the emperor´s re-installment as ruler of "Manchukuo" at the behest of the Japanese. In fact, the very title of this book is designed to reflect its author´s hope that, like the "Rising Sun" symbolized by the Japanese emperor, the Chinese monarchy would soon rise and shine again. Equating the 12 years between the establishment of the Chinese republic in 1912 and the emperor´s expulsion from the Forbidden City in 1924 to a "twilight" period and the 10 years following it to the night, Johnston dedicates the book to Pu-Yi "in the earnest hope that, after the passing of the twilight and the long night, the dawn of a new and happier day for himself, and also for his people on both sides of the Great Wall, is now breaking." In the book´s introduction, he again emphasizes that "there is a twilight of the dawn as well as a twilight of the evening" and that the dark period witnessed by China might "be followed in due time by another twilight which will brighten into a new day of radiant sunshine."

This, of course, is not the only prediction where history has proven Reginald F. Johnston wrong. His analysis of the role of some of the key players of the time, for example that of the empress dowager Tzu-Hsi, is likewise not undisputed; and he himself has not remained without criticism, either (even at the time of its publication, a major purpose of the book was to defend his actions and view of the facts). The book must therefore be read with a grain of salt. But few westerners of his time had a knowledge of China equaling his, let alone his opportunities to observe and gain insights within the imperial palace. That, in itself, makes his account a compelling read.

Also recommended:
The Last Emperor - Criterion Collection
From Emperor to Citizen: The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi
Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China
Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K´ang-Hsi
The Cambridge Illustrated History of China (Cambridge Illustrated Histories)¤

2) Paperback Book Twilight in the Forbidden City by XIAOMINA. Johnston´s book Twilight in the Forbidden City (1934) describes his experiences in Beijing and was used as a source for Bernardo Bertolucci´s film dramatisation of Puyi´s life The Last Emperor. He was portrayed by Peter O´Toole in the film.

This book describes the last of the Manchu Dynasty whose power had been crumbling for nearly a hundred years due to foreign wars and internal revolts and China lay helpless at the feet of foreign powers.

Today with rapid its economic leaps forwards and a place in the UN Security Council and its huge powerhouse of an economy - China is on its feet again. The days of the Manchu´s are a distant memory and the army of courtiers and eunuchs that you that serve the emperors of the middle kingdom are long forgotten.

The book is fascinating as it takes on back to a bygone age and culture. However everyone needs to read this book to understand the China that was. Only from its past can one understand the China today in its true historical perspective.

The book is great if you are of Chinese heritage or if you are just thinking of visiting china or just interested in history of this ancient land and its people.
¤

3) Paperback Book Twilight in the Forbidden City by XIAOMINA. As part of China´s 2008 Olympic welcome to visitors Xiaomina Press, presents this book about the last emperor of China. This book is essential reading for all visitors to China The Author Sir Reginald Fleming Johnston was a Scottish diplomat and the tutor of Puyi, the last emperor of China. Johnston was eye witness Chinese events in the crucial years of the 1920s and 1930s. Johnston was the only foreigner in history to be allowed inside the inner court of the Qing Dynasty. The author carried high imperial titles and lived in both the Forbidden City and the New Summer Palace. In 1934, Johnston looked for a residence in Scotland to retire to. He found a house on Eilean Righ, a small island in Loch Craignish, some 9 miles (15 km) NW of Lochgilphead. He moved there with his enormous library, which included a Chinese Encylopaedia in 1734 volumes and a complete collection of Buddhist scriptures in 1500 volumes. Twilight in the Forbidden City is very much a history of an entire period and not an exclusive portrait of the last Emperor of China. Twilight in the Forbidden City is prefaced by the Emperor Hsüan-T´ung himself in the year 1931 Chosen by Dowager Empress Cixi while on her deathbed, Puyi ascended the throne at age 2 years 10 months in December 1908 following his uncle´s death on November 14. Puyi´s introduction to emperorship began when palace officials arrived at his family household to take him. Puyi screamed and resisted as the officials ordered the eunuchs to pick him up. His wet-nurse, Wen-Chao Wang, was the only one who could console him, and therefore accompanied Puyi to the Forbidden City. Puyi would not see his real mother again for six years. Puyi´s upbringing was hardly conducive to the raising of a healthy, well-balanced child. Overnight, he was treated as a god and unable to behave as a child. The adults in his life, save his wet-nurse Mrs. Wang, were all strangers, remote, distant, and unable to discipline him. Wherever he went, grown men would kneel to the floor in a ritual kow-tow, averting their eyes until he passed.¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 13-Nov-2008, 18435602089781843560203, 030-980-081-267-IWB-FAB-8

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