Jia Yinghua, author of a series of novels about the family of
the last Chinese emperor Aisin Giorro Puyi (1905-1967), of the Qing
Dynasty (1644-1911), has successfully defended his reputation in a
libel case.
The First People's Court of Beijing Municipality has confirmed
the judgement of a lower court that found Wang Qingxiang, 63,
guilty of defaming Jia in a book. The final judgement orders Wang
to compensate Jia for his "groundless attacks" within 15 days, or
pay double interest.
This is not the first time the two foes have fought in a
courtroom about their work on the life of Puyi, who was dethroned
by revolutionaries after a three year reign, bringing to an end the
2,000-plus years of feudalism in China.
This lawsuit sprang from Jia's new book Decoding the Last
Marriage of the Last Emperor published in April 2001. A few
months later, in August 2001, his rival Wang published a book
entitled Re-decoding the Last Marriage of the Last
Emperor, which contained more than twenty insults against
Jia.
In 2005, Jia sued Wang for defamation in the People's Court of
Beijing's Xicheng District. Finding in Jia's favor, the court
ordered Wang to publish an apology in the People's Daily, Beijing
Evening News and sina.com, and pay Jia 100,000 yuan (about
US$13,150) to compensate him for mental anguish.
Wang appealed to the First Intermediate People's Court of
Beijing Municipality, which pronounced a final judgement, not only
maintaining the previous verdict, but also adding that if Wang
should fail to pay Jia before the deadline instituted by the court,
he would also have to pay double interest on his debt.
A copyright expert who preferred not to give his name commented
that, in domestic cases, it is rare for a writer to be ordered to
pay such a large sum of mental anguish compensation to another
writer. The double interest provision for failing to meet the
judicial deadline is a first, he said, adding that the verdict
demonstrates the government's determination to protect writers'
legal rights.
The quarrel between Jia and Wang goes right back to 1992, when
Wang and Li Shuxian, last wife of the "Last Emperor" and co-author
of Wang's book, lost a copyright infringement lawsuit against
Jia.
Li, then a nurse, married Puyi in May 1962. Puyi died of illness
on Octobor 17, 1967, during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). Li
died quietly at the age of 73 in June 1997, with only her
niece-in-law Aisin Giorro Ailing at her deathbed.
Li's neighbor when he was young, Jia became engrossed in the
history of the late Qing Dynasty through the family story of the
"Last Emperor".
Preparing to publish works on the life of "the last emperor",
Jia collaborated with Li in collecting Puyi's diaries, writing
short articles about Puyi and on producing Li's own memoirs. Jia
also repeatedly interviewed the surviving members of the "last
emperor's" family and others connected to him, and compiled
valuable research materials on "the last royal family" and the
history of the late Qing dynasty.
In June 1980, Wang, who was then doing research work at the
Institute of Sciences in Heilongjiang Province, bought from Li all
the materials about Puyi's life, and in October finished the first
draft of his book The Later Life of Pu Yi.
Jia had asked to collaborate on Wang's book. But when his
request was turned down, Jia started an independent work and
eventually finished his own book The Later Life of The Last
Emperor, which was translated into many languages.
In 1992, Wang and Li sued Jia for violating their copyright, but
lost their case.
(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2007)