Yuan Shikai was a Chinese general and statesman who served as the second provisional president of the Republic of China, head of the Beiyang government from 1912 to 1916 and Emperor of China from 1915 to 1916. A major political figure during the late Qing dynasty, he spearheaded a number of major modernisation programs and reforms and played a decisive role in securing the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor in 1912, which marked the collapse of the Qing monarchy and the end of imperial rule in China.

Puyi was the last emperor of China, reigning as the eleventh and final monarch of the Qing dynasty. He became emperor at the age of two in 1908, but was forced to abdicate in 1912 as a result of Xinhai Revolution at the age of six. During his first reign, he was known as the Xuantong Emperor, with his era name meaning "proclamation of unity".