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Soong Ching-ling

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisSoong( Tống, Sòng).
"Song Qingling" redirects here. For the field hockey player, seeSong Qingling (field hockey).

Madam
Rosamond Soong Ch'ing-ling
Tống Khánh Linh
Soong in the 1940s
Honorary Chairwoman of China
In office
16 May 1981 – 29 May 1981
Appointed bythe Standing Committee of the5th National People's Congresson 16 May 1981
PremierZhao Ziyang
Vice Chairwoman of China
In office
27 April 1959 – 17 January 1975
Serving withDong Biwu
PresidentLiu Shaoqi
Vacant(after 1968)
Preceded byZhu De
Succeeded byUlanhu(1983)
ActingChairwoman of China
In office
31 October 1968 – 24 February 1972
PremierZhou Enlai
Preceded byLiu Shaoqi (as Chairman)
Succeeded byDong Biwu (as Acting Chairman)
Vice Chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
In office
17 January 1975 – 29 May 1981
ChairmanZhu De
Vacant[nb]
Ye Jianying
In office
27 September 1954 – 28 April 1959
ChairmanLiu Shaoqi
Vice Chairwoman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
In office
25 December 1954 – 29 April 1959
ChairmanZhou Enlai
Vice Chairwoman of theCentral People's Government
In office
1 October 1949 – 27 September 1954
Serving with Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi,Li Jishen,Zhang Lan,Gao Gang
ChairmanMao Zedong
Personal details
Born(1893-01-27)27 January 1893
Shanghai International Settlement
Died29 May 1981(1981-05-29)(aged 88)
Beijing,China
Political partyChinese Communist Party(1981)
Other political
affiliations		Kuomintang(1919–1947)
Communist International(1930s–1943)
Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang(1948–1981)
Spouse
​
​
(m.1915;died1925)​
Parent(s)Charlie Soongand Ni Kwei-tseng
RelativesSoong Mei-ling(sister)
Chiang Kai-shek(brother-in-law)
Soong Ai-ling(sister)
Alma materWesleyan College
Signature
n.b.^Between 1976 and 1978, Soong presided over the meeting of the National People's Congress Standing Committee and performed its powers as head of state in her capacity as the NPCSC First Vice Chairperson.
Soong Ching-ling
Traditional ChineseTống Khánh Linh
Simplified ChineseTống Khánh Linh
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinSòng Qìnglíng
Gwoyeu RomatzyhSonq Chinqling
Wade–GilesSung4Ch'ing4-ling3
IPA[sʊ̂ŋ tɕʰîŋ.lǐŋ]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationSung Hing-lìhng
JyutpingSung3Hing3-ling4

Rosamond Soong Ch'ing-ling(27 January 1893 – 29 May 1981) was a Chinese political figure. As the third wife ofSun Yat-sen,then Premier of theKuomintangand President of theRepublic of China,she was often referred to asMadame Sun Yat-sen.She was a member of theSoong familyand, together with her siblings, played a prominent role in China's politics. After theproclamation of the People's Republic of Chinain 1949, she held several prominent positions in the new government, includingVice Chairman of the PRC(1949–1954; 1959–1975) andVice Chairmanof theStanding Committee of the National People's Congress(1954–1959; 1975–1981). She traveled abroad during the early 1950s, representing her country at a number of international events.

During theCultural Revolution,however, she was heavily criticized.[1]Following the purge of PresidentLiu Shaoqiin 1968, she andDong Biwuas Vice Presidents became de factoHeads of State of Chinauntil 1972,[2]when Dong was appointed Acting President. Soong survived the political turmoil of the Cultural Revolution but appeared less frequently after 1976. As the actingChairwomanof the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1976 to 1978, Soong was again the acting Head of State, as the office of President had been abolished. During her final illness in May 1981, she was given the special title of "HonoraryPresident of the People's Republic of China".

Life and activities before 1949

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Sun Yat-sen and Soong Ch'ing-ling wedding photo (1915).

Soong Ch'ing-ling was born to businessman and missionaryCharlie Soongin Chuansha,Pudong,Shanghai,[3][4]the second of six children. She graduated fromMcTyeire School for Girlsin Shanghai, attendedFairmount CollegeinMonteagle, Tennessee,and graduated fromWesleyan CollegeinMacon, Georgia,United States.[5]Like her sisters, she spoke fluent English due to being educated in English for most of her life. HerChristian namewas Rosamonde. In her early years, her passport name was spelled as Chung-ling Soong, and in her Wesleyan College diploma, her name was Rosamonde Chung-ling Soong.

Third Plenary Session of the KMT Second Central Committee in Wuhan, March 1927. Soong Ching-ling is in the front next to her brother,T. V. Soong.

