Deling

Yu Deling

Yu Deling (1886-1944), pseudonym Princess Deling. As a boy, he lived with his father in Japan and France for six years. He has increased his knowledge, broadened his vision and mastered many languages. When he was 17 years old, he returned to Beijing with his father. Because he was proficient in foreign language and Western etiquette, he and his sister Yu rongling were recruited into the palace by Cixi and became one of the eight female officials in the Forbidden City. He left the palace in 1905 because of his father's serious illness.

Later, at the request and urging of her relatives and friends, she wrote down in English what she had seen and heard during her two years at the court, the two years I was by Cixi's side. Many of her recollective works, because of her specific identity, to a certain extent, preserved precious historical materials of Qing palace life, which provided evidence and reference for later academic research and literary creation. He died in a car accident in Berkeley, California in 1944.

Life of the characters

Yu Deling (1886-1944), whose pseudonym is Princess Deling, is a writer living in the United States and a native of Zhengbai banner in the Han army. She is famous for her experience as a former imperial official of Cixi and writing in English. Her relatives are: eldest brother (unknown name), second brother Xun Ling, fourth brother Xin Ling, fifth sister Rong Ling (Princess Shanshou). Han nationality, born in Wuchang in 1886, spent his childhood and adolescence in Jingzhou and Shashi. At the beginning of last century, the beautiful and intelligent Princess Deling, who was proficient in eight foreign languages, entered the palace full of mystery, strangeness and danger. As a former female official, she worked as a translator for Empress Dowager Cixi. Since 1895, he has been sent to Japan and France with his father Yugeng. In the spring of 1903, 17-year-old Deling returned to Beijing with her father. Soon after, along with her sister Rong Ling, she was summoned into the palace by Empress Dowager Cixi to act as a "female official before the emperor.".

In March 1905, he went to Shanghai because of his father's illness. In December of the same year, his father died in Shanghai, and Deling never returned to the palace because of his "hundred days of filial piety". In 1907, Deling married thadius white, the Vice Consul of the US consulate in Shanghai (later changed to a newspaper reporter), and then went to the United States with her husband. In 1911, Deling's first English work, two years in the Forbidden City, was published and signed as Princess Deling, which aroused strong repercussions at home and abroad. Gu Hongming was very pleased to write an English book review for him. From 1927 to 1928, Deling returned to China for a stay, and played Cixi himself, performing English palace drama. At the same time, we found Xiao Dezhang and others to further recall and collect the Qing palace information. Since then, Deling has written and published such works in English as Memoirs of the political situation in the late Qing Dynasty, the story of orchid in Yuyuan, the story of blood weeping in Yingtai, and the story of Yuxiang misty, which reflect the court and social and political life in the late Qing Dynasty, and became popular at home and abroad for a time. Deling's English works on the subject of the Qing Dynasty are the specific products of the flourishing period of cultural exchanges between the West and the middle school in the 20th century. The most distinctive feature of Deling's English works is that the author introduces the real life of China's high-level rulers to the West in a specific identity, partly clarifies the rumors and lies imposed by the imperialists on the Western readers, and to a certain extent preserves the Qing palace students The precious historical materials provide evidence and reference for the academic research and literary creation of later generations. Based on this, these works still have a large number of readers.

early years

Deling was born in Wuchang in 1886 and spent his childhood and adolescence in Jingzhou and Shashi. His father Yu Geng was a nobleman and diplomat of the Qing Dynasty. At that time, her father, Yu Geng, was being appointed by Zhang Zhidong, governor of Huguang, to preside over the tax and taxation affairs in Shashi, and also to handle Westernization affairs and teaching plans. In his memoirs of the political situation in the late Qing Dynasty, Deling describes the people's livelihood and the daily life of the government in yesha city at the end of the 19th century.

In 1895, Yu Geng was appointed as the Minister of special and plenipotentiary to Japan by the Qing government. The family of Deling went to Tokyo with their father and spent three years there. After returning from Japan, Yu Geng was sent to Paris as an envoy to France. These six years of foreign life have opened her eyes. She has not only increased her knowledge and experience through extensive contact with people from all walks of life in western society, but also deeply appreciated the profound impact of modern civilization on human life in all fields. Deling lived with his father in Japan and France for six years. He not only knows foreign languages, but also has a broad vision and profound knowledge, and is proficient in the national conditions of various countries.

