The Academy Awards in 1987 were dominated by Bernardo Bertolucci, whose picture The Last Emperor won an impressive 9 statues. Bertolucci was undoubtedly a talented filmmaker, but the story he chose – of Pu-Yi, simultaneously the youngest and last and most important  among the the Chinese emperors, was compelling enough. Pu-Yi’s story needed little fictional embellishment: he was chosen to lead by his mother on her deathbed, who secured his right by causing an untimely demise of his competitor. This was just the beginning of his journey.

On this day, December 2, in 1908, Pu-Yi, aged two, became the crowned emperor of China. He was never able to exercise that rule.

Three years after his coronation, China dissolved into a series of independent – and warring – republics. The emperor’s rule was rescinded, but he was guaranteed safety, pay, and title. That lasted until 1924, when Pu-Yi was stripped of all lands and titles, and, fearing for his safety, he fled to Japan. Under Japanese rule, Pu-Yio was installed as the figurehead emperor of Manchukuo (Manchuria) region. After WW II, he was captured by the Soviet Red Army, where he spent the next several years. In 1949, a quarter of a century after fleeing the country, he returned to China – not as an Emperor but as a loyal citizen of the Communist party.