Soong marriedSun Yat-sen,leader of China's1911 revolutionand founder of the Kuomintang (KMT or Nationalist Party),[6]: 47 on 25 October 1915. Even though he was a Christian, her parents greatly opposed the match, as he was 26 years her senior.

Mme. Soong Qingling and Dr. Sun Yat-sen seen here with theRosamondebiplane;the first indigenously designed aircraft in China in which Mme. Soong would fly as a passenger with pilotHuang Guangruiat the controls.

After Sun's death in 1925, she was elected to the KMT Central Executive Committee. However, she left China forMoscowafter the expulsion of theCommunistsfrom the KMT in 1927, accusing the KMT of betraying her husband's legacy. Her younger sister,May-ling,marriedChiang Kai-shek,aMethodistlike Soong and her sisters.[7]This made Chiang Soong's brother-in-law. TheChinese Communist Partystill treats Sun Yat-sen as one of the founders of their movement[8]and claim descent from him[9]as he is viewed as a proto-communist[10][11]and the economic element of Sun's ideology wassocialism.[8]Sun stated, "Our Principle of Livelihood is a form of communism".[12][13]After an initial warm public reception in Moscow for the cadre, to which Soong Ching-ling belonged, from 1928 their attempts to establish a leftist Chinese front were frustrated.

Soong Ching-ling withEugene Chenin Moscow, 1927.

Soong returned to China in June 1929 when Sun Yat-sen was moved from his temporary burial site inBeijingto a new memorial inNanjing,but left again three months later, and did not return until July 1931, when her mother died. She resided afterwards in Shanghai until July 1937, when theSecond Sino-Japanese Warbroke out. Following the outbreak of hostilities, she moved first toHong Kong(where she befriended future restaurateur and philanthropistSylvia Cheng[14]), then toChongqing,the wartime capital of the Chinese government. In 1939, she founded theChina Defense League,which raised funds and sought supplies primarily for the Chinese Communist controlled areas of northern China. In 1946, the League was renamed the China Welfare fund, continuing to seek funds and support for the Chinese Communists.[15]

During theChinese Civil War,Soong permanently broke with her family and supported the Communists[citation needed].In 1948, she became honorary chairwoman of theRevolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang,a left-wing splinter group of the KMT that claimed to be the legitimate heir of Sun's legacy.[16]With the collapse of the Nationalist government and the Communist victory in the civil war, she left Shanghai in September 1949 to attend theChinese People's Political Consultative Conference(CPPCC), convened in Beijing by the Chinese Communist Party to establish a new Central People's Government. On 1 October, she was a guest at the ceremony inTiananmen Squaremarking the birth of the new People's Republic of China. The Nationalist government issued an order for her arrest,[17]but this was soon blocked by the swift military victory of the Communists. The KMT fled from mainland China to Taiwan soon after this.

Political offices and activities after 1949

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Soong Ching-ling andLi Jishenat the Founding Ceremony of thePRC(1949).

Soong was the third person in the new government mentioned by Mao in the foundingProclamation of the People's Republic of China.

"Representing the will of the whole nation, [this session of the conference] has enacted the organic law of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, elected Mao Zedong as chairman of the Central People's Government; and Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi, Song Qingling, Li Jishen, Zhang Lan, and Gao Gang as vice chairmen [of the Central People's Government]"

Soong was held in great esteem by the victorious Communists, who reckoned her as a link between their movement and Sun's earlier movement.[16]After the formal establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, she became one of six vice chairpeople of theCentral People's Government,"[18]and one of several vice-chairpeople of the Sino-Soviet Friendship Association.[18]In April 1951, it was announced that she had been awarded theStalin Peace Prizefor 1950.[19]

In 1950, Soong became chairwoman of the Chinese People's Relief Administration, which combined several organizations dealing with welfare and relief issues. Her China Welfare Fund was reorganized as the China Welfare Institute and began publishing the magazineChina Reconstructs,now published asChina Today.In 1953, a collection of her writings,Struggle for New China,was published.[19]

Mao Zedong,Soong Ching-ling andDeng Xiaopingat the1957 International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties.

In 1953 Soong served on the committees preparing for elections to the newNational People's Congressand the drafting of the1954 constitution.Soong was elected a Shanghai deputy to the first NPC, which adopted the constitution at its first meeting in September 1954. She was elected one of 14 vice-chairpeople of the NPC's standing committee, chaired byLiu Shaoqi.In December of the same year, she was elected a vice-chairwoman of the CPPCC, which became a consultative body, and replaced Liu Shaoqi as chairperson of the Sino-Soviet Friendship Association. During this period, Soong traveled abroad several times, visiting Austria, India, Burma, Pakistan, and Indonesia. Her trips included a January 1953 visit to the Soviet Union, where she was received byStalinshortly before his death. She visited Moscow again in 1957 withMao Zedong's delegation to the 40th anniversary of the Russian Revolution.[19]

