A member of the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan, the ruling house of the Qing dynasty, he was a cousin to Puyi, the last Emperor of China.

"[2] Puru fled to Taiwan after the Chinese Communist Party came to power, and was appointed by Chiang Kai-shek as a Manchu representative at the National Constituent Assembly.

Puru received "a strictly traditional education" and spent much of his early years at Jietai Monastery, in Xishan (Western Hills), near Beijing.

Being a member of the ruling imperial elite, his family owned a large collection of art works which Puru was able to study as he developed his artistic skills.

After he returned from Europe, he retreated into the Western Mountains, where he spent many years in Jietai Monastery to concentrate on his studies.