In the last years of the Qing Dynasty, the Empress Dowager Cixi had eight female officials around her, of which Yu Deling was one of them. Yu Deling's life is full of legends, from her origins to becoming Cixi's personal translator, to her later moving to the United States with her husband, and finally dying in California, each stage is full of stories.
1. A famous lady with a bumpy fate.
Yu Deling was born in Wuchang, Hubei Province on the tenth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar in 1886, his father Yu Geng was the ** under Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, and his mother was of mixed Chinese and French descent. When she was a child, Yu Deling went to Japan and France with her father and experienced exotic customs, which became a precious experience for her to pass on in the future.
Second, the emergence of female officials in front of the palace.
In 1903, Yu Geng was transferred back to Beijing, and the Empress Dowager Cixi appreciated her talent and asked Yu Deling to serve as a first-class female official and imperial interpreter. Her intelligence and multilingual talents made her Cixi's right-hand man, while also serving as an English and piano teacher to the Guangxu Emperor. However, Yu Deling's frustration with Cixi's ideals gradually accumulated, and she was eager to change the country's decline, but the Empress Dowager was indifferent to the advice of governing the country.
3. Ill-fated emotional experiences.
In order to control Yu Deling, Cixi arranged marriages many times, but Yu Deling was firmly opposed. On the Mid-Autumn Festival in 1904, the Queen Mother planned to marry her to the son of a favored minister, but Yu Deling skillfully refused for various reasons and temporarily escaped this blind marriage. However, in order to continue to control her, the Queen Mother once again messed up the mandarin duck spectrum and planned to marry her to Rong Lu's son Barong. Yu Deling fell into a conflict, and finally managed to escape the palace by going out shopping, ending the farce.
IV. The Tragedy of Newlyweds and Separation.
Yu Deling met American Vice Consul White in Shanghai and married in 1907. She went to the United States with her husband and started a new life. The couple had a sweet time and also welcomed their lovely son, Thaddeus. Yu Deling continued to teach in the United States and wrote "The Second Year of the Qing Dynasty" in English, which became a bestseller in Western society. However, misfortune struck, Yu Deling lost his beloved son, and the relationship between the husband and wife broke down.
5. Career in the United States and literary brilliance.
Yu continued to teach Chinese in the United States and became a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Her memoirs and other works, such as Memoirs of the Political Situation in the Late Qing Dynasty and The Legend of the Orchid in the Imperial Garden, truly depicted the life of the late Qing court, and became an important reference for later academic research and literary creation.
Epilogue. 
Yu Deling's life is like a picture scroll, from the former female official of the Qing court to the American professor, she has experienced ups and downs, leaving precious historical memories. She is not only Cixi's right-hand man, but also an intellectual woman who returned from studying abroad, and used her talent to present valuable historical materials about the late Qing court to future generations. The legendary story of Yu Deling is like a bright pearl, shining in the long river of history.
Yu Deling, a woman in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, her life was full of legends and ups and downs, and the ups and downs of her fate made her a very representative female figure of that era. From her humble beginnings and serving as a female official in the court, to her later journey to the United States with her husband, Yu Deling's life story not only carries the changes of the times, but also reflects the ups and downs and pursuits of individuals in the long river of history.
First of all, Yu Deling's family background is prominent, and he has spent seven years of hardship in a foreign country since he was a child. This sojourn experience not only taught her many Chinese languages and Western etiquette, but also gave her a broad vision and profound knowledge. This became the cornerstone of her later ability to be the imperial translator of the Empress Dowager Cixi and the English and piano teacher of the Guangxu Emperor. Her educational background and international experience laid a solid foundation for her to hold special positions in the Qing court.
Secondly, Yu Deling's duties in the court are particularly striking. With her excellent language skills and familiarity with Western affairs, she became a trusted personal interpreter for the Empress Dowager Cixi. Her open-mindedness and introduction to advanced Western culture gave court life some unprecedented vitality. However, there was a huge gap between her expectations for the country's future and the Queen Mother's interests. This difference in philosophy made her feel lonely and disappointed in the court. Although the Empress Dowager Cixi had high hopes for her, she did not understand her ideas in the end, which became one of the reasons why Yu Deling was discouraged and finally chose to leave the court.
And Yu Deling's emotional experience is also a rather tortuous journey. In order to control her, the Empress Dowager Cixi arranged marriages several times, but she escaped in a clever way. Her refusal expresses her insistence on autonomy and her revulsion at blind marriage. This experience shows her struggle between traditional ideas and free choice, and highlights her unwavering personality.
Yu Deling's life ushered in a new climax after leaving the court. In the United States, she not only successfully continued her career, but also wrote best-selling books such as "The Second Year of the Qing Palace" in English. With her own personal experience, she showed the true face of Qing court life to Western society and provided valuable historical materials for future generations. Her literary achievements and testimony to the history of the late Qing Dynasty made her a unique presence of that era.
Overall, Yu Tak Ling is a woman who is under great pressure between tradition and modernity, East and West. Her life not only witnessed the collapse of China's feudal society, but also demonstrated the tenacity and wisdom of women in the changing times. Her story tells us that in the long course of history, each individual has their own legend, and each choice is writing a unique chapter in life.
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