From Emperor to Citien is the 　　autobiography of Pu Yi, the man who 　　was the last emperor of China. A 　　unique memoir of the first half of the 　　20th century as seen through the eyes 　　of one born to be an absolute 　　monarch, the book begins with the 　　author's vivid account of the last, 　　decadent days of the Ching Dynasty, 　　and closes with an introspective 　　self-portrait of the last Ching emperor 　　transformed into a retiring scholar 　　and citizen of the People's Republic 　　of China. 　　 　　In detailing the events of the fifty 　　years between his ascension to the 　　throne and the final period of his life 　　as a quiet-living resident of Beijing, 　　Pu Yi reveals himself to be first and 　　foremost a survivor, caught up in the 　　torrent of global power struggles and 　　world conflict that played itself out 　　on the Asian continent through many 　　decades of violence and upheaval. 　　 　　This firsthand description of the 　　dramatic events of Pu Yi's life was the 　　basis for the intemationally acclaimed 　　1987 Bemardo Bertolucci film The 　　Last Emperor which was named Best 　　Picture of the Year by the American 　　Academy of Motion Picture Arts and 　　Sciences. From Emperor to Citizen 　　readily lends itself to cinematic 　　adaptation as a personal narrative of 　　continuously significant and revea- 　　ling episodes. 　　 　　Becoming emperor and then 　　forced to abdicate with the 　　establishment of the Republic of 　　China in 1911, all before he is seven 　　years old, Pu Yi continues to live in 　　the Forbidden City for another 　　decade, still treated as the Son of 　　Heaven by the moribund Ching court, 　　but in reality a virtual prisoner, with 　　little genuine human contact apart 　　from his beloved nurse Mrs. Wang, 　　his teacher Chen Pao-shen and his 　　English tutor Reginald Johnston. 　　 　　When at the age of nineteen Pu Yi 　　is finally forced to vacate his isolated 　　existence within the Forbidden City, 　　he begins his long odyssey as the 　　dependent of the occupying imperial 　　Japanese regime, first in Tientsin, and 　　eventually installed as "emperor" of 　　the Japanese puppet state styled 　　Manchukuo in China's northeast 　　provinces. With the defeat of Japan 　　and the end of the Second World War, 　　Pu Yi faces a very uncertain future as 　　he is shunted off to Russia for five 　　years before retuming to a new China 　　transformed by revolution, where he 　　is confined in the Fushun War 　　Criminal Prison. Here he undergoes 　　several years of rehabilitation, 　　"learning how to become a human 　　being," as he calls it, before receiving 　　an official pardon and being allowed 　　to finally live as an ordinary citizen of 　　Beijing. 　　 　　This autobiography is the culmi- 　　nation of a unique and remarkable 　　life, told simply, directly and frankly 　　by a man whose circumstances and 　　experiences were like no other.