"The Last Emperor"

842 Words2 Pages

For this multimedia project, I decided to watch “The Last Emperor.” In “The Last Emperor,” Puyi the last emperor of the Qing dynasty, the last dynasty, is faced with the close of traditional monarchy and the switch to a republic. I want to examine why traditional monarchy fell and the republic of China took over. I would like to discuss the various transitions China’s government. China went through an imperialistic monarchy, republic, warlord governments, and communism. Though China went through many different changes I would like to discuss why China shifted and the instant it happened. I would like to talk about the corruption and the government’s relationship with its people. My thesis statement is China’s governmental change from a traditional monarchy to a republic was because of a poor governmental/societal relationship and corruption within the Qing dynasty.
The movie is essentially a series of flash back. The movie begins with a prison train full of war criminals going to a prison in 1950s Manchuria. Piyu took the throne from the empress when he was three years old. He was treated above everyone else this is apparent when he met his brother at ten and later at fifteen when he met his wife. Throughout the entire movie there is a sense of rich kid never grows up and cannot fend for himself. Even in his forties when he is delivered to the prison-camp he cannot even tie his shoes. Arranged marriages is an evident tradition in Confucian culture. The changing China from Imperialism to a republic is portrayed well. One example of the revolution was Reginald, the tutor going to the Forbidden City and the car is surrounded by revolutionaries gathering outside the walls of the Forbidden City.
After Piyu, his wives, remaining serva...

... middle of paper ...

... from a traditional monarchy to a republic was due to poor governmental/societal relationship and corruption within the Qing dynasty. Any country experimenting with governments and governmental shifts has a strained relationship with the people it governs. This is because of many reason I have discussed before such as corruption and weak/useless governments.

Works Cited

"Qing dynasty (Chinese history)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/112846/Qing-dynasty>.

"The Last Emperor (film by Bertolucci [1987])." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/331080/The-Last-Emperor>.

The last emperor. Dir. Bernardo Bertolucci. Perf. John Lone . Artisan Entertainment, 1998. DVD.

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