He was the last recognized emperor of what we know as "China", he is of the Manchu nationality, who called their domain the "Great Pure Empire". This film was taken when he was Emperor of the "Great Manchu Empire", which he hoped would be a stepping stone to a total restoration of the "Great Qing (Pure) Empire" aka Imperial China and which only existed by virtue of the intervention of the Japanese Empire -hence the subtitles. That about cover it?
You really want a headache? Try researching this period and deal with the old Chinese characters (溥儀), the simplified Chinese characters (溥仪), the numerous changes in translations and the numerous names used by the same individual such as, with this one; Hsuan-tung, Xuantong, Henry, PuYi, Kang Teh, Kangde, Datong .... it's enough to make your head spin!
So that was the last Chinese Emperor? Or the Manchu Emperor?
ReplyDeleteAnd subtitled in Japanese. How ironic.
He was the last recognized emperor of what we know as "China", he is of the Manchu nationality, who called their domain the "Great Pure Empire". This film was taken when he was Emperor of the "Great Manchu Empire", which he hoped would be a stepping stone to a total restoration of the "Great Qing (Pure) Empire" aka Imperial China and which only existed by virtue of the intervention of the Japanese Empire -hence the subtitles. That about cover it?
ReplyDeleteYes, thank you.
ReplyDeleteYou really want a headache? Try researching this period and deal with the old Chinese characters (溥儀), the simplified Chinese characters (溥仪), the numerous changes in translations and the numerous names used by the same individual such as, with this one; Hsuan-tung, Xuantong, Henry, PuYi, Kang Teh, Kangde, Datong .... it's enough to make your head spin!
ReplyDelete