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In 1962, Chairman Mao hosted a banquet in the Yinian Hall of Zhongnanhai to entertain a very special guest, Emperor Xuantong of the Qing Dynasty.Aisin-Gioro Puyi。

In order to make the atmosphere of the family dinner as relaxed as possible, Chairman Mao also specially invited Zhang Shizhao, Cheng Qian and others to accompany him. However, during the banquet, a question asked by Chairman Mao attracted everyone's attention.

Halfway through the meal, Chairman Mao suddenly asked Puyi a very important question, "Do you still remember where the imperial seal is?”

This question successfully drew everyone's attention to Puyi, but Puyi's subsequent answer shocked everyone.

Everyone present couldn't believe the answer they heard.

What was Puyi's answer that caused such a big reaction? Why did Chairman Mao invite Puyi to a banquet? What happened to Puyi, who was used to being an emperor, after the fall of the Qing Dynasty? Where did he get the imperial seal?

1

Special Guests of Yiniantang

In 1959, Chairman Mao proposed to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to pardon a group of war criminals who had been reformed and released from prison. The first criminal Chairman Mao handpicked was a person of great special significance:Aisin-Gioro Puyi。

In September of that year, Puyi, who had been undergoing reform for nearly ten years, left the Fushun War Criminals Management Institute as the first prisoner named by Chairman Mao among the first batch of pardoned prisoners.

After this, Puyi was personally received by Premier Zhou, who also found a job for him in the Beijing Botanical Garden. Puyi thought that this was the most comfortable life for him since the fall of the Qing Dynasty, but what he did not expect was that during the Spring Festival two years later, he actually received an invitation from Chairman Mao.

On January 31, 1962, Zhang Shizhao and several others arrived early at the family dinner in the Yinian Hall of Zhongnanhai.

When Chairman Mao saw them, he immediately asked them to take their seats.

When they saw the empty seat, the four of them had a look of confusion on their faces.

Chairman Mao smiled and said in an unfathomable manner:"I have a mission for you all today. I am hosting a very important guest today, and you must help me take care of him.”

Hearing Chairman Mao's words, Zhang Shizhao immediately asked: "Chairman, do we know the person you are talking about?"

Chairman Mao just smiled and said, "You must know him. When he comes, you will understand why I say he is very important."

After hearing Chairman Mao's words, Zhang Shizhao and others became even more curious about the identity of this guest who made Chairman Mao pay so much attention to him.

Finally, when they didn't know how long they had been waiting, a tall, thin, middle-aged man wearing glasses and a Mao suit that didn't fit him very well walked in.

Looking at the slightly old man who walked in, Chairman Mao immediately walked over and sat him down next to him.

While settling the new guests, he introduced them to Zhang Shizhao and others:You haven't seen him yet, this is Emperor Xuantong. All of us worked under him back then.”

After hearing Chairman Mao's words, Puyi seemed a little nervous. He waved his hands and said:Don't say that, what happened back then is all in the past.”

When Chairman Mao introduced Zhang Shizhao and others, Puyi stood up and greeted them one by one with a respectful attitude.

At the family dinner, Chairman Mao kindly inquired about Puyi's recent health and showed concern for his current life. He also pointed to the side dishes such as peppers and bitter melon on the table and warmly invited Puyi to eat.

Seeing Puyi's nose covered with sweat from the spicy peppers, Chairman Mao smiled and said, "We Hunanese cannot live without peppers. That's why everyone in Hunan is born with a spicy taste."

In order to prove that what he said was true, Chairman Mao pointed at Zhang Shizhao and others and jokingly mentioned the old story that Zhang Shizhao, Qiu Ao and others had cursed Emperor Xuantong in the newspapers and rebelled against the late Qing Dynasty.

When Puyi, who had relaxed a little, heard Chairman Mao mention the incident, he immediately became nervous again. He sincerely apologized to everyone present and said, "I am sorry for you. I was wrong in the past. I have committed a capital crime."

After hearing Puyi's words, Chairman Mao immediately realized that after so many years, Puyi still felt a little uneasy, and that Puyi would still feel a little nervous at a gathering of all Communists.

Chairman Mao interrupted and asked curiously:Let’s not talk about these for now. Today, I am here to welcome you. In addition, I have another very curious question to ask you: where was the imperial seal placed back then?”

Chairman Mao's interruption did correct the atmosphere at the banquet. Everyone stared at Puyi nervously, wanting to know where the imperial seal was.

But Puyi said embarrassedly:I don't know where the seal is.”

Puyi didn't know where the imperial seal was. What was going on? As the last person to hold the imperial seal, how could Puyi not know where it was?

2

The missing seal

At the end of 1924, Feng Yuxiang's troops marched into Beijing in a mighty manner. The first thing Feng Yuxiang did after arriving in Beijing was to drive Puyi, who had abdicated but still lived in the Forbidden City, out of Beijing.

"I'll give you two hours to move out of Beijing immediately."

At the urging of Feng Yuxiang's subordinate Lu Zhonglin, Puyi, who no longer had any real power, had to hurriedly pack up his belongings and leave Beijing. However, because he left in a hurry, he did not have time to pack many things. The imperial seal, which had always been regarded as the highest authority of the dynasty, was also forgotten in Beijing.

Puyi, who hurriedly left the Forbidden City, became a puppet emperor in the puppet state of Manchukuo in the northeast with the help of the Japanese. When he finally settled down, he immediately sent people to find Feng Yuxiang to ask for the imperial seal back.

