View Shopping Cart Your Famous Chinese Account Shopping Help Famous Chinese Homepage China Chinese Chinese Culture Chinese Restaurant & Chinese Food Travel to China Chinese Economy & Chinese Trade Chinese Medicine & Chinese Herb Chinese Art
logo
Search
March 8, 2014
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
Soong May-ling

Wikipedia

 
Image:Chiangs and Stilwell.jpg|frame|Generalissimo and Madame Chiang Kai-shek with General Joseph Stilwell in Burma (1942).

Soong May-ling or Soong Mei-ling (宋美齡 pinyin: S?ng Měil?ng) (March 5, 1898<sup>#Notes|1</sup> - October 23, 2003), one of the three Soong sisters and described as "the one who loved power". As the wife of President Chiang Kai-shek, she was also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek (蔣夫人 Hanyu Pinyin|py: Jiǎng fūr?n) and played a prominent role in the politics of the Republic of China.

The fourth of six children, she was born in either Hainan or Shanghai<sup>#Notes|2</sup> to Charlie Soong, a Methodist minister and businessman who made a fortune selling bibles in China. May-ling moved to the United States to attend boarding school at the age of eight. She started college at her sisters' alma mater, Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, but transferred to Wellesley College and graduated with honors in 1917 with a major in English literature and minor in philosophy. As a result of being educated in the United States she spoke excellent English with a pronounced Georgia (state)|Georgian accent which helped her to connect with American audiences.

Soong May-ling met Chiang Kai-shek in 1920. Since he was eleven years her elder, already married, and a Buddhism|Buddhist, May-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 couldn't convert immediately, because religion needed to be gradually absorbed, not swallowed like a pill. While some biographers regard the marriage as one of the greatest love matches of all time, others describe it as a marriage of convenience. The couple never had any children.

Madame Chiang initiated the New Life Movement and became actively engaged in Chinese politics. 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. In 1945 she became a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang. As her husband rose to become Generalissimo and leader of the Kuomintang, Madame Chiang acted as his English translator, secretary and advisor. During World War II, Madame Chiang tried to promote the Chinese cause and build a legacy for her husband on par with Franklin Roosevelt|Roosevelt, Winston Churchill|Churchill and Joseph Stalin|Stalin. Well versed in both Chinese and western culture, she became popular both in China and abroad. Her prominence led Joseph Stilwell to quip that she be appointed minister of defense.

In the United States, she drew crowds up to 30,000 people and made the front cover of TIME magazine, first with her husband as "Man of the Year|Man and Wife of the Year" and second under the title "Dragon Lady." On February 18, 1943, she became the first Chinese national and second woman to address the Congress of the United States|U.S. Congress.

Image:Mme.chiang e.roosevelt.jpg|thumb|left|280px|Eleanor Roosevelt and Mme Chiang Kai-shek, 1943

After the defeat of her husband's government in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, Madame Chiang followed her husband to Taiwan, while her sister Soong Ching-ling stayed on the mainland China|mainland, siding with the communists. Madame Chiang continued to play a prominent international role. She was a Patron of the International Red Cross Committee, honorary chair of the British United Aid to China Fund, and First Honorary Member of the Bill of Rights Commemorative Society. Through the late 1960s she was included among America's 10 most admired women.

After the death of her husband in 1975, Madame Chiang assumed a low profile. Chiang Kai-shek was succeeded to power by his eldest son Chiang Ching-kuo, from a previous marriage, with whom Madame Chiang had rocky relations. In 1975, she emigrated from Taiwan to her family's 36 acre (146,000&nbsp;m&sup2;) estate in Lattingtown, New York|Lattingtown, Long Island, where she kept a portrait of her late husband in full military regalia in her living room.

Madame Chiang returned to Taiwan upon Chiang Ching-kuo's death in 1988, to shore up support among her old allies. However, Chiang's successor as president, Lee Teng-hui, proved more adept at politics than her, and solidified his power. As a result, she again returned to the U.S.

Madame Chiang made a rare public appearance in 1995 when she attended a reception held on United States Capitol|Capitol Hill in her honor in connection with celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. Madame Chiang also made her last visit to Taiwan in 1995.

In the ROC presidential election, 2000|2000 Presidential Election on Taiwan, the Kuomintang produced a letter from her in which she purportedly supported the KMT candidate Lien Chan over independent candidate James Soong (no relation). The authenticity of the letter was the subject of great debate in Taiwan.

Soong sold her Long Island estate in 2000 and spent the rest of her life in her Gracie Square apartment surrounded only by black-suited bodyguards who cleared the lobby as she passed.

Soong died in her Manhattan apartment in 2003 at the age of 105 or 106. Her remains were temporarily interred at Ferncliff cemetery in Hartsdale, New York, pending an eventual burial with her late husband who was entombed in Tzuhu, Taiwan. The stated intention is to have them both buried in mainland China once political conditions make it possible.

See also: History of the Republic of China



  • "She can talk beautifully about democracy. But she does not know how to live democracy." -Eleanor Roosevelt

  • "Direct, forceful, energetic. Loves power, eats up publicity and flattery...Can turn on charm at will and knows it." -Joseph Stilwell




<sup>1</sup> While records at Wellesley College and the Encyclopaedia Brittanica indicate she was born in 1897, the Republic of China|ROC government as well as the British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC and the New York Times cite her year of birth as 1898. The New York Times obituary includes the following explanation: "some references give 1897 as the year because List of famous Chinese people|the Chinese usually consider everyone to be one year old at birth." 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.

<sup>2</sup>The New York Times gives her place of birth as Shanghai, while the BBC and Encyclop?dia Britannica gives it as Wenchang, Hainan island (which was then part of Guangdong Province).



  • http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/text/mchiang.htm Address to Congress, 1943

  • http://www.wellesley.edu/Anniversary/chiang.html Wellesley College biography

  • http://chinese-school.netfirms.com/Madame_Chiang_KS.html NY Times Obituary

  • AP Obituary: http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/1003/24madamechiang.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3304388,00.html

  • http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4790129-108142,00.html report from The Guardian

  • http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=5282FE4A-5753-44B2-818165CFCB47EAC7 Voice of America obituary

  • http://www.time.com/time/poy2000/archive/1937.html?cnn=yes TIME: Man & Wife of the Year (1937)



Category:1898 births|Soong May-ling
Category:2003 deaths|Soong May-ling
Category:ROC politicians|Soong May-ling
Category:Centenarians|Soong May-ling

de:Song Meiling
he:סונג מיי לינג
ko:쑹메이링
nl:Soong May-ling
ja:宋美齢
pl:Song Mailing
sv:Song Meiling
zh:宋美齡

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Soong May-ling".


Last Modified:   2005-04-13


Search
All informatin on the site is © FamousChinese.com 2002-2005. Last revised: January 2, 2004
Are you interested in our site or/and want to use our information? please read how to contact us and our copyrights.
To post your business in our web site? please click here. To send any comments to us, please use the Feedback.
To let us provide you with high quality information, you can help us by making a more or less donation: