Jin Youzhi, referred to by Chinese media as 'The Last Emperor's Younger Brother', has died at the age of 96.
Almost a half-century after the death of China's last emperor, his last surviving sibling, Jin Youzhi, died on Friday in Beijing. He was 96.
Jia Yinghua, a historian of China's last imperial family, confirmed the death.
Jin, a retired primary school teacher, was the half brother of Henry Pu Yi, China's last emperor. Their Manchu dynasty ruled China for 268 years, until a republic was established in 1912.
"His death marks the end of an era in Chinese history," Jia said in an interview on Monday.
Jin was a great-grandson of the Daoguang Emperor, who ruled China between 1820 and 1850, and a nephew of the Guangxu Emperor, who reigned from 1875 to 1908. He was born in Beijing on Aug. 17, 1918, six years after Pu Yi abdicated.
At the time, his family lived in a princely residence north of the Forbidden City and enjoyed privileges negotiated in an agreement with the young Chinese republic.
The family moved to Tianjin shortly after Pu Yi's expulsion from the imperial residence in 1924, Jia said.
Pu Yi later regained vestiges of power in northeastern provinces controlled by Japan, becoming emperor of Manchukuo. Jin returned to Beijing.
Because Jin did not collaborate with the Japanese, he was spared persecution after their defeat, Jia said.
In Beijing, Jin helped convert the family residence into a school to fend off attempts by the republic to confiscate imperial property. Jin was headmaster.
The family sold the mansion to the Communist government shortly after the People's Liberation Army gained control of the capital in 1949.
Jin lived a simple life as a teacher, raising five children with his first wife, Jin Yuting, the daughter of an imperial official.
He was also spared much of the violence endured by other aristocrats during the Cultural Revolution under orders of Premier Zhou Enlai, who wanted to protect the remaining members of the imperial family, Jia said.
Jin is survived by three sons and two daughters.
"My father was a gentle man," said Jin Yulan, 67, the youngest of the three sons. "He was very willing to serve the people. He lived a difficult life. But he put all his efforts into educating the people."
© 2015, The New York Times News Service