Soong Ching-ling (27 January 1893 – 29 May 1981), also known as
Madame Sun Yat-senSun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
, was one of the three
Soong sistersThe Soong Sisters were three Hakka Chinese women who were, along with their husbands, amongst China's most significant political figures of the early 20th century...
—who, along with their husbands, were amongst
ChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
's most significant political figures of the early 20th century. She was the
Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of ChinaThe Vice President of the People's Republic of China , formerly called Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China from 1954 to 1975, or abbreviated Guójiā Fù Zhǔxí 国家副主席, literally State Vice-chairman) is a senior position in the government of the People's Republic of China.-Selection and...
. She was the first non-royal woman to officially become head of state of China, acting as Co-Chairman of the Republic from 1968 until 1972. She again became head of state in 1981, briefly before her death, as the Honorary President of the People's Republic of China.
Biography
She was born to the wealthy businessman and missionary
Charlie SoongCharles Jones Soong , courtesy name Yaoru was a Chinese businessman who first achieved prominence as a missionary in Shanghai. He was a close friend of Sun Yat-Sen and a key player in the events that led to the Xinhai Revolution in 1911...
in Nanshi (a part of present-day
Huangpu DistrictHuangpu District , is one of Shanghai's 18 districts and makes up the eastern part of Shanghai's traditional urban core. Today's Huangpu District is sometimes referred to as "new Huangpu" to distinguish it from the pre-merger Huangpu District which existed before 2000. In 2000, the pre-merger...
),
ShanghaiShanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, attended McTyeire School for Girls in Shanghai, and graduated from
Wesleyan CollegeWesleyan College is a private, liberal arts women's college located in Macon, Georgia, United States.-History:The school was chartered on December 23, 1836 as the Georgia Female College, and opened its doors to students on January 7, 1839. The school was renamed Wesleyan Female College in 1843...
in
Macon, GeorgiaMacon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Her Christian name was Rosamond (in her early years, she signed her letters as Rosamonde Soong).
She married Sun Yat Sen in
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on 25 October 1915; he had previously been married to
Lu MuzhenLú Mùzhēn was the first wife of Chinese revolutionary leader and first President of the Republic of China Sun Yat-sen.Lu Muzhen was born on 30 July 1867. A fellow villager, she married Sun when he was 19 and bore him a son, Sun Fo, and two daughters, Sun Yan and Sun Wan . Due to her bound feet,...
. Ching-ling's parents greatly opposed the match, as Dr. Sun was 26 years her senior. After Sun's death in 1925, she was elected to the
KuomintangThe Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
(KMT) Central Executive Committee in 1926. However, she exiled herself to
MoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
after the expulsion of the Communists from the KMT in 1927.
Soong reconciled with the KMT during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). She did not join the party, but rather was part of the
united frontThe united front is a form of struggle that may be pursued by revolutionaries. The basic theory of the united front tactic was first developed by the Comintern, an international communist organisation created by revolutionaries in the wake of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.According to the theses of...
heading up the
Revolutionary Committee of the KuomintangThe Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang is one of eight registered minor political parties in the People's Republic of China....
.
In 1939, she founded the China Defense League, which later became the
China Welfare InstituteThe China Welfare Institute which grew out of the China Defense League was founded by Soong Ching-ling in Hong Kong on June 14, 1938. She was then the chairman of the Central Committee...
. The committee now focuses on maternal and pediatric healthcare, preschool education, and other children's issues.
During the
Chinese Civil WarThe Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
, she sided with the
CommunistsThe Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
. The
KuomintangThe Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
issued an arrest order for Soong on October 9, 1949, while she was in Beijing with the Communists.
After the establishment of the
People's Republic of ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
in 1949, she became the Vice Chair of the People's Republic of China (now translated as "Vice President"), Head of the Sino-Soviet Friendship Association and Honorary President of the
All-China Women's FederationThe All-China Women's Federation is an organization of women established in China in March 1949. It was constructed as a mass organization supported by the Communist Party of China, and based on Marxist theory...
. In 1951 she was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize (
Lenin Peace PrizeThe International Lenin Peace Prize was the Soviet Union's equivalent to the Nobel Peace Prize, named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a panel appointed by the Soviet government, to notable individuals whom the panel indicated had "strengthened peace among peoples"...
after destalinization).
In the early 1950s, she founded the magazine,
China Reconstructs, now known as
China TodayChina Today , formerly titled China Reconstructs , is a monthly magazine founded in 1949 by Soong Ching-ling in association with Israel Epstein. It is published in Chinese, English, Spanish, French, Arabic, German and Turkish, and is intended to promote a positive view of the People's Republic of...
