Princess Der Ling – daughter of a Manchu aristocrat, granddaughter of a Boston merchant, educated like a boy in the Confucian classics, a baptized Catholic blessed by the hand of Pope Leo XIII, a woman who donned chic Western fashions in China and her ceremonial court robes in the United States, and wife of an American soldier of fortune – was a fascinating human battleground of warring identities.
Der Ling comes alive in the book of Grant Hayter-Menzies, Imperial Masquerade. 
Published in January 2008 by Hong Kong University Press, and launched in Beijing in April, Imperial Masquerade is the first biography of Chinese author, imperial lady-in-waiting, feminist and flapper, and all-around radical, Princess Der Ling, one of the 20th century’s most intriguing cross-cultural personality. It traces the life of Princess Der Ling, and offers a fresh look at the woman she lionized and ultimately betrayed – the Empress Dowager Cixi.
Grant Hayter-Menzies, a resident of Sidney, B.C., has served as art and music critic for newspapers and magazines across North America. He will host a talk and slide presentation of rare photos of the Chinese Imperial Court from the early 1900s, and current photos of the palaces and places Der Ling knew, at the Central Branch of Vancouver Public Library, 350 West Georgia St., in the Alice MacKay Room (lower level) on Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Admission is free.
The Library will also display a collection of Der Ling’s autographed books, a scroll painting by Der Ling’s hero, the Empress Dowager Cixi.
Books will be available for purchase.