Soong Mei-ling
Soong Mei-ling (also spelled Soong May-ling; March 5, 1898[1] – October 23, 2003), also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek (Chinese: 蔣介石夫人) or Madame Chiang (Chinese: 蔣夫人), was a Chinese political figure who was First Lady of the Republic of China, the wife of President Chiang Kai-shek of the Republic of China. Soong played a prominent role in the politics of the Republic of China and was the sister-in-law of Sun Yat-sen, the founder and the leader of the Republic of China. She was active in the civic life of her country and held many honorary and active positions, including chairwoman of Fu Jen Catholic University. During World War II, she rallied against the Japanese; and in 1943 conducted an eight-month speaking tour of the United States to gain support.[2]
In this Chinese name, the family name is Soong.
Soong Mei-ling
Guo Dejie
Vacant
Guo Dejie
Vacant
Vacant
Chiang Kai-shek
March 5, 1898
St Luke's Hospital, Shanghai International Settlement, China
October 23, 2003 (aged 105)
New York City, U.S.
Kuomintang (ROC)
Republican (US)
- Chiang Ching-kuo (step-son)
- Chiang Wei-kuo (adopted)
- Charlie Soong (father)
- Ni Kwei-tseng (mother)
- Soong Ching-ling (sister)
- Soong Ai-ling (sister)
- T. V. Soong (brother)
宋美齡
宋美龄
Sòng Měilíng
Sòng Měilíng
Sung4 Mei3-ling2
Song入 Me平-lihn平
Sung Méih-lìhng
Sung3 Mei5-ling4
Early life[edit]
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 Charlie Soong, a wealthy businessman and former Methodist missionary from Hainan, and his wife Ni Kwei-tseng (倪桂珍; Ní Guìzhēn). Mei-ling's siblings were sister Ai-ling, sister Ching-ling, who later became Madame Sun Yat-sen, older brother Tse-ven, usually known as T. V. Soong, and younger brothers Tse-liang (T.L.) and Tse-an (T.A.).[6]
Visits to the U.S.[edit]
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 Henry Luce, who frequently tried to rally money and support from the American public for the Republic of China. On February 18, 1943, she became the first Chinese national and the second woman to address both houses of the US Congress. 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 in mainland China, 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.[26]
Allegations of corruption[edit]
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Soong's family embezzled $20 million.[27]: 40 During this period, the Nationalist Government's revenues were less than $30 million per year.[27]: 40 One of the key reasons was that Soong Mei-ling ignored her family's involvement in corruption.[28] The Soong family's eldest son, T.V. Soong, was the Chinese premier finance minister, and the eldest daughter, Soong Ai-ling, was the wife of Kung Hsiang-hsi, the wealthiest man in China. The second daughter, Soong Ching-ling, was the wife of Sun Yat-sen, China's founding father. The youngest daughter, Soong Mei-ling, married Chiang in 1927, and following the marriage, the two families became intimately connected, creating the "Soong dynasty" and the "Four Families". However, Soong was also credited for her campaign for women's rights in China, including her attempts to improve the education, culture, and social benefits of Chinese women.[28] Critics have said that the "Four Families" monopolized the regime and looted it.[29] The US sent considerable aid to the Nationalist government but soon realized the widespread corruption. Military supplies that were sent appeared on the black market. Large sums of money that had been transmitted through T. V. Soong, China's finance minister, soon disappeared. President Truman famously referred to the Nationalist leaders, "They're thieves, every damn one of them." He also said, "They stole $750 million out of the billions that we sent to Chiang. They stole it, and it's invested in real estate down in São Paolo and some right here in New York."[30][31] Soong Mei-ling and Soong Ai-ling lived luxurious lifestyles and held millions in property, clothes, art, and jewelry.[32] Soong Ai-ling and Soong Mei-ling were also the two richest women in China.[33] Despite living a luxurious life for almost her entire life, Soong Mei-ling left only a $120,000 inheritance, and the reason, according to her niece, was that she donated most of her wealth when she was still alive.[34]
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[edit]
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]
In popular culture[edit]
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.
![Soong giving a bandage to an injured Chinese soldier (c. 1942)[54]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Chinese_Florence_Nightingale.jpg/120px-Chinese_Florence_Nightingale.jpg)
Chiang and Soong in 1943
1943 Wellesley College speech poster.
The three Soong sisters in their youth, with Soong Ching-ling in the middle, and Soong Ai-ling (left) and Soong Mei-ling (right)