Female official career

In the winter of 1902, Yu Geng returned from his term of office and was awarded the title of minister of Taipusi. Deling, 17, returned to Beijing with his father. At this time, the invasion of foreign powers, Empress Dowager Cixi eager to please foreign envoys and their wives, she learned from Prince Qing that Yugeng's daughter is proficient in foreign language and Western etiquette, then ordered to call Yugeng's wife with Deling, rongling sisters into the palace to meet, later Deling and sister rongling together become one of the eight female officials of the Forbidden City, for Cixi and Western envoys communication as interpreter. It was not until March 1905 that he left the palace for Shanghai because of his father's illness. During this period, Cixi intended to betroth him to Baron, the son of Ronglu, but designed a liberation for Guangxu.

After leaving the palace

In March 1905, Yu Geng went to Shanghai for medical treatment because of his illness, and called her sister Deling to Shanghai. After two years of living in the palace, Deling also saw the cold, gloomy and sinister side of the palace. The shivering feeling of "too high to be cold" also made them feel the lingering fear. Taking advantage of her father's serious illness, Deling asked Cixi to go to Shanghai. After being approved, Deling immediately left the palace.

After Yu Geng's death, Deling met the Vice Consul of the US consulate in Shanghai, dious white, and soon got married in Shanghai on May 21, 1907. After that, white retired from the US consulate and remained in China to become a journalist. At the request and urging of her relatives and friends, Deling wrote down what she had seen and heard during her two years at the court. This is her first memoir, two years when I was with Cixi, written in English. This has aroused widespread concern of people from all walks of life in western society.

During the Anti Japanese War, Soong Ching Ling launched an alliance to defend China in Hong Kong, and mobilized overseas Chinese and overseas Chinese to fight against foreign aggression. In the "China Night" and "a bowl of rice" movements held by the Alliance for the defense of China, Deling once followed the left and right, and made contributions to raising funds and materials for the Anti Japanese army and people. On November 22, 1944, Deling died in a car accident in Berkeley, California, at the age of 58.

Literary status

In the 1920s and 1930s, a middle-aged woman, who was active in Shanghai society as Empress Dowager Cixi's "former female official", received close attention from the media at that time. Surrounded by people, she wore Royal cheongsam and flowerpot soled shoes. Together with Li Shimin and Wu Ailian, she went to Lanxin Grand Theater to perform a Qing palace opera in English. Her English works, such as two years of the Qing palace and memoirs of the political situation in the late Qing Dynasty, became popular in the west, and were translated into Chinese by Gu Qiuxin and distributed in China. This Chinese woman writer, who wrote in English for the first time, was Deling from Zhengbai banner, who always regarded Hubei as her second hometown. At that time, everyone called her "Princess Deling".

The two years I was by Cixi's side describes the real life of the Imperial Palace in the Qing Dynasty from 1903 to 1904 in the first person way. It describes the food, daily life, dress, behavior and habits of the Empress Dowager Cixi, the highest female ruler in China at that time. Many of the chapters in the book are enough to confirm each other with the major events that have happened. Therefore, with its irrefutable full credibility, it shows its due historical value.

The publication of "two years of my stay with Cixi" first attracted the close attention of Gu Hongming, who was then the general manager of Kaijun Huangpu Bureau. As soon as he saw this book, he clapped his hands and was overjoyed. He couldn't restrain his joy, so he wrote an article entitled "two years of the Qing palace" by Ping Deling, which was posted to the English newspaper International Review in Shanghai for publication. In this article, Mr. Gu changed his life creed of advocating women's "three obediences and four virtues", enthusiastically called Deling "a new type of Manchu woman", and highly praised: "this plain work, which does not pay attention to literary decoration, is far better than any other famous work in giving the world the true situation of Manchu people."

Gu Hongming has always thought highly of himself. In his whole life, he never seemed to praise anyone. He even criticized and ridiculed the so-called sinologists in the western world at that time. His English book review, Ping Deling's two years of the Qing Dynasty, was able to praise a young Chinese woman with such a sincere and simple tone, which undoubtedly caused a huge sensation at that time. What is particularly interesting here is that in 1885, Gu Hongming was introduced by Zhao Fengchang, chief aide of Zhang Zhidong, to the governor's office of Huguang as a "foreign copywriter". During his stay in Wuchang, he and Yu Geng had a close relationship, and worked with the Yamen for five or six years. Out of appreciation for his daughter, Gu Hongming's English book reviews naturally contain personal emotional factors. It is because of Gu Hongming's great encouragement that Deling's interest in writing the Qing Dynasty theme works was aroused. With this as the starting point, she has written in English the Memoirs of the political situation at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the story of orchid in Yuyuan, the story of blood weeping in Yingtai, the story of misty fragrance in Yuxiang, etc., with a total number of 700000 words.

These works of Deling first had a large number of overseas readers, and then were translated into Chinese by Gu Qiuxin and Qin Shouou, and spread to China. Some of them have been serialized in Shenbao and other first-class domestic newspapers,

Chinese PinYin : De Ling