Akasaka B Hotel

The modern Korean peninsula is divided into two countries from the 38th parallel, with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north and the Republic of Korea in the south. However, historically, the Korean peninsula was a unified country for a long time.

After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Qing Dynasty was defeated by the Japanese. The signing of treaty of shimonoseki made the Qing Dynasty recognize the independence of Korea, and the relationship between the Qing Dynasty and Korea ended. 1896, with the support of Russia, Emperor Gaozong of the Korean Dynasty was renamed "Korean Empire". 1904 After the defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese War, Japan officially took control of the Korean Peninsula. 1907, Japanese Prime Minister Ito Bowen forced Emperor Gaozong to abdicate, and Li Jue ascended the throne as Chunzong, and at the same time awarded Emperor Gaozong's fifth son, Li Wei, as Crown Prince.

After Li Yin became the Crown Prince, Ito Bowen saw that he was appointed as the future king of North Korea, and decided to send him to Japan for assimilation education according to Meiji Emperor's decree that "the Korean royal family should be educated in Japan". 190765438+February, 1 1 year-old Li Yin crossed the sea from Incheon to Japan under the "escort" of Ito Bowen and pro-Japanese minister Li Wanyong.

ancient official title

The reason why Japan wants Li Yin to go to Japan is to let this young heir of the Korean Empire receive Japanese education, forget all about his parents' country and become a puppet and vassal of the Japanese.

19 10, Japan signed a treaty with the Korean Empire, and Korea was annexed by Japan and officially became its colony. Subsequently, Japan put the deposed Emperor Gaozong and the succeeded Emperor Junzong under house arrest in Deshou Palace, reduced the royal family of the Korean Empire to a Japanese aristocrat, and reduced Li Yin from the Crown Prince to Wang Shizi.

For young Li Yin, there seems nothing wrong with this change of address. What really touched him was the death of his mother. 19 1 1 year, the Virgin of Li Yin, Yan Fei, was seriously ill and returned to North Korea for the first time after going abroad for five years. When Li Yin arrived in Seoul, Yan Fei was already dead. What makes Li Yin even more angry is that because the Japanese claimed that their mother was an infectious disease, they didn't see her at last, so they had to mourn outside the door. As soon as his mother's funeral was over, he was sent back to Japan immediately.

19 17, Li Yin graduated from the Japanese Army NCO School and was awarded the rank of second lieutenant in the Japanese Army. In order to further control Li Yin, Japan decided to let him marry a Japanese woman. Duke Yamagata Aritomo, a Japanese warlord, sought a Japanese royal woman named Yoshimoto Miyako as Li Yin's marriage partner. This girl, named Fangzi, was originally a candidate for the crown princess when Emperor Hirohito was a prince, but was later diagnosed as infertile during the physical examination. Japanese warlords feel just right. Anyway, he didn't want the Korean royal family to have descendants, so he decided to let that son marry Li Yin.

Li Yin and his wife Fang Zi.

For Li Yin, it is lucky to marry a prescription. Fangzi received a good education and was virtuous. After she got married, she took her husband's surname and changed her name to Yi Bangjia, indicating that she was the wife of the Crown Prince of the Korean dynasty, not a spy of the Japanese authorities, which made Li Yin feel extremely gratified and warm.

1945 In August, Japan was defeated and surrendered, and the Japanese emperor held a command meeting, in which Li Yin also attended. Although the Japanese were defeated, Li Yin was not happy, but was at a loss. Since 1 1 came to Japan, it has been kept by Japan. Although he was well fed and clothed, Japan invaded his motherland after all. Now that Japan has lost, it's all over, but can he really go back to North Korea?

Sure enough, it wasn't long before the Japanese issued an "order to demote officials", and Li Yin was reduced from the royal family to civilians. Later, it was registered as "Japanese in Japan and South Korea" in the military and political departments. By this time, Li Yin had lost his Japanese identity, and he was afraid to return to North Korea, because there was a campaign to punish "North Korean traitors". As the last crown prince, he was regarded as the biggest "Korean traitor", and newspapers sometimes accused him of not committing suicide.

The Republic of Korea was founded in August 1948, and Li Chengwan became the first president. Li Chengwan and Li Yin are related to each other. He comes from a branch of the Li royal family. When he was young, he took an active part in the anti-Japanese struggle, and was also favored by Li Yin's father, Emperor Gaozong.

Li Yin thought it was time to return to the motherland, so he tipped off Li Chengwan through an intermediary. As a result, Li Chengwan was very cold and refused to recognize Li Yin as a Korean. Li Chengwan is worried that if the orthodox Li Yin of the Korean Empire returns to South Korea, his own presidency may be lost. Since then, Li Yin has been repeatedly rejected when applying for a passport at the Korean Embassy in Japan. In Japan, he has been registered as a Japanese and a Korean, and the last crown prince of the Korean Empire became stateless.

Prince Akasaka Hotel was once Li Yin's official residence in Japan.

Until the fall of the Li Chengwan regime in 1960, Li Yin failed to return to China. Fortunately, park chung-hee, a new South Korean official, was very generous to Li Yin and sent people to visit her many times. 1963165438+1October 22nd, Li Yin, who had been wandering abroad for nearly 60 years, finally returned to North Korea, but at this time he was seriously lying on a stretcher because of cerebral hemorrhage, and could not get up to meet the people who welcomed him.

1 May, 9701day, Yi Bangjia ordered Li Yin, who was critically ill, to be carried to Leshan Zhai, the old palace of North Korea. Li Yin died after struggling to open his eyes and take a look at the vegetation buildings in his childhood.

Li Yin died at the age of 73 and returned to China for 6 years and 6 months. On the day of the funeral, 200,000 people in Seoul gave him a funeral.

The last crown prince of the Korean Empire finally ended his wandering and confused life, completely untied the heavy shackles imposed on him by history, and was able to rest in his father's side and get a thorough rest. At that moment, many Korean old people on the street were muttering: "The era of the Li Dynasty is over!"