TWO YEARS IN THE FORBIDDEN CITY
BY THE PRINCESS DER LING




FIRST LADY IN WAITING
TO THE EMPRESS DOWAGER




TO
MY BELOVED FATHER
LORD YU KENG




FOREWORD
THE author of the following narrative has peculiar qualifications
for her task. She is a daughter of Lord Yu Keng, a member of the
Manchu White Banner Corps, and one of the most advanced and
progressive Chinese officials of his generation. Lord Yu Keng
entered the army when very young, and served in the Taiping
rebellion and the Formosan war with France, and as Vice Minister
of War during the China-Japan war in 1895. Later he was Minister
to Japan, which post he quitted in 1898 to become President of the
Tsung-li-yamen (Chinese Foreign Office). In 1899 he was appointed
Minister to France, where he remained four years. At a period when