Wanrong

Wanrong (Chinese: 婉容; 13 November 1906 – 20 June 1946), of the Manchu Plain White Banner Gobulo clan, was the wife and empress consort of Puyi, the last emperor of China. She is sometimes anachronistically called Elizabeth, Xuantong Empress, referring to Puyi's era name. She was the titular empress consort of the former Qing dynasty from their marriage in 1922 until the exile of the imperial family in November 1924. She later became the empress consort of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in northeastern China from 1934 until the abolition of the monarchy in August 1945, at the conclusion of the Second World War. She was posthumously honored with the title Empress Xiaokemin. (孝恪愍皇后) “孝 Xiao” (filial) and “恪 Ke” (dutiful) articulate Confucian ideals of moral conduct, while “愍 Min” conveys an official expression of lamentation for a life marked by misfortune. During the Soviet invasion of Manchuria at the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945, Wanrong was captured by Chinese Communist guerrillas and transferred to various locations before she was placed in a prison camp in Yanji, Jilin. She died in prison in June 1946 and her remains were never found. On 23 October 2006, Wanrong's younger brother, Runqi, conducted a ritual burial for her in the Western Qing tombs.