Princess Der Ling

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Princess Der Ling (Chinese: 德龄, pinyin: Dé Líng) (1885-1944) was a Manchu noblewoman, the daughter of Lord Yu Keng (裕庚). Lord Yu Keng was a member of the Chinese Plain White Banner Corps (正白旗). After serving as Chinese minister to Japan he was appointed minister to the French Third Republic for four years in 1899. He was known for his progressive, reformist views, as well as for his unvarying support of the Empress Dowager Cixi. He died in Shanghai in 1905.

Yu Keng's daughters Der Ling and Rong Ling (the future Madame Dan Paochao of Beijing) therefore got a western education, having studied dance in Paris with Isadora Duncan. Upon return from France, Der Ling became First lady-in-waiting to Empress Dowager Cixi, as well as translator. She stayed at court until March 1905. In 1907 she married Thaddeus C. White, an American.

Using the title of princess, which would create controversy for her in both China and the United States in future, Der Ling wrote down her unique experience in court in her memoirs Two Years in the Forbidden City, which were published in 1911, and wrote about the experience through her next seven books. "Two Years" gives historical insights into life at court and Der Ling's service to the Dowager Empress, essentially a world that has disappeared.