[2] Born in an upper-class family, he was the elder son of Yu Keng [fr], a high-ranking Manchu official, and Louisa Pierson, a Chinese-American woman of mysterious antecedents.

The British diplomat Sir Robert Hart described them as "a noisy family of English-speaking children, were fluent also in Japanese and French".

The Yu siblings led a cosmopolitan life in Paris, they socialised, frequented the theatre and performed at their parents' parties.

The weekly magazine Armée et Marine reported that the four children of Minister Yu Keng "superbly performed" an English comedy in three acts at a soirée organised by their father.

[2] 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, his siblings Hsingling, Roung Ling and Der Ling, were dressed respectively as Napoleon, Prince Charming and a doll in the fairy tale.