Jixi Building

Jixi Building

Jixi Building is located in the western section of the inner court of the Puppet Manchukuo Imperial Palace. It is a two-story gray old-style building that originally served as the office of the Jilin-Heilongjiang Monopoly Bureau. In 1932, shortly after Aisin-Gioro Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, took office as the Chief Executive of Manchukuo, he moved here. Since then, this very ordinary building became the residence of Puyi, his consorts, and concubines. Puyi named it “Jixi Building” based on a line from the *Book of Songs* (*Daya* · *King Wen*): “Achieving bright virtue with reverence.” He originally intended for “Jixi” to symbolize a bright future and to emulate and follow in the footsteps of his ancestor, Emperor Kangxi, fantasizing about restoring the Qing Dynasty. However, he was manipulated and controlled by the Japanese Kwantung Army, spending nearly 14 years here as a puppet ruler.

Puyi’s living quarters were located on the western side of the second floor, while the eastern side was the living area of Wanrong, the last empress. Realizing that he was a puppet emperor with no real duties, Puyi seldom went to the office building, so his study also served as his workplace. Although Wanrong was the empress, she was merely an indispensable ornament in Puyi’s eyes. Long neglected, she suffered from immense mental emptiness and repression, which ultimately led her to have an affair with a guard. Enraged, Puyi banished her to the “cold palace,” which was actually just the western half of the original area she lived in within Jixi Building. From then on, Puyi refused to see her again. Wanrong, who was skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, began to spend her days smoking. Her smoking room now features lifelike wax figures that recreate the scene at that time. In 1946, Wanrong died of illness in Jilin.

In 1937, Puyi chose 17-year-old Tan Yuling from Beijing to join the palace and converted his reception room on the western side of the first floor into her living quarters. However, the ill-fated Tan Yuling only lived there for five years and passed away in the palace in 1942. There are various theories about her death, but Puyi himself believed the Japanese were responsible. Puyi placed Tan Yuling’s ashes in the Boruo Temple in Changchun and surrounded them with her favorite Clivia miniata. Later, with careful care from the temple monks, a renowned variety of Clivia—known as “Monk’s Head”—was cultivated, which is now also the city flower of Changchun.

The eastern side of the first floor was originally the living area for eunuchs and palace maids. It now houses an exhibition of photos depicting the lives of Puyi and his consorts and concubines.

You can reach the Puppet Imperial Palace by taking the special route 264 minibus or route 18 bus from Changchun Railway Station.

Museum of the Puppet Manchukuo Imperial Palace

Qinmin Building

Painting and Calligraphy Building

Tongde Hall

East Imperial Garden

Huaiyuan Building