Chiang Fang-liang

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Chiang Fang-liang
蔣方良
Фаина Вахрева
Spouse of the Prime Minister of Taiwan
In role
1 June 1972 – 20 May 1978
Prime MinisterChiang Ching-kuo
Preceded byLiu Chi-chun
Succeeded byHsu Huang-chen (acting)
Personal details
Born
Faina Ipat'evna Vakhreva

(1916-05-15)15 May 1916
near
Chinese (1937–1949)
Taiwanese
(1949–2004)
Spouse
(m. 1935; died 1988)
Children
Occupation
Republic of China
Chiang Fang-liang
Chinese name
Hanyu Pinyin
Jiǎng Fāngliáng
Hakka
Pha̍k-fa-sṳChióng Fong-liòng
Southern Min
Hokkien POJChiúⁿ Png-liông
Russian nameRussianФаина Ипатьевна ВахреваRomanization
Faina Ipatyevna Vakhreva

Faina Chiang Fang-liang (

.

Early life

On 15 May 1916, Faina was born near Orsha, part of the Russian Empire, then part of the Soviet Union, now in Belarus. Faina was orphaned at a young age and raised by her older sister Anna.[1][2]

Career

At age 16, as a member of the Soviet Union's

Russian SFSR, where she met Chiang Ching-kuo, her supervisor.[3][4] On 15 March 1935, aged 18, Faina married him.[2][3]

Move to Taiwan

With Chiang Ching-kuo and Chiang Hsiao-wen in Gannan Prefecture, where CCK was serving as commissioner (c.1940s)

In December 1936,

Xikou, Zhejiang, where they held a second marriage ceremony.[4] Fang-liang stayed behind to live with Chiang Ching-kuo's mother, Mao Fumei. She was assigned a tutor to learn Mandarin Chinese, but she learned the local Ningbo dialect of Wu Chinese instead.[1][2] She reportedly got along well with Mao Fumei and did her own housework.[2][4]

As First lady

When Chiang Ching-kuo became President, Fang-liang rarely performed the traditional roles of First Lady, partly due to her lack of formal education; her husband also encouraged her not to get into politics.[6] She largely stayed out of the public spotlight,[1][3] and little was ever known of her in an anti-communist atmosphere in the government. She never returned to Russia, and traveled abroad only three times in the last 50 years of her life, all to visit her children and their families. In 1992, she received a visit from a Belarusian delegation.[4][5]

Children

On 14 December 1935, their first son Chiang Hsiao-wen was born in the Soviet Union.[3] Each of her three younger children were born in different parts of China, reflecting turbulent years as an official of the country.[4] Faina had four children:

All her children were sent to study in foreign universities[4] - Hsiao-wu to West Germany and the remaining children to the United States. All three sons died shortly after Ching-kuo's death in 1988: Hsiao-wen in 1989, Hsiao-wu in 1991, and Hsiao-yung in 1996.[3] Fang-liang then lived in the suburbs of Taipei. She received occasional visitors, such as some prominent politicians who went to pay their respects every few years. In the Taiwanese media, if she ever received coverage, she was depicted as a virtuous wife who never complained and endured her loneliness with dignity.[1][2][7]

Death and funeral

Chiang died of respiratory and cardiac failure stemming from lung cancer at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital on 15 December 2004, at the age of 88 (or 89 according to East Asian age reckoning).[1][7][8][9]

Chiang's funeral was held on 27 December 2004, with President

Kuomintang party flag, and Kuomintang party elders Lee Huan, Hau Pei-tsun, Chiu Chuang-huan, and Shih Chi-yang draped her casket with the ROC national flag.[11][12]
Chiang was cremated and her ashes taken to her husband's temporary

Family of Chiang Fang-liang
Soong May‑ling
宋美齡
Mao Fumei
毛福梅
Chiang Kai‑shek
蔣介石
Yao Yecheng
姚冶誠
Chen Jieru
陳潔如
Faina Chiang Fang‑liang
蔣方良
Chiang Ching-kuo
蔣經國
Chang Ya‑juo
章亞若
(mistress)
Shih Chin‑i
石靜宜
Chiang Wei‑kuo
蔣緯國
(adopted)
Chiu Ju‑hsüeh
丘如雪
Chen Yao‑kuang
陳瑶光
(adopted)
John Chiang Hsiao‑yen

蔣孝嚴
Chiang Hsiao‑kang
蔣孝剛
Nancy Xu Nai‑jin
徐乃錦
Yu Yang‑ho
俞揚和
Wang Zhang‑shi
汪長詩
Michelle Tsai Hui‑mei
蔡惠媚
Elizabeth Fang Chi‑yi
方智怡
Chao Chung‑te
趙申德
Helen Huang Mei‑lun
黃美倫
Wang Yi‑hui
王倚惠
Theodore Yu Tsu‑sheng
俞祖聲
Chang Ching‑sung
章勁松
Chang Yo‑chu
章友菊
Vivian Chiang Hui‑lan
蔣惠蘭
Chiang Hui‑yün
蔣惠筠
Chiang Wan‑an
蔣萬安
Chiang Yo‑mei
蔣友梅
Alexandra Chiang Yo‑lan
蔣友蘭
Johnathan Chiang Yo‑sung
蔣友松
Demos Chiang Yo‑bo
蔣友柏
Edward Chiang Yo‑chang
蔣友常
Andrew Chiang Yo‑ching
蔣友青
Chiang Yo‑chüan
蔣友娟
Chiang Yo‑chieh
蔣友捷
Notes
  • Dashed lines represent marriages
  • Dotted lines represent extra-marital relationships and adoptions
  • Solid lines represent descendants


See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f Tsai, Wen-Ting; Tsai, Julius (January 2005). "Farewell, Faina — Chiang Fang-liang Dies Aged 90". Taiwan Panorama. Taipei, Taiwan. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Wu, Pei-shih (May 18, 2003). "Forgotten first lady served as model traditional wife". Taipei Times. Taipei, Taiwan. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Wen, Stephanie (December 16, 2004). "Chiang Fang-liang remembered". Taipei Times. Taipei, Taiwan. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Wang, Jaifeng; Hughes, Christopher (January 1998). "Cover Story — Love to Fang-Liang – the Chiang Family Album". Taiwan Panorama. Taipei, Taiwan. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  5. ^ a b Yu, Susan (June 16, 1992). "Mensk officials meet Chiang Fang-liang Chiang Ching-kuo's widow breaks precedent to receive countrymen". Taiwan Today (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Taipei, Taiwan. Archived from the original on 2014-11-07. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  6. ^ "The lonely widow of Huaihai Rd in sealed memory". China Daily. Beijing. January 12, 2005. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  7. ^ a b Yiu, Cody (December 16, 2004). "A sad life ends for Chiang Fang-liang". Taipei Times. Taipei, Taiwan. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  8. ^ "Faina Chiang dies at 88 in Taipei". China Daily. Beijing. December 15, 2004. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  9. ^ "President Chen pays tribute to former first lady Faina Chiang". China Post. Taipei. December 17, 2004. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  10. ^ "Nation bids farewell to former first lady Faina Chiang". China Post. Taipei. December 27, 2004. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  11. ^ Chuang, Jimmy (December 25, 2004). "Faina Chiang's funeral will be held on Monday". Taipei Times. Taipei, Taiwan. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  12. ^ "Faina Chiang's funeral held in Taiwan". sina.com. December 27, 2004. Retrieved November 4, 2014.

Bibliography

External links