The Last Emperor (1987) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

In 1950, Pu Yi tries to kill himself in the station bathroom because he cannot bear the weight of his past and the unexpected reverence shown by other prisoners. The sight of four men bowing to him triggers overwhelming despair, reminding him of the imperial status he has lost. He slits his wrists in a locked bathroom, filling the sink with blood, a physical manifestation of his internal turmoil and sense of entrapment.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes of the young Pu Yi crying "I want to go home!" in the Forbidden City foreshadow this desperate escape attempt.

• Pu Yi
• suicide
• 1950
• war criminal
• train station

The four prisoners bow to Pu Yi out of deep respect for his former status as Emperor of China, despite his current position as a war criminal. This unexpected reverence reflects the lingering aura of imperial authority that still surrounds him. The moment makes Pu Yi deeply uncomfortable, forcing him to confront the gap between his past power and present humiliation.

Foreshadowing: This scene establishes the conflict between Pu Yi's lost imperial status and the way others still perceive him.

• Pu Yi
• prisoners
• bow
• respect
• emperor

The Empress Dowager Cixi selects three-year-old Pu Yi as emperor in 1908 after the previous emperor dies without an heir. She summons him to the Forbidden City, where he is anointed as the "Lord of Ten Thousand Years," the Son of Heaven. The young child is pulled away from his mother and handed to his nurse Ar Mo, beginning his life of isolation within the palace walls.

Foreshadowing: This moment sets in motion Pu Yi's lifelong entrapment by circumstances he never chose.

• Pu Yi
• coronation
• 1908
• Empress Dowager Cixi
• Forbidden City

Pu Yi is isolated because imperial tradition requires the emperor to be separated from his family to maintain his divine status as the Son of Heaven. He is attended only by court eunuchs and servants, with his biological mother forbidden from seeing him. The young emperor repeatedly cries "I want to go home!" but is trapped in a life of ceremonial grandeur and emotional emptiness.

Foreshadowing: This childhood isolation directly fuels his desperate suicide attempt decades later.

• Pu Yi
• Forbidden City
• isolation
• childhood
• eunuchs

Reginald Johnston is a British tutor assigned to teach Pu Yi in 1919. Unlike strict educators, he seeks to build a friendship with the young emperor rather than enforce rigid hierarchy. Johnston recognizes the naivety hidden behind Pu Yi's royal facade and attempts to prepare him for the modern world beyond the palace walls, representing the clash between Eastern tradition and Western modernity.

Foreshadowing: Johnston's mentorship exposes Pu Yi to ideas that will later influence his decisions.

• Reginald Johnston
• tutor
• Pu Yi
• education
• Western influence

After being expelled from the Forbidden City, Pu Yi is installed as emperor of Manchukuo in the 1930s, a puppet state created by Japan in Manchuria. Though he believes this will restore his power, he becomes little more than a figurehead with no real authority. Japan uses his imperial status to legitimize their occupation, and his collaboration leads directly to his classification as a war criminal after World War II.

Foreshadowing: This decision seals his fate as a war criminal and leads to his imprisonment.

• Pu Yi
• Manchukuo
• Japan
• puppet state
• emperor

Pu Yi is imprisoned because he served as emperor of Manchukuo, Japan's puppet state in Manchuria. Though he was largely a figurehead with no real power, his imperial title provided legitimacy to Japanese occupation. After the war, the Soviet Union and China classify him as a war criminal, and he is detained in 1950. He remains imprisoned for nearly a decade, undergoing interrogation and forced confession writing.

Foreshadowing: This imprisonment becomes the setting for his psychological transformation.

• Pu Yi
• war criminal
• imprisonment
• Fushun
• Manchukuo

Pu Yi receives a visit from his brother Pu Chieh at the Fushun Detention Center, prompting reflection on their childhood relationship. As children, Pu Yi, trapped in his imperial role, was largely indifferent to family bonds. During the visit, Pu Chieh challenges Pu Yi by telling him he is "no longer emperor," highlighting how Pu Yi's imperial identity created a profound distance between them.

Foreshadowing: This visit forces Pu Yi to confront the personal relationships his status destroyed.

• Pu Yi
• Pu Chieh
• brother
• prison visit
• family

Pu Yi is released from the Fushun Detention Center in 1959 after years of imprisonment and rehabilitation. His release comes as part of a broader Chinese government policy toward war criminals. By accepting responsibility for his past actions and demonstrating genuine transformation, he earns his freedom, though he remains under surveillance as a citizen of the new China.

Foreshadowing: His release marks the beginning of his journey toward redemption.

• Pu Yi
• release
• 1959
• Fushun
• freedom

By 1967, Pu Yi works as a gardener in Beijing, finding genuine happiness in simple, ordinary life for the first time. This humble occupation represents a complete reversal of his imperial existence. He smiles authentically, a stark contrast to his earlier tormented self. The simple act of tending gardens allows him to experience freedom and purpose without the burdens of absolute power.

Foreshadowing: This peace is the culmination of his acceptance and transformation.

• Pu Yi
• gardener
• 1967
• peace
• ordinary life

Pu Yi returns to the Forbidden City as an ordinary citizen, visiting the palace that was once his prison. He walks through the halls where he was crowned as a child, now transformed into a public museum. This visit forces him to confront his past directly, filled with nostalgia for both the splendor and the loneliness of his childhood. He reflects on the weight of meaning and responsibility he carried as emperor.

Foreshadowing: This return represents the final confrontation with his imperial legacy.

• Pu Yi
• Forbidden City
• return
• museum
• past

When Pu Yi declares "I was responsible for everything," he finally accepts full moral accountability for his actions as emperor, including his collaboration with Japan and the suffering caused by his decisions. This statement represents his complete psychological and spiritual transformation. By acknowledging responsibility rather than blaming circumstances or manipulation, he achieves the self-awareness necessary for true redemption.

Foreshadowing: This acceptance directly enables his freedom and inner peace.

• Pu Yi
• responsibility
• acceptance
• accountability
• redemption

During Pu Yi's 1908 coronation, as the child emperor sits overwhelmed by endless ceremonial bows, a cricket chirps in the silence. The High Tutor presents it to the young Pu Yi as a gift, declaring it the emperor's cricket. This moment provides brief, innocent joy amid the overwhelming formality, symbolizing the small comforts that could not mask the isolation and burden of imperial life.

Foreshadowing: The cricket represents the childhood innocence Pu Yi would lose.

• Pu Yi
• cricket
• coronation
• childhood
• gift

The prison governor pounds on the bathroom door, repeatedly shouting "Open the door!" as Pu Yi attempts suicide inside. His persistence prevents Pu Yi from completing his suicide, serving as the catalyst that interrupts his desperate act. This moment transforms from a simple rescue into a symbolic interruption of Pu Yi's self-destruction, representing the possibility of transformation through human intervention.

Foreshadowing: This intervention marks the beginning of Pu Yi's rehabilitation.

• prison governor
• bathroom
• door
• rescue
• intervention