Saga Hiro

Pujie and Saga Hiro on their wedding day, April 3, 1938

Saga Hiro ( Japanese 嵯峨 浩 ; born April 16, 1914 in Tokyo , † June 20, 1987 in Beijing ) was the wife of the heir to the throne of Manchukuo Pujie , the brother of Emperor Puyi . After their wedding, she called herself Aisin Gioro Hiro in Manchuria or, with the Chinese reading of her first name, Aisin Gioro Hao ( Chinese 愛新覺羅 • 浩 ).  

biography

Her Saga family belonged to the Kuge (court nobility) and was part of the Ōgimachi-Sanjō clan, which in turn belonged to the Kan'in branch of northern Fujiwara . She was born as the eldest daughter of the Marquis Saga Sanetō ( 嵯峨 実 勝 ). In 1936 she graduated from Gakushūin University .

In 1937 she was introduced to Prince Pujie, the younger brother of Emperor Puyis, who attended the Japanese Army Officer School , in an omiai . Pujie had chosen her photo from a crowd of candidates selected by the Kwantung Army . Since his brother Puyi had no direct heir, the marriage had strong political implications, should strengthen the relationship between Manchukuo and Japan and bring Japanese blood to the Manchurian imperial family.

The engagement ceremony took place on February 2, 1938 in the Embassy of Manchukuo in Tokyo, the official marriage on April 3 in the soldiers' house ( 軍人 会館 , Gunjin kaikan ) - today's Kudan building ( 九段 会館 , Kudan kaikan ) - in Kudanzaka, Tokyo. In October they both moved to the capital of Manchukuo, Xinjing .

In 1938 their first daughter Princess Aisin Goro Huisheng ( 愛新覺羅 · 慧 生  /  爱新觉罗 · 慧 生 , Japanese 愛 新 覚 羅 慧 生 , Aishinkakura Eisei ) was born and in 1941 their second Princess Yunsheng ( 愛新覺羅 · 嫮 生 , Japanese. 愛 新 覚 羅 嫮 生 , Aishinkakura Kosei ).

Escape to Japan

During the evacuation of Manchukuo triggered by the invasion of Manchukuo, both spouses were separated: Prince Pujie and Emperor Puyi fled by plane to Japan, Saga Hiro with Empress Gobulo Wanrong by train with a stopover in Korea. This train was stopped at Dalizi in January 1946 by the Chinese Communist 8th March Army . As of April, they were first transferred to Changchun (formerly Xinjing), then to Jilin in the north, where the Kuomintang bombarded them to Yanji Prison , and finally to Jiamusi .

She was released there in July and arrived in Huludao in September , from where she was going to translate to Japan. However, since Huludao was occupied by the Kuomintang, she traveled to Shanghai via Beijing. From there it reached Japan in January 1947. This trip earned her the nickname Ruten no Ōhi ( 流 転 の 王妃 ) - "wandering princess".

Life in japan

In Japan, she had no contact with her husband because he was in Fushun Labor Camp with Puyi . It was only when her eldest daughter wrote a moving letter to Zhou Enlai that Saga Hiro and her two daughters were allowed to write to the husband and father. On December 10, 1957, Huisheng and a fellow student were found killed by pistol shots on Mount Amagi - presumably a double suicide out of love .

In 1960, Saga Hiro's husband was released and she moved to Beijing the following year. In 1974, 1980, 1982, 1983 and 1984 she returned to Japan five more times until she died in Beijing in 1987. One half of their ash and was of Huisheng 1998 in specially built for them sessha ((branch shrine) Aisin Goro shrine 愛新覚羅社 , Aishinkakura-sha ) on the grounds of Nakayama shrine in Shimonoseki transferred, in the her great-grandfather Nakayama Tadamitsu was entered as Kami . Some of the ashes of pujies were added later. The other half of the two were scattered on the Chinese mountain Miaofeng-shan ( 妙峰山 ).

Autobiographies and film adaptations

In 1959 her autobiography Ruten no Ōhi ( 流 転 の 王妃 , dt. "The wandering princess") was published, which was made a movie in 1960 under the direction of Tanaka Kinuyo . The role Korinkakura Ryūko / Tatsuko ( 呼倫 覚 羅 竜 子 ; i.e. Aisin Gioro Hiro) was played by Machiko Kyō , Futetsu ( 溥 哲 ; i.e. pujie, which is pronounced in Japanese Fuketsu) by Eiji Funakoshi and Fubun / Fumon ( 溥 文 ; i.e. Puyi) from Ryō Yōmei.

In 1984 another autobiography was published, "Ruten no Ōhi" no Shōwa-shi. Maboroshi no "Manshū-koku" ( 「流 転 の 王妃」 の ​​昭和 史 - 幻 の "満 州 国" , German: "The Shōwa story 'The wandering princess'. The illusionary 'Manchukuo'"; ISBN 4-391-10818 -6 ), which also deals with the suicide incident on Mount Amagi. In 1992, a completely revised version called Ruten no Ōhi no Shōwa-shi ( 流 転 の 王妃 の 昭和 史 , German "The Shōwa history of the wandering princess"; ISBN 4-10-126311-6 ) appeared. This was implemented in 2003 by TV Asahi as a two-part television film Ruten no Ōhi - Saigo no Kōtei ( 流 転 の 王妃 ・ 最後 の 皇弟 , dt. "The wandering princess - the younger brother of the last emperor"). This used the real names, Hiro being played by Takako Tokiwa , Pujie by Yutaka Takenouchi and Puyi by Wang Bozhao.

literature

• Edward Behr: The Last Emperor . Bantam, Toronto et al. 1987, ISBN 0-553-34474-9 .
• Takie Sugiyama Lebra: Above the Clouds. Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility . University of California Press, Berkeley CA et al. 1993, ISBN 0-520-07600-1 .

Remarks

1. ↑ Takie Sugiyama Lebra: Above the Clouds . 1987, p. 213
2. ↑ Edward Behr: The Last Emperor . 1977, p. 268f.
3. ↑ exact reading of 竜 子 unclear
4. ↑ exact reading of 溥 文 unclear

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Saga is the family name, Hiro is the first name.