Li Shuxian, also known as Li Shu-Hsien (李淑賢;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally writte ...

: Lĭ Shūxían) (4 September 1924 – 9 June 1997), was the fifth and last wife of

Puyi Aisin-Gioro Puyi (; 7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), courtesy name Yaozhi (曜之), was the last emperor of China as the eleventh and final Qing dynasty monarch. He became emperor at the age of two in 1908, but was forced to abdicate on 1 ...

, the last emperor of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

in China.

Biography

She was a

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...

and a former hospital worker. In 1959, after ten years in prison, Puyi was pardoned. The pair were introduced to one another by a friend in 1962 and wed that same year. Premier

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...

greeted their marriage. They had no children. She accompanied Puyi to his last days. After her husband's death, Li retired from public view. Since she was not a regular hospital employee, her life became difficult. In the early eighties, she sought and received legal ownership of royalties from Puyi's autobiography from the government of China. She later became wealthy by publishing her own memoirs about her final years with Puyi, which she dictated to a scribe. Under the approval of the government, she moved Puyi's ashes closer to his ancestors in the

Western Qing Tombs The Western Qing tombs (; ) are located some southwest of Beijing in Yi County, Hebei Province. They constitute a necropolis that incorporates four royal mausoleums where seventy-eight royal members are buried. These include four emperors of th ...

(清西陵) from the

Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery The Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery () is Beijing's main resting place for the highest-ranking revolutionary heroes, high government officials and, in recent years, individuals deemed of major importance due to their contributions to society. In ...

. She died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

at the age of 72. In her will, she requested that she, Puyi, and Puyi's first concubine

Tan Yuling Tan Yuling, Noble Consort Mingxian (born Tatara Yuling; 11 August 1920 – 14 August 1942), was a concubine of China's last emperor Puyi. She married Puyi when the latter was the nominal emperor of the puppet state of Manchukuo during the Second ...

(谭玉龄) be buried together in the cemetery. However, her wishes have thus far not been realized.

References

External links

Pu Yi's Widow Reveals Last Emperor's Soft Side
1924 births 1997 deaths Chinese nurses Han Chinese people Deaths from lung cancer Deaths from cancer in the People's Republic of China {{China-royal-stub