[Private Notes of Female Officials of the Qing Court] "Memoirs of the Political Situation in the Late Qing Dynasty" by Yu Deling
——Looking at the last afterglow of the Forbidden City through a Western telescope
As the first female palace official to systematically receive Western education, Yu Deling witnessed the critical transition period from 1903 to 1907 with her ability in French, English, and Japanese. This strange woman who walked in the Qianqing Palace wearing Paris high heels recorded in this book:
• The moment when Empress Dowager Cixi quietly retouched her lipstick when receiving the Russian envoy
• Emperor Guangxu showed his obsession with modern technology when playing with his pocket watch
• A funny scene where the eunuchs secretly learn the waltz steps
The "chief translator" of the Forbidden City, who is proficient in eight languages, records the twilight of the Qing Empire and the author's study abroad from a personal perspective. This book gives a glimpse of the precarious China and that era of change.
