Soong Mei-ling
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Soong Mei-ling | |
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宋美齡 | |
First Lady of the Republic of China | |
In role March 1, 1950 – April 5, 1975 | |
President | Chiang Kai-shek |
Preceded by | Guo Dejie |
Succeeded by | Liu Chi-chun |
In office August 1, 1943 – January 21, 1949 | |
Preceded by | Vacant |
Succeeded by | Guo Dejie |
In office October 10, 1928 – December 14, 1931 | |
Preceded by | Vacant |
Succeeded by | Vacant |
Member of the Legislative Yuan | |
In office November 7, 1928 – January 12, 1933 | |
Appointed by | Chiang Kai-shek |
Personal details | |
Born | St Luke's Hospital, Shanghai International Settlement, China | March 5, 1898
Died | October 23, 2003 New York City, U.S. | (aged 105)
Resting place | Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York, U.S. |
Nationality | Republic of China |
Political party | Kuomintang (ROC) |
Other political affiliations | Republican (US) |
Spouse | |
Children |
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Parents |
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Relatives |
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Alma mater | Wellesley College |
Signature | |
Chinese name | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Sòng Měilíng |
Wade–Giles | Sung4 Mei3-ling2 |
IPA | [sʊ̂ŋ mèɪ.lǐŋ] |
Wu | |
Shanghainese Romanization | Song入 Me平-lihn平 |
Yue: Cantonese | |
Yale Romanization | Sung Méih-lìhng |
Jyutping | Sung3 Mei5-ling4 |
Soong Mei-ling (also spelled Soong May-ling; March 5, 1898
Early life
Soong Mei-ling was born in the Song family home, a traditional house called Neishidi (內史第), in Pudong, Shanghai, China.[3] Some sources said she was born on 5 March 1898 at St. Luke's Hospital in Shanghai,[4][5] though some biographies give the year as 1897, since Chinese tradition considers one to be a year old at birth.[1][2]
She was the fourth of six children of
Education
In Shanghai, Mei-ling attended the
Mei-ling was officially registered as a freshman at Wesleyan in 1912 at the age of 15. She then transferred to Wellesley College two years later to be closer to her older brother, T. V., who, at the time, was studying at Harvard.[10]: 47 By then, both her sisters had graduated and returned to Shanghai. She graduated from Wellesley as one of the 33 "Durant Scholars" on June 19, 1917, with a major in English literature and minor in philosophy. She was also a member of Tau Zeta Epsilon, Wellesley's Arts and Music Society. As a result of her American education, she spoke excellent English, with a southern accent which helped her connect with American audiences.[11]
Madame Chiang
Soong Mei-ling met Chiang Kai-shek in 1920. Since he was eleven years her elder, already married, and a Buddhist, Mei-ling's mother vehemently opposed the marriage between the two, but finally agreed after Chiang showed proof of his divorce and promised to convert to Christianity. Chiang told his future mother-in-law that he could not convert immediately, because religion needed to be gradually absorbed, not swallowed like a pill. They married in Shanghai on December 1, 1927.[12] Although biographers regard the marriage with varying appraisals of partnership, love, politics and competition, it lasted 48 years. The couple had no children.
Madame Chiang initiated the New Life Movement and became actively engaged in Chinese politics. As her husband rose to become generalissimo and leader of the Kuomintang, Madame Chiang acted as his English translator, secretary and advisor. In 1928, she was made a member of the Committee of Yuans by Chiang.[13] She was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 1930 to 1932 and Secretary-General of the Chinese Aeronautical Affairs Commission from 1936 to 1938.[14] In 1937 she led appeals to women to support the Second Sino-Japanese War, which led to the establishment of women's battalions, such as the Guangxi Women's Battalion.[15][16]
In 1934, Soong Mei-ling was given a villa in
During World War II, Madame Chiang promoted the Chinese cause and tried to build a legacy for her husband. Well versed in both Chinese and Western culture, she became popular both in China and abroad.[14]
In 1945 she became a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang.
"Warphans"
Although Soong Mei-ling initially avoided the public eye after marrying Chiang, she soon began an ambitious social welfare project to establish schools for the orphans of Chinese soldiers. The orphanages were well-appointed: with playgrounds, hotels, swimming pools, a gymnasium, model classrooms, and dormitories. Soong Mei-ling was deeply involved in the project and even picked all of the teachers herself. There were two schools – one for boys and one for girls—built on a 405-hectare (1,000-acre) site at the foot of Purple Mountain, in Nanjing. She referred to these children as her "warphans" and made them a personal cause.[20] The fate of the children of fallen soldiers became a much more important issue in China after the beginning of the war with Japan in 1937. In order to better provide for these children she established the Chinese Women's National War Relief Society.[21]
Visits to the U.S.