Despite Soong’s support of theCCP,she was skeptical of some radical actions such as the purging of capitalists and party moderates such asLiu Shaoqifrom the government.[20]

Vice-presidency

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In April 1959, Soong again served as a Shanghai deputy at the2nd National People's Congress.At this Congress, Mao Zedong andZhu Destepped down as President and Vice-President of the People's Republic of China. Liu Shaoqi was elected State Chairman (President), and Soong Ching-ling andDong Biwu,a senior Communist Party 'elder', were electedVice President of China.Soong resigned at this time from her positions as vice-chairwoman of the CPPCC National Committee and the NPC Standing Committee.[19]She was re-elected to the post of Vice-chairperson of the PRC at the Third National People's Congress in 1965, and appeared frequently in the early 1960s on ceremonial occasions, often greeting important visitors from abroad.

Soong Ching-ling and Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea, were raised Christian.

During theCultural Revolution(1966–76), Soong was heavily criticized byRed Guardfactions, and in one incident, the marker of her parents' grave was toppled and their bodies exposed.[1]Following this incident PremierZhou Enlairecommended that Soong Ching-ling be put on a "List of Cadres to be protected." Zhou's recommendation was approved by Mao Zedong.[21]

Late in the Cultural Revolution, during the4th NPCwhich approved the1975 Constitutionin January 1975, Soong's term as Vice President of China ended with the abolishment of that post, after which she was again appointed one of the vice-chairwomen of the NPC Standing Committee.[22]

Later life and death

[edit]

Soong's public appearances were limited after the Cultural Revolution, and she was in generally poor health, but articles by her, primarily on children's welfare issues, continued to appear in the press[citation needed].Her last public appearance was on 8 May 1981, when she appeared in a wheelchair at theGreat Hall of the Peopleto accept an honoraryLL.D.degree from theUniversity of Victoria.A few days later she began running a high fever and was unable to rise again. On 16 May 1981, less than two weeks before her death, she was admitted to the Communist Party and named Honorary Chairwoman of the People's Republic of China (Trung Hoa nhân dân nước cộng hoà danh dự chủ tịch). She is the only person to ever hold this title.[23]According to one of Soong's biographers, she had wanted to join the Chinese Communist Party as early as 1957. However, when she asked Liu for permission to join the party, the request was turned down because "it was thought better for the revolution that she not join formally, but that she would thenceforth be informed, and her opinion sought, concerning all important inner-Party events matters, not only those involving the government."[24]

Soong Ching-ling wrote seven letters to criticize the Cultural Revolution Campaign and objected to the excessive violence against her colleagues and other moderates within the CCP.[25]

Soong died on 29 May, 1981 inBeijingat the age of 88.

Museums

[edit]
See also:Tomb of Soong Ching-ling

According to her wishes, Soong's cremated remains were placed next to her parents' restoredgrave in the Soong family burial plotat Shanghai's International Cemetery (Chinese:Vạn quốc công mộ),[26]which was later renamed in her honor as the Soong Ching-ling Memorial Park (Chinese:Tống Khánh Linh nghĩa trang).

Several of Soong Ch'ing-ling's former residences have also been transformed into museums:

In 1918, Soong and her husband Sun Yat-sen lived in a house in theFrench Concessionof Shanghai. After her husband's death, Soong continued to reside there until 1937. The house has now been converted into a museum dedicated called theFormer Residence of Sun Yat-sen.Though dedicated primarily to Sun, it also contains some of Soong's artefacts during their life together.

From 1948 to 1963 Soong Ching-ling lived in the western end of the French Concession in Shanghai. This building is now theSoong Ching-ling Memorial Residence.A memorial hall containing some of her belongings and photographs stands near the entrance. The main building and gardens are preserved in near original state with original furnishings throughout. In the garage are two large cars: one Chinese builtRed Flaglimousine and another Russian car presented to Soong byJoseph Stalin.

Soong Ching-ling obtained a mansion in Beijing 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 theFormer Residence of Soong Ching-lingas a museum and memorial. The rooms and furniture have been kept as she had used them, and memorabilia are displayed.

[edit]

Films

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Five years after her death, the Honorary President of the People's Republic of China was depicted in the filmDr. Sun Yat-sen.Soong is played byMaggie Cheungin the 1997 Hong Kong movieThe Soong Sisters. Since the turn of the Millennium, she has been portrayed by various actresses in severalmainland Chinahistorical dramamovies.

