War criminal, puppet of the Japanese, but above all a tragic relic of history
The 'grey book' is a statement of confession and repentance. It reflects Pu Yi's remorse at his past life, especially his collaboration with the Japanese, the psychological pressure put on him by his captors and his desire to escape execution or a life sentence in prison.
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo sentenced seven Japanese leaders to death and 16 to life imprisonment. China convicted about 500 people for war crimes, of whom 149 were executed, including many of those who had served in a rival government in Nanjing that had collaborated with Japan.
As a man who had sought sanctuary in the Japanese embassy for 18 months after his expulsion from the Forbidden City and then offered his service as a ruler of Manchukuo, Pu Yi was extremely fortunate not to be executed.
The Soviet army detained him in Siberia until the Communist takeover and repatriated him in July 1950. Fearing that he would be executed in China, he pleaded with the Soviet government to keep him, but it refused.
Beijing did not put him on trial but in prisons in Fushun and Harbin. It gave him clemency because of his special status and because it wanted to reform him. Unlike Britain, France and the Soviet Union, China did not execute the king it had deposed.
'Of course, I absolutely cannot put all the blame for all the crimes in the first half of my life on the Japanese fascist invaders,' Pu Yi wrote in his account of his testimony at the Tokyo trial. 'Today I feel the boundless compassion of the people of the motherland and the warm and selfless light of the Communist Party and Chairman Mao to reform human society. How can I not loathe myself for my 14 years of collaboration with the Japanese bandits in their crimes against the people of northeast China?'
He was in court for more than 20 days, with a three-hour session in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. 'The lawyers for the Japanese war criminals did their utmost to put the blame on my shoulders.'