Soong Mei-ling made several tours to the United States to lobby support for the Nationalists' war effort. She drew crowds as large as 30,000 people and in 1943 made the cover of Time magazine for a third time. She had earlier appeared on the October 26, 1931, cover alongside her husband and on the January 3, 1937, cover with her husband as "Man and Wife of the Year".[22][23]
Soong dressed ostentatiously during her tours to seek foreign aid, bringing dozens of suitcases filled with Chanel handbags, pearl-decorated shoes, and other luxury garments on a visit to the White House.[24]: 100 Soong's approach shocked United States First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and prompted resentment from many officials in the Republic of China government.[24]: 100
Arguably showing the impact of her visits, in 1943, the United States Women's Army Corps recruited a unit of Chinese-American women to serve with the Army Air Forces as "Air WACs", referred to as the "Madame Chiang Kai-Shek Air WAC unit".[25]
Both Soong Mei-ling and her husband were on good terms with Time magazine senior editor and co-founder
Allegations of corruption
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Soong's family embezzled $20 million.
During Chiang Ching-kuo's enforcement campaign in Shanghai after the war, Chiang Ching-kuo arrested her nephew David Kung and several employees of the Yangtze Development Corporation on allegations of holding foreign exchange. Mei-ling called Chiang Kai-shek to complain and also called Chiang Ching-Kuo directly.[35]: 181–183 Kung was eventually freed after negotiations.
Alleged tryst with Wendell Willkie
There were allegations that Mei-ling had a tryst with Wendell Willkie, who had been the Republican candidate for president in 1940 and came to Chongqing on a world tour in 1942. The two are said to have left an official reception and gone to one of her private apartments. When Chiang Kai-shek noticed their absence, he gathered his bodyguard, who were armed with machine-guns, marched through the streets, and ransacked her apartment without finding the couple. She is said to have passionately kissed Willkie at the airport the next day and offered to come with him to the United States.[36][37][38]
Scholars dismiss the allegations as weakly sourced, implausible, and even impossible. Jay Taylor's biography of Chiang points out that this infidelity was uncharacteristic of Mei-ling, and that it would have been unlikely for such a major commotion to go unnoticed.[39] In a 2016 review of the evidence Perry Johansson dismisses the allegation entirely, as it was based on the later memory of one person, and he further cites the work of China historian Yang Tianshi. Yang reviewed the official schedules and newspaper accounts of Willkie's visit and found that there was no time or place where the alleged events could have taken place. He also found no mention of it in Chiang's detailed private diaries.[40]
Later life
After the death of her husband in 1975, Madame Chiang assumed a low profile. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1975 and would undergo two mastectomies in Taiwan. She also had an ovarian tumor removed in 1991.[41]
Chang Hsien-yi claimed that Soong Mei-ling and military officials loyal to her expedited the development of nuclear weapons and even set up a parallel chain of command to further their agenda.[42]
Chiang Kai-shek was succeeded to power by his eldest son
Death
Madame Chiang died in her sleep in
Upon her death, the White House released a statement:
Madame Chiang was a close friend of the United States throughout her life, and especially during the defining struggles of the last century. Generations of Americans will always remember and respect her intelligence and strength of character. On behalf of the American people, I extend condolences to Madame Chiang's family members and many admirers around the world.
Appraisals by the international press
The New York Times obituary wrote:
As a fluent English speaker, as a Christian, as a model of what many Americans hoped China to become, Madame Chiang struck a chord with American audiences as she traveled across the country, starting in the 1930s, raising money and lobbying for support of her husband's government. She seemed to many Americans to be the very symbol of the modern, educated, pro-American China they yearned to see emerge—even as many Chinese dismissed her as a corrupt, power-hungry symbol of the past they wanted to escape.[2]
Life magazine called Madame the "most powerful woman in the world"[48] while Liberty magazine described her as "the real brains and boss of the Chinese government."[49] Writer and diplomat Clare Boothe Luce, wife of Time publisher Henry Luce, once compared her to Joan of Arc and Florence Nightingale.[50] Author Ernest Hemingway called her the "empress" of China.[50]
Awards and honors
- Peru:
- South Korea:
- Order of Merit for National Foundation, 1st class (1966)[52]
In popular culture
Her tour to San Francisco is mentioned (under the name Madame Chiang) in Last Night at the Telegraph Club, a 2021 novel by Malinda Lo. She also appears in "Cooking for Madame Chiang" in Dear Chrysanthemums[53] (Scribner, 2023), a novel by Fiona Sze-Lorrain.
