Biography
Daughter of Lord Yu Keng, a progressive and reform-minded Chinese official and sometime minister to Japan and France. Princess Der Ling was educated first in missionary schools and then in a French convent. After completing her education, she returned to China to become the first lady-in-waiting to the Empress Dowager. She lost her job when she became engaged to an American whom she subsequently married. Later she wrote several books about the Dowager Empress and her experiences in the Chinese court, including Two years in the Forbidden City, Imperial incense, Old Buddha, Kowtow, and Lotus petals .
From the guide to the Princess Der Ling’s collection of photographs of the Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi of China, 1903-1905, (University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.)
