Gobulo Runqi (郭布羅润麒) (July 8, 1912 – June 6, 2007) was a member by right of birth of the Gobulo clan, part of the prestigious

Plain White Banner The Plain White Banner () was one of the Eight Banners of Manchu people, Manchu military and society during the Later Jin (1616–1636), Later Jin and Qing dynasty of China. It was one of the three "upper" banners (Plain Yellow Banner, Bordered Yel ...

group of the Qing dynasty and brother of

Wanrong Wanrong (; 13 November 1906 – 20 June 1946), of the Manchu Plain White Banner Gobulo clan, was the wife and empress consort of Puyi, the last Emperor of China, sometimes anachronistically called the “Xuantong Empress”, referring to Puy ...

, the last Empress Consort of China. He served under the Japanese puppet

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...

regime in the 1940s until its collapse, and in later life, ran an acupuncture centre from his home in Beijing.

Biography

Runqi came from the Gobulo clan, a family closely linked to the imperial

House of Aisin-Gioro The House of Aisin-Gioro was a Manchu clan that ruled the Later Jin dynasty (1616–1636), the Qing dynasty (1636–1912), and Manchukuo (1932–1945) in the history of China. Under the Ming dynasty, members of the Aisin Gioro clan served as c ...

. He was born in Beijing on July 8, 1912, shortly after the fall 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-speak ...

following the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a d ...

. In 1922, after the marriage of his sister to

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 China, he began spending time in the

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is a Chinese palace, palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples includ ...

In 1932 he married Jin Yunying, the third younger sister of Pu Yi and they had three children: Zongyan (宗弇), Zongguang (宗光) and Manruo (曼若). After his marriage, Pu Yi sent him to Japan for military studies, accompanied by his wife. Runqi served in the Japanese puppet state of

. During the

Soviet invasion of Manchuria The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, formally known as the Manchurian strategic offensive operation (russian: Манчжурская стратегическая наступательная операция, Manchzhurskaya Strategicheskaya Nastu ...

in 1945, Runqi was captured by the Soviet army, later being tried before a war criminals court in China. He was released at the age of 45 in 1957, and worked in agricultural before being employed at the Institute of Legal Research in the

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese research institute and think tank. The institution is the premier comprehensive national academic research organization in the People's Republic of China for the study in the fields of ...

. In the early 2000s he ran an

acupuncture Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientifi ...

and

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...

centre from his home. In 2005 at the age of 93, Runqi, angered and upset at how the media were portraying his late sister, sued, saying ''As long as I live, I will not allow irresponsible fabrications and even personal insults about Wanrong's life story! Insulting!" On October 23, 2006, a ritual burial in the Western Qing Tombs for his half-sister Wanrong was performed at his request. He died on June 6, 2007, at the age of 94 in Beijing, China.

References

{{Reflist 1912 births 2007 deaths Chinese princes People of Manchukuo

Biography

See also

References