Museum of Imperial Palace of Manchu State

The Museum of the Imperial Palace of the Manchu State is a museum in the northeastern corner of Changchun, Jilin province, northeast China. The Palace was the official residence created by the Imperial Japanese Army for China's last emperor Pu Yi to live in as part of his role as Emperor of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. In the People's Republic of China the structures are generally referred to as the Puppet Emperor's Palace & Exhibition Hall. It is classified as a AAAAA scenic area by the China National Tourism Administration.

History

In 1931, Japanese overran the Northeast of China and forcibly colonized three provinces in that area. In order to bring the region under their control they created the Manchu State (1931-1945) and set up Pu Yi, the last Emperor of China, as its nominal head of state. Pu Yi had been the last Emperor of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) prior to China becoming a republic. However, he was merely a puppet ruler answerable to the Japanese invaders. An imperial palace was established in Changchun from where Pu Yi held court under the direction of his Japanese masters, but he was not then a Chinese Emperor in the true sense. Finally, in 1945, the Second World War was brought to an end and the Japanese surrendered to China. At the same time, the Manchu State ceased to exist and Pu Yi returned to the status of an ordinary citizen.

Now Pu Yi has long been dead and the past is past and although the Imperial Palace suffered a certain amount of damage in 1945, most of the buildings and facilities are still safe and sound. In 1962, the Museum of Imperial Palace of Manchu State was established on the old site, located on the Guangfu Road of Changchun City, Jilin Province. Now the protected part is 137,000 square meters (33.85 acres), and the exhibition area covers 47,000 square meters (11.61 acres).

Structure

The Manchurian Imperial Palace was designed as a miniature version of the Forbidden City in Beijing. It was divided into an inner court and outer court. The outer or front court was used for administrative purposes and the inner or rear court as the royal residence. The palace covers an area of 43,000 square meters.

The inner court includes the private living quarters for Puyi and his family. Its main structures include Jixi Building on the west courtyard and Tongde Hall on the east courtyard. The outer court contained buildings for affairs of state. Its main buildings include Qianmin Building, Huanyuan Building and Jiale Hall. The architecture of the buildings is in a wide range of styles: Chinese, Japanese, and European.

Within the complex were gardens, including rockeries and a fish pond, a swimming pool, air-raid shelter, a tennis court, a small golf course and a horse track. Around the courtyards were nine two-storey blockhouses for the Manchukuo Imperial Guard, and the entire complex was surrounded by high concrete walls.

Exhibition

The exhibits in the museum have been set up in three sections: a display relating to the colonial state; a subject exhibition and finally, a display illustrating the daily lives of the Emperor and his concubines. Amongst the collection of important relics, there is a carpet from Jingren Palace in the Chinese Forbidden City, documents signed by Pu Yi and so on. The entire palace is surrounded by high walls, and there are about ten buildings in it.

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