Princess Der Ling's father, Yu Geng, was a member of the HanjunPlain White Banner Corps.
德龄公主的父亲裕庚本为汉人,后入满族汉军正白旗。
After serving as Chinese minister to Japan, he was appointedminister to the French Third Republic for four years in 1899.
裕庚任出使日本特命全权大臣三年后,又担任大清驻法兰西第三共和国公使四年。
He was known for his progressive, reformist views; for hisdetermination to educate his children, including the girls, inwestern schools, which was highly unusual in their generation.
他思想先进,推崇改革,主张自己的孩子接受西方教育,包括女孩。这在那个年代十分难得。
Yü Keng's daughters, Der Ling and Rong Ling (1882–1973, the futureMadame Dan Paochao of Beijing) received a western education,learning French and English, and studying dance in Paris withIsadora Duncan.
Upon their return to China, Der Ling became the Firstlady-in-waiting to the Empress Dowager Cixi, as well asinterpreting for her when she received foreign visitors.
1902年回到中国后,德龄成为了慈禧太后的女仕臣,并在慈禧太后接待外宾时担任翻译。
↓左二为德龄,左三为慈禧↓
Der Ling stayed at court until March 1905. In 1907, Der Lingmarried Thaddeus C. White, an American.
1905年3月,德龄离开皇宫。1907年,德龄与美国驻沪领事馆副领事迪厄斯·怀特结婚。
Der Ling wrote of her experiences in court in her memoir Two Yearsin the Forbidden City, which was published in 1911.
德龄将自己的宫廷经历写成了回忆录《清宫二年记》(又名《我在慈禧身边的两年》),并在1911年出版。
After Cixi's death in 1908, Der Ling professed to be so angered bywhat she saw as false portraits of Cixi appearing in books andperiodicals that she wrote her own account of serving "OldBuddha".
In this book, Cixi is not the monster of depravity depicted in thepopular press, but an aging woman who loved beautiful things, hadmany regrets about the past and the way she had dealt with the manycrises of her long reign, and apparently trusted Der Ling enough toshare many memories and opinions with her.
Two Years provides unique insights into life at the Manchu courtand the character of the Empress Dowager Empress. Der Lingcontinued to write and published seven more books.
这本书为后人研究满族宫廷和慈禧太后提供了珍贵的材料。随后,她又先后出版了7本著作。
Princess Der Ling died in Berkeley, California, as a result ofbeing struck by a car while crossing an intersection. She hadrecently taught Chinese at University of California, Berkeley.