Twilight In The Forbidden City

Johnson's account of the last years of the Chinese Qing dynasty provides a unique Western perspective on this historic period.

2022 Reprint of the 1934 Edition. Profusely illustrated with photographs, maps, and drawings. Facsimile of the original edition and not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. From 1919 to 1924, R.F. Johnston, a British colonial official, scholar, writer and great admirer of Chinese culture, served as tutor and adviser to the last Emperor of China, who had abdicated his throne in 1912. However, in order to ensure a rapid and peaceful transfer of power, the emperor was allowed to retain his title and was permitted to remain in residence in the Forbidden City in Beijing [Peking], which he did until the winter of 1924. This book, first published in 1934, is Johnston's account of that period, during which he was uniquely placed to observe the twilight years of the Ch'ing Dynasty.

Colonial administrator, writer, explorer, Buddhist, and friend to China's last emperor, Sir Reginald Johnston (1874–1938) was a distinguished sinologist with a tangled love and family life that he kept secret even from his closest friends. Born and educated in Edinburgh, he began his career in the colony of Hong Kong and eventually became Commissioner of the remote British leased territory of Weihai in northern China. He travelled widely and, during a break from colonial service, served as tutor and advisor to Puyi, the deposed emperor. As the only foreigner allowed to work in the Forbidden City, he wrote the classic account of the last days of the Qing Dynasty—Twilight in the Forbidden City. Granted unique access to Johnston's extensive personal papers, once thought to be lost, Shiona Airlie tells the life of a complex and sensitive character whose career made a deep impression on 20th-century China.