The Grand Wedding of China's Last Emperor
Updated: 2007-06-04 09:03
17-year old Puyi before grand wedding
Puyi stepped into the Palace of Heavenly Tranquility at the stroke of midnight. Jie, a scepter symbolizing the supreme power of the emperor, was put on a table in the middle of the palace. Beside it were a gold seal and a gold scroll, the most precious presents an emperor could give to his empress. After Puyi was seated on his throne, the imperial officials made formal salutations group by group to express their congratulations, by kneeling down three times and kowtowing nine times. Puyi then made an imperial edict, a formal declaration of his intent to marry Wan Rong as the emperor, after which the honor guards waiting outside the Forbidden City set out to receive the empress at around one o'clock in the morning.
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Dragon-and-phoenix design on the weapons