, with the help of
Israel EpsteinIsrael Epstein was a naturalized Chinese journalist and author...
. This magazine is published monthly in six languages (Chinese, English, French, German, Arabic and Spanish). In 1953, a collection of her writings,
Struggle for New China, was published.
She became the first female
President of the People's Republic of ChinaThe President of the People's Republic of China is a ceremonial office and a part of State organs under the National People's Congress and it is the head of state of the People's Republic of China . The office was created by the 1982 Constitution...
: from 1968 to 1972 she acted jointly with
Dong BiwuDong Biwu was a Chinese communist political leader during the regime of Mao Zedong.-Biography:Dong Biwu was born in Huanggang, Hubei. He was the President of China from 1948 to 1949 and Acting President from 1968 until 17 January 1975 when Zhu De became the succeeding Chairman of the Standing...
as
head of stateA head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
.
Though initially a target of more extremist
Red GuardsRed Guards were a mass movement of civilians, mostly students and other young people in the People's Republic of China , who were mobilized by Mao Zedong in 1966 and 1967, during the Cultural Revolution.-Origins:...
during the
Cultural RevolutionThe Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
,
Mao ZedongMao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
himself and
Zhou EnlaiZhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
ordered her not to be touched along with several other communist and non-communist cadres. Being a vice-chairman of the
Standing Committee of the National People's CongressThe Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is a committee of about 150 members of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China , which is convened between plenary sessions of the NPC. It has the constitutional authority to modify legislation within limits set by...
since 1954, she was elected acting executive chairman of it on November 30, 1976 replacing
Zhu DeZhu De was a Chinese militarist, politician, revolutionary, and one of the pioneers of the Chinese Communist Party. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, in 1955 Zhu became one of the Ten Marshals of the People's Liberation Army, of which he is regarded as the founder.-Early...
, who died on July 6.
On 16 May 1981, two weeks before her death, she was admitted to the Communist Party and was named Honorary
President of the People's Republic of ChinaThe President of the People's Republic of China is a ceremonial office and a part of State organs under the National People's Congress and it is the head of state of the People's Republic of China . The office was created by the 1982 Constitution...
. She is the only person ever to hold this title.
Museums
Soong Ching-ling obtained a mansion in
BeijingBeijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
in 1963 where she lived and worked for the rest of her life and received many dignitaries. After her death the site was converted into the
Former Residence of Soong Ching-lingThe Former Residence of Soong Ching Ling is a museum in the Shichahai area of Beijing and once was the last residence of Soong Ching-ling, the wife of Sun Yat-sen and later the Honorary Chairman of the People’s Republic of China...
as a museum and memorial; rooms and furniture are kept as she had used them, and memorabilia are displayed. Her former residence in
ShanghaiShanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
has also been converted into a memorial museum.
Media portrayal
In the 1997
Hong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
movie
The Soong SistersThe Soong Sisters is a 1997 Hong Kong film dramatization of the lives of the Soong sisters from 1911 to 1949. The three sisters married the most important historical figures during the founding of new China, making the family the focal point of every important major decision made in modern...
(宋家皇朝), she is portrayed by Hong Kong actress
Maggie CheungMaggie Cheung Man yuk is a Chinese actress from Hong Kong. Raised in England and Hong Kong, she has over 70 films to her credit since starting her career in 1983...
.
In the 2009
mainland ChinaMainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
movie "
The Founding of a RepublicThe Founding of a Republic is a 2009 Chinese historical film commissioned by China's film regulator and made by the state-owned China Film Group to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China...
" (建國大業), She was portrayed by Xu Qing.
See also
- History of the Republic of China
The History of the Republic of China begins after the Qing Dynasty in 1912, when the formation of the Republic of China put an end to over two thousand years of Imperial rule. The Qing Dynasty, also known as the Manchu Dynasty, ruled from 1644 to 1912...
- Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
- Soong Ai-ling
Soong Ai-ling , or Eling Soong , eldest of the Soong sisters, was the wife of H. H. Kung , who was the richest man in the early 20th century Republic of China. The first character of her given name is written as 靄 in some texts...
- Soong May-ling
Soong May-ling or Soong Mei-ling, also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek or Madame Chiang was a First Lady of the Republic of China , the wife of Generalissimo and President Chiang Kai-shek. She was a politician and painter...
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