Jin Youzhi (Chinese: 金友之, 21 September 1918 – 10 April 2015), born Aisin-Gioro Puren, was a Chinese politician, teacher and historian. He was the head of the House of Aisin-Gioro, the ruling clan of the Qing dynasty, from 1994 until his death in 2015. He was the fourth and youngest son of Prince Chun, and a younger half-brother of Puyi, the last emperor of China. Instead of using his Manchu clan name "Aisin-Gioro" as his family name, Puren adopted "Jin" as his new family name. "Jin" means "gold" in Mandarin, as does "Aisin" in the Manchu language. His courtesy name was "Youzhi." He is best known as "Jin Youzhi." The Chinese media referred to him as "the last emperor's younger brother" or "the last imperial younger brother."[1]
Life
Jin was born in the Prince Chun Mansion in Shichahai, Beijing. After receiving an early education in Chinese classics and traditional art, he established a public primary school in the Prince Chun Mansion in 1947 with support from his father. He was the principal of the school while his sister was a teacher there. The school was later donated to the Chinese government, after which Jin continued working as a teacher until retiring in 1988. In his retirement, Jin wrote books on the history of the Qing dynasty and literature. He served three terms as a delegate to the Municipal Political Consultative Conference of Beijing, and was also a researcher in Chinese history at the Beijing Research Institute.[2]
Jin was the heir to the Manchu throne under a 1937 succession law issued by Puyi as emperor of Manchukuo.[3]
Family
First wife, of the Jin clan (金氏; d. 1971), personal name Yuting (瑜庭)
^The Manchoukuo Year Book 1941, "Law Governing Succession to the Imperial Throne", March 1, 1937, p. 905, Tōa Keizai Chōsakyoku (Japan). • "In the absence of sons or descendants, the brothers of the reigning emperor, borne of the same mother, and their male-line descendants succeed according to age" (Article 5). • "Among the Imperial brothers and the remoter Imperial relations, precedence shall be given, in the same degree, to the descendants of full blood over those of half blood" (Article 8).