Although the Last Emperor has found his resting place amid the magnificent mausoleums of his ancestors the memory of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi still fuels much debate.
Yesterday, as his widow, Li Shuxian, laid flowers of remembrance on his new tomb on the Ching Ming Festival, she complained his name and worth were still not recognised.
A frail woman in her early 70s and dressed plainly in a blue Mao jacket beneath a black coat, Mrs Li clenched a fist to her chest and said: 'They should have put a title before his name. They should have said he was the Last Emperor.' Only his name has been engraved on a simple copper plaque set on a stone stela marking his humble burial mound.
Two diminutive ornamental columns stand guard but the tomb is overshadowed by the huge crimson walls nearby behind which his predecessor, Emperor Guang Xu, still lies.
In the end, it was Hong Kong money which rescued his remains for posterity.
Entrepreneur Zhang Shiyi, managing director of the Hua Long Imperial Cemetery Company, has given up pride of place to Pu Yi in his newly-opened joint venture cemetery.