Jin Youzhi

Jin Youzhi (Chinese: 金友之, 21 September 1918 – 10 April 2015), born Aisin Gioro Puren, was a politician and historian who was the nominal head of the Aisin Gioro clan, the imperial clan of the Manchu-led 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 (最后的皇弟).[1]

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Jin.

Jin Youzhi
Head of the House of Aisin Gioro
Period	28 February 1994 – 10 April 2015
Predecessor	Pujie
Successor	Jin Yuzhang
Born	Aisin Gioro Puren (愛新覺羅 溥任) (1918-09-21)21 September 1918 Shichahai, Beijing, China
Died	10 April 2015(2015-04-10) (aged 96) Beijing, China
Consorts	Jin Yuting ( died 1971) Zhang Maoying ( m. 1975)
Issue	Yuzhang Yuquan Yulan Yukun Yucheng
Full name Jin Youzhi (金友之)
House	Aisin Gioro
Father	Zaifeng, Prince Chun of the First Rank
Mother	Lady Denggiya

Jin Youzhi
Chinese	金友之
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jīn Yǒuzhī
Puren
Chinese	溥任
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Pǔrén

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.

Jin was the heir to the Manchu throne under the rule of primogeniture, but he repudiated his claim. The 1937 Manchukuo succession law, the latest agreed-upon succession rule of the Aisin Gioro clan, does not provide for succession by a half-brother of the previous emperor.[2]

Family

• Father: Zaifeng, Prince Chun of the First Rank (醇親王 載灃; 12 February 1883 – 3 February 1951)
  • Grandfather: Yixuan, Prince Chunxian of the First Rank (醇賢親王 奕譞; 16 October 1840 – 1 January 1891)
  • Grandmother: Secondary consort, of the Liugiya clan (側福晉 劉佳氏; 1866–1925), personal name Cuiyan (翠妍)
• Mother: Secondary consort, of the Denggiya clan (側福晉 鄧佳氏; 1896–1942)

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• Consorts and Issue:
  • Wife, of the Jin clan (金氏; d. 1971), personal name Yuting (瑜庭)
    • Yuzhang (毓嶂; b. May 1942), first son
    • Yuquan (毓峑; b. 1946), second son
    • First daughter, personal name Yukun (毓琨)
      • Married Mr. Du (杜), and had issue (one son)
    • Second daughter, personal name Yucheng (毓珵)
      • Married Mr. Qiao (喬), and had issue (one son)
    • Yulan (毓嵐; b. December 1948), third son
  • Wife, of the Zhang clan (張氏), personal name Maoying (茂瀅)

See also

• Royal and noble ranks of the Qing dynasty
• Ranks of imperial consorts in China § Qing

References

1. 满清皇室后裔百态人生：和普通人一样生活 Archived 2012-07-22 at Archive.today, 2005-03-24. "Attitudes of the descendants of the Manchu royalty: Their lives as ordinary people"
2. "Text of the Law Governing Succession to the Imperial Throne", March 1, 1937, Article 5: "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".

Jin Youzhi Qing Dynasty Born: 16 April 1907 Died: 28 February 1994
Titles in pretence
Preceded by Pujie	— TITULAR — Head of Aisin Gioro family 1994-2015 Reason for succession failure: Empire abolished in 1945	Succeeded by Jin Yuzhang