Pu Yi’s life story follows an opposite trajectory of many stories, going from riches to rags. How does Pu Yi’s personal agency change at different periods of his life? What are the major historical changes in China that he witnesses? Create a timeline that compares world events during the same time period.
This was the first movie to be filmed in the Forbidden City, which was named a world heritage site in 1987. How does the Forbidden City compare to structures built in other parts of the world in the same period, such as Guildhall in Britain, Sidi Yahya mosque and madrasa in Mali, Palazzo Medici in Florence, or the Wongaksa Pagoda in Korea?
Is it unusual that Pu Yi survived the end of the Qing Dynasty? Compare the end of this Chinese dynasty to the end of other empires and their last ruler, such as Nicholas II in Russia, Louis XVI in France, or Constantine XI in Byzantium.