Gallery
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Soong giving a bandage to an injured Chinese soldier (c. 1942)[54]
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Chiang and Soong in 1943
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Soong stitching uniforms for National Revolutionary Army soldiers.
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1943 Wellesley College speech poster.
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1942 Chiang, Soong andBurma.
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1943 Soong in the White House Oval Office to conduct a press conference.
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Soong sitting close to Chiang opposite Claire Lee Chennault.
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The three Soong sisters in their youth, with Soong Ching-ling in the middle, and Soong Ai-ling (left) and Soong Mei-ling (right)
Internet videos
- 1937 video-cast of Soong Mei-ling address to the world in English on YouTube
- (in Chinese) Soong Mei-ling and the China Air Force
- 1995: US senators held a reception for Soong Mei-ling in recognition of China's role as a US ally in World War II.
See also
- Second Sino-Japanese War
- Xi'an Incident
- History of the Republic of China
- Military of the Republic of China
- President of the Republic of China
- Politics of the Republic of China
- Soong sisters
- Claire Lee Chennault
- Flying Tigers
- Chiang Fang-liang
- National Revolutionary Army
- Sino-German cooperation (1911–1941)
- Address to Congress – the full text of her 1943 address
- The Last Empress: Madame Chiang Kai-shek and the Birth of Modern China – a 2009 biography of Soong Mei-ling
- Meiling Palace
References
- ^ a b While records at Wellesley College and the Encyclopædia Britannica indicate she was born in 1897, the Republic of China government as well as the BBC and the New York Times cite her year of birth as 1898.[clarification needed] The New York Times obituary includes the following explanation: "Some references give 1897 as the year because the Chinese usually consider everyone to be one year old at birth." cf: East Asian age reckoning. However, early sources such as the Columbia Encyclopedia, 1960, give her date of birth as 1896, making it possible that "one year" was subtracted twice.
- ^ New York Times. Retrieved June 27, 2008.
- ^ "探访传奇老宅"内史第":百年上海的文化密码". China News. April 10, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
- ^ "辛亥革命功臣里的宋氏家族女眷(4)_升华天下|辛亥革命网|辛亥革命112周年,辛亥网". www.xhgmw.com. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
- ^ Karon, Tony (October 24, 2003). "Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, 1898-2003". Time. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-8021-4322-8.
- ^ "The Soong sisters". Wesleyan College. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
- ^ "Southeast Tennessee Tourist Association". Southeast Tourist Tourist Association. Archived from the original on October 3, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
- ISBN 0-9627687-7-4
- ISBN 978-1-009-29761-5.
- ^ "Madame Chiang Kai-shek". wellesley.edu. Archived from the original on April 30, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
- ^ "China: Soong Sisters". Time. December 12, 1927. Archived from the original on March 24, 2008. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
- ^ "China: Potent Mrs. Chiang". Time. November 26, 1928. Archived from the original on November 21, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
- ^ a b "Charismatic, Feared Emissary of China's Nationalist Regime". Los Angeles Times. October 25, 2003. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- ISBN 978-0-8204-5198-5.
- ^ Women of China. Foreign Language Press. 2001.
- ^ WANG, N. N., & JIANG, Z. (2007). " Usingnaturalwith ingenious ways, man and naturelive in harmony"——Simplyanalysis thedesign concepts of Mount Lushan" Meilu" villa to the inspirationofmodern ecological landscape design. Hundred Schools in Arts, 03.
- ^ "Kuling American School Association – Americans Who Still Call Lushan Home". Kuling American School Association 美国学堂 Website. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
- ^ "《今日庐山之"美庐"》". 故宫博物院The Palace Museum Website. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
- ^ Tyson Li 2006, pp. 87–88
- ISBN 9780674016712.
- ^ "Time Magazine cover". Archived from the original on May 4, 2007.
