A series of four biographies on the life of China's "Last Emperor," Pu Yi, and his family were recently published by the country's leading publisher, the People's Literature Publishing House.

The books are The Later Part of the Life of the Last Emperor, Pu Jie, Brother of the Last Emperor, Sun Yaoting, the Last Eunuch in China and The Truth About the Last Emperor's Designation of A Heir.

The author, Jia Yinghua, is a middle-aged expert on the study of the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and a well-known Chinese biographer.

The books have drawn wide attention from both critics and historians at home and abroad. Pu Jie, the "Last Emperor's brother," wrote a prelude for the book The Later Party of the Life of the Last Emperor. Film Director Zhang Yimou plans to work on The Later Part of the Life of the Last Emperor.

Jia has said he was fortunate to have been close friends with some of Pu Yi's family members and the "Last Eunuch," and that he learned many unknown stories about them.

Jia also shot some documentary films on these people with a video camera. His works focus on the later part of Qing Dynasty and the history of the relations between China and Japan.

China's "Last Emperor" was made the puppet "emperor" of the so-called "State of Manchu" by the Japanese invaders in the 1930s and 1940s. During that period. Pu Jie, the younger brother of Pu Yi, married a member of the Japanese imperial family.
 
(Xinhua News Agency September 9, 2004)