View source for Yuyan

{{Short description|Pretender to the Chinese throne}}
{{hatnote|This name uses [[Manchu name|Manchu naming customs]]. The family name is [[Aisin Gioro]].}}
{{for|Faye Wong's 2000 album|Fable (album)}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox royalty
|name = Yuyan
|image = 
|birth_date = {{birth date|1918|5|17}}
|birth_place = [[Beijing]], [[China]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|1999|1|18|1918|5|17}}
|death_place = [[Beijing]], [[China]]
|house = [[Aisin Gioro]]
|father = Pucheng
|mother = Jinggui
|spouse = Magiya Jinglan<br>Zhang Yunfang
|issue = [[Hengzhen]]<br>Hengkai<br>Hengjun
}}
{{Infobox Chinese|c=毓嵒|p=Yùyán|altname=Yanrui<br>{{small|([[courtesy name]])}}|t2=巖瑞|s2=岩瑞|p2=Yánruì|altname3=Xiaoruizi<br>{{small|(nickname)}}|c3=小瑞子|p3=Xiǎoruìzǐ}}
'''Yuyan''' (17 May 1918 &ndash; 18 January 1999), [[courtesy name]] '''Yanrui''', nickname '''Xiaoruizi''', was a Chinese calligrapher of [[Manchu people|Manchu]] descent. He was a member of the [[Aisin Gioro]] clan, the imperial clan of the [[Qing dynasty]]. He claimed that he was appointed by [[Puyi]], the last [[Emperor of China]], as the heir to the throne. His claim is the subject of the travel adventure book ''The Empty Throne'' by British journalist [[Tony Scotland]].<ref>Scotland, Tony, and Patrick Leigh Fermor, ''The Empty Throne: Quest for an Imperial Heir in the People's Republic of China'', (1993).</ref>

==Early life==
Born in [[Wangfujing]], [[Beijing]], Yuyan was the second son of Pucheng<!--redlinked in zhwiki--> (溥偁) and Jinggui (敬貴), a lady of the Fuca (富察) clan. His grandfather was [[Zailian]] (載濂; 1854–1917), a son of [[Yicong]] (1831–1889), the fifth son of the [[Daoguang Emperor]]. He was a distant cousin of [[Puyi]], the Last Emperor.

In 1936, Yuyan was summoned by Puyi, who had been enthroned as the ruler of the puppet state [[Manchukuo]] in 1934 by the [[Empire of Japan]], to join his imperial court in [[Changchun]], [[Jilin]]. Yuyan was very close to Puyi, who called him "Xiaoruizi" (小瑞子; or "Little Rui").

==Life in the People's Republic of China==
After the fall of Manchukuo, Yuyan was arrested by the Soviets and imprisoned from 1945 to 1950 near [[Khabarovsk]] in the [[Soviet Union]]'s [[Russian Far East|Far East Region]] along with Puyi. He was later sent back to China, where he was incarcerated in the [[Fushun War Criminals Management Centre]] in [[Liaoning]] from 1950 to 1957.

Yuyan was a [[pretender]] to the Chinese throne. He claimed that Puyi appointed him as heir when they were both imprisoned in the Soviet Union in 1950. In his autobiography, Puyi wrote only that he considered selecting Yuyan as his heir.<ref>Henry Pu Yi, Paul Kramer, ''The Last Manchu: The Autobiography of Henry Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China'', p. 244.</ref> Under a succession law adopted in 1937, Puyi's younger brother, [[Pujie]], became next in line in succession to the throne.

Following his release from Fushun, Yuyan worked as a Chinese language teacher, and later in a haberdashery factory. He was arrested in 1959 and sent for hard labour at a public security detention centre near [[Beijing]]. Yuyan was arrested again in 1966 during the [[Cultural Revolution]] and [[Down to the Countryside Movement|sent]] to do hard labour in [[Shanxi]]. He was only released in 1979 and allowed to return to Beijing, where he became a road sweeper.

==After release from prison==
Yuyan was a calligrapher and poet. In 1987, he was appointed as a state consultant on the restoration of the [[Prince Gong Mansion]] in [[Beijing]].

Yuyan is the main character in the book ''The Empty Throne: The Quest for an Imperial Heir in the People's Republic of China'' (1993) by the British journalist [[Tony Scotland]]. Scotland was searching for an heir to the imperial throne of China.

==Family==
* Elder sister: Yujuying (毓菊英), married Chen Yingsan (陳英三), son of Chen Zengshou (陳曾壽).
* Spouses: 
** Magiya Jinglan (馬佳靜蘭), of Manchu descent, married Yuyan in 1943.
** Zhang Yunfang (張雲訪), married Yuyan after Magiya Jinglan died in 1948 in [[Tianjin]].
* Children:
** Hengzhen (恆鎮; 1944 – 27 August 2023 <ref>{{cite news |date=2023-08-29 |title=爱新觉罗恒镇先生去世 |trans-title=Aisin-Gioro Hengzhen Passes Away |url=http://www.axjlzp.com/newn329.html |accessdate=2023-10-11 |publisher=爱新觉罗宗谱网 |archive-date=2023-10-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231011073046/http://www.axjlzp.com/newn329.html }}</ref>), eldest son, born to Magiya Jinglan, married Tu Yanling (塗艷玲).
** Hengkai (恆鎧; b. 1945), second son, born to Magiya Jinglan, married Liu Xiujuan (劉秀娟).
** Hengjun (恆鈞; b. 1966), third son, born to Zhang Yunfang, married Fan Qin (范秦; b. 1971).
* Grandchildren:
** Hengxing (恆星; b. 1977), name also spelled as Hengxing (恆鍟), Hengzhen and Tu Yanling's son.
** Jin Yinghui (金英輝; b. 1980), also named Qiqi (啟琪), Hengkai and Liu Xiujuan's son.
** Jin Qitong (金啟桐; b. 29 October 1996), Hengjun and Fan Qin's daughter.

===Ancestry===
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
| 1 = '''Yuyan'''
| 2 = Pucheng
| 3 = Fuca Jinggui
| 4 = Zailian
| 5 =Lady Arute 
| 6 = 
| 7 = 
| 8 = [[Yicong]]
| 9 =Lady Hesheri, secondary consort 
|10 =Chonggang 
|11 =  
|12 = 
|13 =
|14 =
|15 = 
|16 = [[Daoguang Emperor]]
|17 = [[Consort Xiang (Daoguang)|Consort Xiang]]
|18 = 
|19 =
|21=Lady Fuca|20=Saishang'a}}

==See also==
* [[Royal and noble ranks of the Qing dynasty]]
* {{section link|Ranks of imperial consorts in China|Qing}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Succession==
{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Qing dynasty]]  <small>([[Aisin Gioro]])</small>||1918||1997||}}
{{s-pre|}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Puyi|Xuantong Emperor<br>{{resize|90%|(Puyi)}}]]}}
{{s-tul|title=[[Emperor of China]]|years=October 17, 1967–1997|reason=[[Xinhai Revolution|Qing dynasty abolished in 1912]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Hengzhen]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yuyan}}
[[Category:1918 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan]]
[[Category:Qing dynasty imperial princes]]
[[Category:Manchu people]]
[[Category:Aisin Gioro]]
[[Category:Pretenders to the Chinese throne]]
[[Category:People from Manchukuo]]