Film
Year Actress Title
1986 Zhang Yan Dr. Sun Yat-sen
1997 Maggie Cheung The Soong Sisters
2009 Xu Qing The Founding of a Republic
2011 Dong Jie The Founding of a Party
Jiang Wenli 1911
2012 Luo Yang Back to 1942
2015 Joan Chen Cairo Declaration
2017 Song Jia The Founding of an Army
2019 Qin Lan Mao Zedong 1949
2021 Liu Shishi 1921

Opera

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Soong is a main character inHuang Ruo's2011Chinese-language western-style opera,Dr. Sun Yat-sen.

Family

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Further information:Soong sistersandFour big families of the Republic of China


See also

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Notes

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^abEpstein 1993,p. 551.
  2. ^Leaders of China (People's Republic of China),zarate.eu from 11 May 2017, retrieved 12 July 2017.
  3. ^"Tống Khánh Linh Thượng Hải nơi sinh giải mê".news.eastday.Archived fromthe originalon 4 March 2016.Retrieved20 October2012.
  4. ^"Tống Khánh Linh nơi sinh ở xuyên sa".
  5. ^Hahn 1941,pp. 43–45.
  6. ^Coble, Parks M.(2023).The Collapse of Nationalist China: How Chiang Kai-shek Lost China's Civil War.Cambridge New York, NY:Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-1-009-29761-5.
  7. ^Re-encounters in China: Notes of a Journey in a Time Capsule.Routledge. July 2016.ISBN9781315495644.
  8. ^ab"The Guomindang (Kuomintang), the Nationalist Party of China".sjsu.edu.
  9. ^Allen-Ebrahimian, Bethany (8 March 2019)."The Chinese Communist Party Is Still Afraid of Sun Yat-Sen's Shadow".
  10. ^"Tug of war over China's founding father Sun Yat-sen as Communist Party celebrates his legacy".South China Morning Post.10 November 2016.
  11. ^"Which is Sun Yat-sen's heir - Communist Party or KMT?".South China Morning Post.25 November 2016.
  12. ^Godley, Michael R. (1987)."Socialism with Chinese Characteristics: Sun Yatsen and the International Development of China".The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs(18): 109–125.doi:10.2307/2158585.JSTOR2158585.S2CID155947428.
  13. ^https://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2097/26100/LD2668T41966L735.pdf?sequence=1[bare URL PDF]
  14. ^Dosti, Rose (3 November 1994)."KITCHEN MATRIARCHS: The Unsinkable Madame Wu".Los Angeles Times.
  15. ^Epstein 1993,p. 437.
  16. ^abSong QinglingatEncyclopædia Britannica
  17. ^"Mme. Sun Yat-Sen Ordered Arrested".Los Angeles Times.9 October 1949. Archived fromthe originalon 4 November 2012.
  18. ^abKlein & Clark 1971,p. 785.
  19. ^abcdKlein & Clark 1971,p. 786.
  20. ^"Tống Khánh Linh lúc tuổi già bảy lần thư từ Mao Trạch Đông tỏ vẻ phản cảm" văn cách "_ muối thành thị kỷ ủy giam ủy".
  21. ^Epstein 1993,p. 550.
  22. ^Sheng, Yonghua. 《 Tống Khánh Linh niên biểu 》[A Chronology of Song Qingling].Guangdong People's Press, 2006, 2: 601.
  23. ^Epstein 1993,pp. 616–617.
  24. ^Epstein 1993,p. 491.
  25. ^"Tống Khánh Linh lúc tuổi già bảy lần thư từ Mao Trạch Đông tỏ vẻ phản cảm" văn cách "_ muối thành thị kỷ ủy giam ủy".
  26. ^Avelihiihine-Dubach, Natacha."The Revival of the Funeral Industry in Shanghai: A Model for China" inInvisible Population: The Place of the Dead in East-Asian Megacities,pp. 79–80.Le xing ton Books (Lanham), 2012.

Sources

[edit]
[edit]
Government offices
New office Vice Chairpersonof theCentral People's Government
1949–1954
Served alongside:Zhu De,Liu Shaoqi,Li Jishen,Zhang Lan,Gao Gang 		Succeeded byas Vice Chairman of the PRC
Preceded by Vice Chairperson of the People's Republic of China
1959–1975
Served alongside:Dong Biwu 		Vacant
Title next held by
Ulanhu
Preceded byas Chairman of the PRC Acting Head of State of the People's Republic of China
Co-Acting withDong Biwuas Vice Chairpersons of the PRC
1968–1972 		Succeeded byas Acting Chairman of the PRC
Preceded byas Chairman of the 4th NPCSC Acting Head of State of the People's Republic of China
As acting Chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the 4th National People's Congress
1976–1978 		Succeeded byas Chairman of the 5th NPCSC
Honorary titles
New title Honorary Chair of theAll-China Women's Federation
1949–1981
Served alongside:He Xiangning,Cai Chang,Deng Yingchao 		Succeeded by
HonoraryPresident of the People's Republic of China
1981 		Vacant
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