- ^ Karon, Tony (October 24, 2003). "Madame Chiang Kai-shek, 1898-2003". Time.com. Archived from the original on October 26, 2003. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
- ^ S2CID 253067190.
- ^ "Asian-Pacific-American Servicewomen in Defense of a Nation". Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation. Archived from the original on January 8, 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
- ^ "Madame Chiang Kai-Shek". Wellesley College. August 14, 2000. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
- ^ S2CID 253067190.
- ^ a b Chieh-yu, Lin; Wu, Debby; Liu, Cody; Wen, Stephanie; Chang, Eddy (October 25, 2003). "The Dragon Lady who charmed the world". Taipei Times.
- ISBN 0820450103. Archivedfrom the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
- ^ Seth Faison (October 25, 2003). "Madame Chiang Kai-shek, a Power in Husband's China and Abroad, Dies at 105". The New York Times.
- TheGuardian.com.
- ^ Bernice Chan (May 22, 2015). "Soong sisters' jewellery and art heirlooms to be auctioned in Hong Kong".
- ISBN 076560504X.
- ^ "高齡106歲去世!宋美齡死後「銀行帳戶餘額曝光」驚呆了 | 新奇 | 三立新聞網 SETN.COM". www.setn.com. May 4, 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-009-29761-5.
- ^ Tyson Li 2006, pp. 184–86
- ISBN 978-1-4391-4893-8.
- ISBN 978-0300260205., pp. 351-353, 361
- ISBN 9780674060494.
- .
- ^ Pakula 2009, p. 659
- ^ Sui, Cindy (May 18, 2017). "The man who helped prevent a nuclear crisis". BBC News. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
- ^ Pakula 2009, p. 670
- ^ Berger, Joseph (October 30, 2003). "An Epitaph for Madame Chiang Kai-shek: 'Mama'". New York Times. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
- ^ Isogawa, Tomoyoshi; Aoyama, Naoatsu (March 7, 2014). "Chinese Civil War and birth of Taiwan, as told by Leo Soong". The Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on April 7, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
- ^ "President's Statement on the Death of Madame Chiang Kai-shek". The White House. Retrieved July 4, 2011.
- ^ "Madame Soong Mei-ling remembered by all Chinese". China Daily. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
- ^ Pakula, Hannah. "Chiang Kai-shek". New York Times. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ^ Pakula 2009, p. 305
- ^ a b Kirkpatrick, Melanie (November 3, 2009). "China's Mystery Lady". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ^ "condecorados: orden el sol del peru". studylib.es (in Spanish). Retrieved October 25, 2022.
- ^ "'한국은 독립되어야 한다' 잊혀지는 영웅, 여성 독립운동가". TBS (in Korean). April 26, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-6680-1298-7.
- ^ Fenby, Jonathan (2009), Modern China, p. 279
Bibliography
- Chu, Samuel C.; Kennedy, Thomas L., eds. (2005). Madame Chiang Kai-shek and her China. Norwalk, Connecticut: EastBridge. ISBN 9781891936715.
- DeLong, Thomas A. (2007). Madame Chiang Kai-shek and Miss Emma Mills: China's First Lady and Her American Friend. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc.
- Donovan, Sandy (2006). Madame Chiang Kai-shek: Face of Modern China. Minneapolis: Compass Point Books.
- Pakula, Hannah (2009).
- Scott Wong, Kevin (2005). Americans first: Chinese Americans and the Second World War. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674016712. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
- Taylor, Jay (2009). The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. pp. 217–18.
- Tyson Li, Laura (2006).
External links
- Audio of her speaking at the Hollywood Bowl, 1943 (3 hours into program)
- As delivered text transcript, complete audio, video excerpt of her address to the US Congress, 1943
- Wellesley College biography at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
- Time magazine's "Man and Wife of the Year," 1937
- Madame Chiang being honored by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole (left) and Senator Paul Simon (center) at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, July 26, 1995
- Madame Chiang Kai-shek, 1898–2003
- Life in pictures: Madame Chiang Kai-shek
- Voice of America obituary
- Madame Chiang, 105, Chinese Leader's Widow, Dies – The New York Times
- The extraordinary secret of Madame Chiang Kai-shek
- Madame Chiang Kai-shek – The Economist
- What a 71-Year-Old Article by Madame Chiang Kai-Shek Tells Us About China Today – The Atlantic
- Madame Soong Mei-ling's Life in Her Old Age
- Newspaper clippings about Soong Mei-ling in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
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Notes:
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