Two Years in the Forbidden City

Two Years in the Forbidden City is the memoir by Princess Der Ling about her life in the service of Empress Dowager Cixi, where she was the First lady-in-waiting, as well as interpreter for her when she received foreign visitors. The book provides unique insights into life at the Manchu court and the character of the Empress, a world that ended abruptly with the 1911 revolution that overthrew the Manchu or Qing dynasty.

Princess Der Ling was a Hanjun bannerwoman, the daughter of Yu Keng, a member of the Hanjun Plain White Banner Corps, and according to his daughter a Lord. Yü Keng's daughters Der Ling and Rong Ling 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. 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.