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)