The Changes In The Last Emperor

The Last Emperor is a movie about the last emperor of China. This last emperor was known as Henry Puyi, the final ruler of the Qing dynasty. The movie The Last Emperor follows the life of Puyi from the time he became emperor of China at the age of 3, to the time of his release from a Chinese communist prison. This movie presents the end of “old” China and what was being done to persevere its traditions and culture, in an interesting and dramatic way.

Background

In the 19th century, China was being pressured by the British to open up more ports for trade. However, the Qing dynasty did not want to open up more ports for trade because they wanted to limit China’s contact with the Western world. In their eyes, the people of the Western world
For example, “the venerable civil service examination system was replaced by a new educational system based on the Western model” (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2017, pg. 577-78). However, all of these reforms were enacted too late. The damage had already been done and problems and unrest continued. In the movie, The Last Emperor, the officials of the Qing dynasty tried to preserve “old” China even after the emperor Puyi had been abdicated. They continued to uphold the traditions and ways of the Chinese concerning the emperor. Puyi continued to live in the Forbidden City and was still educated by a tutor. Puyi still wore imperial yellow and he continued to keep the queue. The fashion of all those in the Forbidden City was the same as it was before the fall of the Qing dynasty. Puyi’s food was still first eaten by the official taster to ensure that the emperor was not poisoned. Puyi and his tutor were still carried and transported in chairs. When it became clear that Puyi needed glasses the officials in the Forbidden City would not permit it because the emperor was not allowed to wear spectacles. However, Puyi did not seem to be happy living the traditional way in a modern world. He wanted to leave the Forbidden City, escape to England, attend Oxford university, and choose his own wife that was “modern”. In the movie, Puyi also got rid of the queue hairstyle and adopted a more modern one. He also got rid of the imperial yellow and adopted a more modern fashion. However, when Puyi finally had to leave the Forbidden City he realized how much he had loved living there and being “emperor”. Puyi actually wanted to be emperor again and when the chance came for him to be emperor of Manchukuo, he took it despite warnings from his wife and old