father death_date birth_date spouse image article_title name
yü keng 22 november 1944 -lrb- aged 59 -rrb- 8 june 1885 thaddeus c. white 300px princess der ling
 yü derling , princess derling
princess der ling

`` princess '' der ling -lrb- chinese : 裕德龄 , pinyin : yù délíng -rrb- -lrb- 18851944 -rrb- was a hanjun bannerwoman , the daughter of 裕庚 -lrb- wade-giles : yu keng .
pinyin : yù geng -rrb- .
her father was a member of the hanjun plain white banner corps -lrb- 正白旗 -rrb- , and according to his daughter he was a lord .
this is of some doubt .
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 ; for his determination to educate his children , including the girls , in western schools , which was highly unusual in their generation ; and for his unvarying support of the empress dowager cixi .
in 1905 , yü keng died in shanghai .
yü keng 's story is told in the movie dai noi kwan ying .
according to der ling 's biographer , der ling 's mother had an american father and a chinese mother .
however , in the book , whatever her background , she is repeatedly referred to by other people as a manchu .
yü keng 's daughters der ling and rong ling -lrb- 1882 -- 1973 , the future madame dan paochao of beijing -rrb- received a western education , learning french and english , and studying dance in paris with isadora duncan .
upon their return to china , der ling became the first lady-in-waiting to the empress dowager cixi , as well as interpreting for her when she received foreign visitors .
der ling stayed at court until march 1905 .
in 1907 , der ling married thaddeus c. white , an american .
der ling had a brother , xunling -lrb- ca. 1880 -- 1943 -rrb- , who studied photography in france and later took the only photographs of empress dowager cixi still in existence .
using the title of princess , which would create controversy for her in both china and the united states in the future , der ling wrote of her experiences in court in her memoir `` two years in the forbidden city '' , which was published in 1911 .
she states in her book that the status of princess , which the empress dowager had given her , was valid only within the palace .
as the guangxu emperor , who was under a form of house arrest , never confirmed the title , it was not valid in the outside world .
`` two years '' provides unique insights into life at the manchu court and the character of the empress dowager empress , a world that ended abruptly with the 1911 revolution that overthrew the manchu or qing dynasty .
der ling continued to write and published seven more books .
princess der ling , a.k.a. mrs. thaddeus c. white , died in berkeley , california , as a result of being struck by a car while crossing an intersection .
she had recently taught chinese at uc-berkeley .
although der ling claimed to be an ethnic manchu , her father yü keng was actually a han chinese bannerman .
a biography of der ling , `` imperial masquerade : the legend of princess der ling '' , by grant hayter-menzies , was published in january 2008 by hong kong university press .
