It was Puyi's last wife, Li Shuxian, who filed a lawsuit against Li Wenda for copyright.
Recently, The First Half of My Life was published. If I ask a question: Who wrote the book My First Half Life? You will definitely say, "You don't have to ask, the last emperor, Aisin Giorro Puyi!" I thought so, too. Actually, it isn't. The real author of this book is Li Wenda. In the newly published book, there is a photo of him and Puyi.
I met Li Wenda in 1988 at a three-string concert for Yu Jiming in Gongwangfu Garden. Because Yu Jiming is Mr. Pu Jie's nephew, so Mr. Pu Jie is here. Among the many guests, I found a 7-year-old, medium build and slightly fat man shaking hands with Pu Jie and others.
I quietly asked Mr. Jin Zhong, Mr. Pu Jie's secretary, who is this person? Gold tells me: "He is the author of My First Half Life, Li Wenda."
This is the first time I have heard the name Li Wenda, and it is also the first time I have heard that The First Half of My Life, signed by Aisin Giorro Puyi, was not originally written by Puyi.
Later, with the shooting of the films "Fire Dragon" and "The Last Emperor" as the fuse, the copyright dispute of "My First Half Life" was triggered. This protracted lawsuit didn't end until Li Wenda died in 1997. The court ruled that the copyright belongs to Puyi alone. At the beginning of this lawsuit, I interviewed him in Li Wenda's residence in the old compound of the Ministry of Public Security on East Chang 'an Avenue, and listened to him tell the story of the book "My First Half Life".
As for the process of the book My First Half Life, Li Wenda said this:
In Fushun War Criminals Management Office, many detainees wrote autobiographies with the same name: My First Half Life. A part of Puyi, written by Puyi orally and Pu Jie, was originally a mimeographed booklet. In 196, this booklet was printed and published by the mass publishing house, with only a few thousand copies for internal reference. As Pu Yi is a special figure, it is not easy to admit his crimes and repent, which shows that our party's reform work has achieved great results. Therefore, the mass publishing house wants to issue this pamphlet publicly. The task of editing and publishing was given to Li Wenda.
Li Wenda, a former cadre of the Ministry of Public Security, was transferred to Mass Publishing House as an editor in 1958. After he took the task, he thought it was easy, and one month was enough. At first glance, I realized that this booklet was only written in 1956; Moreover, when Pu Jie was writing this pamphlet, he didn't have any information at hand, and many historical events could not be checked at that time, so it was not clear and specific. Moreover, the content and tone of the pamphlet are mainly confession and repentance, lacking the plot of flesh and blood. After such a book is published, its readability is bound to be greatly reduced. To publish this book, we must delete those empty contents and supplement a lot of transformation processes. By this time, Puyi had been pardoned and returned to Beijing to work in the Botanical Garden. Li Wenda stayed in Xiangshan Hotel, interviewed Puyi for half a day every afternoon, and came back to write a manuscript at night. I have been doing this for a month, and I have written more than 2, words, but I still lack a lot of materials, especially the great work and effort and energy that managers have done on Pu Yi and others, and even Pu Yi himself doesn't know. Li Wenda can't do it at first sight, but he still has to investigate. In this way, he went to Fushun, lived in the War Criminals Management Office for more than forty days, had discussions with the managers and the princes and ministers of Pu Jie and the puppet Manchukuo, which were still in the process of transformation, and collected a large number of fresh materials. Such details as Pu Yi's refusal to kill in the management office and the fact that people beat flies, but he drove them away, will not be told by himself. What excites and excites Li Wenda in particular is the efforts made by the managers to transform these people. Li Wenda also learned such a detail: in addition to the four pests, everyone was required to destroy a mouse, which made Puyi difficult. A manager named Wang Xing helped Puyi make a rat trap, which solved Puyi's difficulties. However, it was this Wang Xing, and seven of the eight members of his family died under the rule of Puppet Manchuria, leaving him alone! Puyi didn't know about these situations. Later, when Li Wenda told these things to Puyi, Puyi cried.
After mastering a lot of materials, Li Wenda reported his thoughts to the leaders: start a new stove, re-write, and write about the theme of transformation, and write about the transformation of people's souls by the ideology of * * *. Through the changes of the last emperor, it reflects the inevitability of history. Li Wenda's plan has been approved by the leaders and agreed by Puyi himself. Since then, Li Wenda has found eunuchs around Puyi, the adopted son of Puyi's wet nurse and many others, consulted a lot of materials, such as the diaries of Regent Zai Feng and Puppet Manchu Minister Zheng Xiaoxu, and also looked at nearly 2 meters of microfilm, which made his eyes exhausted. All the investigation and interview work was carried out for three years.
In June, 1962, My First Half Life, written by Li Wenda and rewritten in the tone of Puyi, was published, with 16 folio, upper, middle and lower volumes and 55, words. After extensive consultation, the second edition was published in October of the same year, which was 1 thousand words less than the first edition. When it was officially published in March 1964, there were still 41, words. This book has been revised nine times before and after, and three drafts have been changed. After the book was written, Puyi wrote four poems to Li Wenda: "After four years of hard work, you helped me finish the book. For the cause of the party, for the people, atone for sins and love new students. " This poem not only affirmed Li Wenda's labor, but also showed that Puyi recognized what Li Wenda wrote.
When I interviewed Li Wenda, Li Wenda showed me a personal letter and inscription written by Puyi, as well as a thick collection of newspaper clippings. Every newspaper report about Puyi and the royal family activities, from the end of the Qing Dynasty to the Japanese surrender, was almost complete. This information is very precious, whether from the study of news or the study of Qing history.
the first half of my life was written by Li Wenda, which is a fact. As for who the signature is and who the copyright belongs to, it is another question. There is another evidence that Li Wenda is the author of this book: after the book was published, a Qing history expert picked out 16 mistakes in the book. Perhaps some of the mistakes were mistaken by Puyi, but most of them are obviously easily confused by people who are not familiar with history of qing dynasty. For example, the book mentioned "going to the study room" several times, thinking that this was the place where the emperor studied. Actually, it was wrong. The place where the emperor studied was called "South Study Room". The "study room" was set up during the Yongzheng period, which was a place for the emperors to study. It should never be Puyi who confuses the two, but Li Wenda.
According to Li Wenda, after the publication of this book, he received a payment, which was shared with Puyi. That is to say, Li Wenda's mass publishing house at that time recognized Li Wenda's labor. However, Li Wenda would never have thought that after more than 2 years, someone would dispute with him about the copyright ownership of this book. People of that era, especially the cadres of the * * * production party, only knew how to contribute to the party and the people, regardless of personal gains and losses.
The copyright dispute of My First Half Life ended in 1997. When a newspaper published the news of the court decision, it made a very emotional headline: "You can rest assured, Emperor". In fact, this is a waste of feelings: Puyi died as early as 1967 during the Cultural Revolution. It was Puyi's last wife, Li Shuxian, who filed a lawsuit against Li Wenda for copyright. As far as I know, Puyi's brother and other relatives were not involved in this lawsuit.