John Yu Shuinling ( zh, t=裕勛齡, w=Yü Hsün-ling, p=Yù Xūnlíng; 18741944), often referred to as John Shuinling (also spelt Shung-Ling), was a Hanjun Plain White bannerman who served as second secretary in the

Qing-dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

Embassy in France. He was also an engineer and worked as director of the power station of

Summer Palace The Summer Palace () is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. It was an imperial garden in the Qing dynasty. Inside includes Longevity Hill () Kunming Lake and Seventeen Hole Bridge. It covers an expanse of , three-quarter ...

, and a photographer notably for taking numerous photographs of the

Empress Dowager Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu people, Manchu Nara (clan)#Yehe Nara, Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese nob ...

Biography

Born in an upper-class family, he was the elder son of , a high-ranking

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...

official, and Louisa Pierson, a Chinese-American woman of mysterious antecedents. He had three siblings, one brother

Charles Yu Hsingling Charles Yu Hsingling ( zh, t=裕馨齡, w=Yü Hsin-ling, p=Yù Xīnlíng; 11 January 1879?), often referred to as Charles Hsingling, was a Hanjun Plain White bannerman who served as second secretary in the Qing-dynasty Embassy in France. He wa ...

, two younger sisters, Lizzie Yu Der Ling and

Nellie Yu Roung Ling Nellie Yu Roung Ling ( zh, t=裕容齡, w=Yü Jung-ling, p=Yù Rónglíng; 188216 January 1973), also spelt Nelly, was a Hanjun Plain White bannerwoman and dancer, who is considered "the first modern dancer of China". She was the younger daught ...

. They all received Western education in American missionary school. The British diplomat

Sir Robert Hart Sir Robert Hart, 1st Baronet, (20 February 1835 – 20 September 1911) was a British diplomat and official in the Qing Chinese government, serving as the second Inspector-General of China's Imperial Maritime Custom Service (IMCS) from 1863 to ...

described them as "a noisy family of English-speaking children, were fluent also in Japanese and French". From 1899 to 1902, he served as second secretary in the Qing-dynasty Embassy in France, where his father held a diplomatic post. The Yu siblings led a cosmopolitan life in Paris, they socialised, frequented the theatre and performed at their parents' parties. The weekly magazine reported that the four children of Minister Yu Keng "superbly performed" an English comedy in three acts at a soirée organised by their father. In March 1901, the Yus threw a fancy dress ball at the Chinese Embassy to celebrate Chinese New Year, at which Shuinling was costumed as

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...

, his siblings Hsingling, Roung Ling and Der Ling, were dressed respectively as

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, Prince Charming and a doll in the fairy tale. He became an amateur photographer during his stay in Paris. After the Yus' return to China, from 1903 to 1905, he took a large number of photographs of the

with a camera from Europe. More than half of the negatives are now held by the

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery is an art museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., focusing on Asian art. The Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art together form the National Museum of Asian Art in the United States. Th ...

. In 1936, he wrote an afterword for the Chinese translation of Der Ling's ''Imperial Incense'', at the invitation of its translator . Not much is known about his later life, he died in 1944.

In popular culture

* In the 2006 television series ''

Princess Der Ling Lizzie Yu Der Ling ( zh, t=裕德齡, w=Yü Tê-ling, p=Yù Délíng; 8 June 188122 November 1944), better known as "Princess" Der Ling, and also known as Elisabeth Antoinette White after her marriage to Thaddeus C. White, was a Hanjun bannerwom ...

'', John Shuinling was played by Xu Jian.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, John Shuinling 1874 births 1944 deaths Chinese photographers Chinese electrical engineers Qing dynasty diplomats 19th-century Chinese diplomats 20th-century Chinese diplomats 19th-century engineers 20th-century Chinese engineers Chinese people of American descent