However, Feng Yuxiang's reply made Puyi feel panicked, because the jade seal was not in Feng Yuxiang's hands. After Feng Yuxiang drove Puyi out of the Forbidden City, he searched the entire Forbidden City but could not find the jade seal, so he thought that the jade seal was taken away by Puyi.

Now, after the two men confronted each other, they realized that the seal was really lost.

Puyi felt panicked when he learned about this. Although the jade seal no longer had any power, it was left by his ancestors after all and had been passed down for hundreds of years. Now that the jade seal was lost in his hands, Puyi was afraid that he would not have the face to face his ancestors a hundred years later.

"You must help me find the jade seal."

Puyi had no other choice at the time and could only hurriedly ask the Japanese for help. He tried to negotiate with the Japanese using his identity as the emperor of the puppet state of Manchukuo. However, even the puppet state of Manchukuo was established by the Japanese, so how could they be afraid of Puyi's threats?

They ignored Puyi's request and only verbally agreed to help Puyi find the seal, but did not take any substantive action.

Puyi also understood that the Japanese were just trying to fool him, so he could only send out the only loyal late Qing ministers he had, and with the help of the Japanese, search for the missing imperial seal.

However, until 1945, after Japan's defeat and surrender, Puyi was unable to find the imperial seal and had to flee in a hurry with the defeated Japanese soldiers.

Just when Puyi had arrived at the airport safely and was about to leave by plane, the Soviet Red Army arrived and captured Puyi just before the plane was about to take off, and took him to the Soviet Union.

From then on, Puyi was imprisoned in a Soviet detention center until the founding of New China, when Chairman Mao visited Moscow and took the initiative to request that Puyi be handed over to the Chinese government.

In May 1950, after many negotiations, Puyi and other war criminals were formally handed over to the Chinese government, and Puyi began nearly ten years of reform and study life in the Fushun War Criminals Management Institute.

During this period, although no one asked, almost everyone tacitly agreed that the symbol of the highest power of the Chinese feudal dynasty - the imperial seal - was in Puyi's hands.

It was not until this family dinner that Chairman Mao casually asked this question in order to lighten the atmosphere of the banquet. Only then did everyone know that the jade seal had been lost more than 30 years ago.

3

Chairman Mao's two suggestions

After learning that the imperial seal had been lost, everyone showed an expression of shock and regret, only Chairman Mao said calmly: "The jade seal is a symbol of the feudal era. Now that the feudal dynasty has ended, it is just a useless piece of stone. If it is lost, it is no big deal.”

Then Chairman Mao said humorously: "It's a pity that I have never seen what the imperial seal looks like in my life."

Chairman Mao's words successfully boosted the atmosphere of the banquet, and Puyi could not help laughing. During this contact, Puyi found that although Chairman Mao was also the top leader, he did not feel superior at all. Not only did he speak in a witty and humorous way, he also cared about his personal life.

After learning that Puyi had not remarried since his divorce from Fuguiren, Chairman Mao specifically said to Puyi: "You can still get married now! But marriage is a major event in the second half of your life. You must take it seriously this time, find a suitable person, and live a good life in the future."

After hearing Chairman Mao's earnest and caring words, Puyi immediately nodded with red eyes and agreed.

After the meal, Chairman Mao specially kept Puyi to talk and discussed with him the next work arrangements and ideological transformation.

Upon learning that Puyi had compiled part of his early life many years ago, Chairman Mao encouraged Puyi to continue writing and record his entire life in detail, which could then be printed out for the general public to witness together the social changes in modern China.

But at the same time, Chairman Mao also pointed out: "Whether you are writing about past events or your own feelings, the most important thing is to ensure the authenticity of the things you record. Only by telling the truth can you avoid misleading readers in the future.”

This family dinner in 1962 was not only the first meeting between the last emperor and the founding father, but also left an unforgettable memory in Puyi's heart.

A photo of Chairman Mao and Puyi was taken at this banquet. Whether he was single or moved after getting married, Puyi always kept the photo of himself and Chairman Mao at the head of his bed.

Unfortunately, during the subsequent turmoil, Puyi was afraid that the photo would be confiscated, so he took the initiative to hand it over to a government agency for safekeeping. But for some unknown reason, the photo magically disappeared, just like the imperial seal, and was never recovered.

Although the photo is gone, the emotions it contained do exist. Every time Chairman Mao mentioned Puyi, he said, "We must unite with him well."

When he heard that Puyi was living in poverty, Chairman Mao immediately asked Zhang Shizhao to give his royalties to Puyi to help him improve his life.

After receiving the money sent by Chairman Mao, Puyi was very moved, but he said that he could still live a good life, and "My First Half of Life" was about to be published, and he would also receive some royalties, so he could not accept money from Chairman Mao.

Finally, after repeated persuasion from Zhang Shizhao, Puyi accepted the money with red eyes.

It is hard to imagine that the emperor, who was once second only to the emperor and was surrounded by people every day, would burst into tears of gratitude over a not-so-large amount of royalties.

Puyi, who was used to a high and mighty life, finally stepped down from the altar built by others under the transformation of the Communist Party. As Chairman Mao said, "We successfully transformed an emperor."

Puyi went from being an emperor to being one of the millions of people in New China. Although he no longer had the ability to call the wind and rain, his life was more satisfying, more fulfilling, and more meaningful than before. He was happy with his current ordinary yet fulfilling lifestyle.

Before his death, Puyi held his wife's hand and said, "It is the Communist Party that gave me a second life."

Reposted from the National Studies Hall of Fame