Foreign Imperial Tutor And The Forbidden City:A Study Of R.F.Johnston's Accounts Of Peking Court In Twilight In The Forbidden City

Twilight in the Forbidden City(1934)is a memoir of the life of Pu Yi,the Last Emperor of Qing Dynasty,written by Reginald Fleming Johnston(1874-1938),a British Sinologist and colonial official.At present,most scholars use this memoir as the material for the study of Pu Yi and Johnston's experience of imperial tutor,which is only a part of the study of Johnston's accounts of Peking court.Johnston had profound western historical knowledge and cultural cultivation,when he was imperial tutor in the Forbidden City,he not only played a crucial role in Pu Yi's education and thought,but also expressed a strong and unique interest in Chinese historical events,royal figures and royal garden art in China's transition period.This paper put Twilight in the Forbidden City in the perspective of cross-cultural study,from the broader and richer historical contents revealed in the book,to analyze Johnston's interpretation of the political situation,imperial court and harem,and architecture of the late Qing Dynasty,then to summarize Johnston's narrative characteristics and writing thoughts in Twilight in the Forbidden City,in order to enrich the study dimensions of this book in the field of sinology and comparative literature.In the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century,more and more officials,businessmen,missionaries,writers and travelers came to China.Their introduction enriched the understanding of China from different perspectives.During this period,the young and ambitious Johnston spent more than 30 years in China as an official.He not only experienced the great transformation of Chinese society in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China,but also entered the court of Qing Dynasty,as imperial tutor of Pu Yi.From the perspective of imperial tutor,Johnston presented a picture of Peking court in the late Qing Dynasty in Twilight in the Forbidden City.Starting with the Reform Movement of 1898,he described the Boxer Movement,the Revolution of 1911 and other major events related to the Qing Dynasty,and the important royal figures Empress Dowager Ci Xi and Guang Xu Emperor,then introduced the "twilight period" between the founding of the Republic of China in 1912 and Pu Yi's expulsion from the Forbidden City in 1924.In this book,Johnston made a detailed account of the anecdotes of Peking court,including his accounts and views on important figures,events,systems and so on.Compared with other Chinese and western memoirs of the late Qing Dynasty,Twilight in the Forbidden City has a unique narrative perspective and a richer narrative content.As a sinologist,Johnston's dual cultural background put him in a position of dialogue between eastern and western civilizations to write about Peking court.He introduced to western readers his views on China in the late Qing dynasty and the early Republic of China,and expressed his understanding of Chinese history,culture and thoughts.Although there was some prejudice,he promoted the West to understand China more comprehensively and played an important role in the history of cultural communications between China and the West.The root of Johnston's thought is worthy of further study.On the basis of further comprehensive analysis of his other works,we can systematically analyze the world of his thought,so as to deepen the level and supplement the study of Johnston.