The Complete Biography of Soong Ai-ling

Author: Chen Tingyi
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-01-01
Features: What brought the greatest glory and also attracted the most attention to the Soong family was naturally the legendary trio of sisters. For Soong Ching-ling, people have already known quite a lot; for Soong Mei-ling, since the reform and opening-up, biographies of her have been published; yet for Soong Ai-ling, the more people are eager to learn about her, the more they discover that historians and writers have been reluctant to write about her, with almost no dedicated chapters on her. In fact, this figure who rarely appeared on the political stage was the true leader of the Soong family after its rise, but she was a power behind the throne who manipulated national affairs by directing her younger brother and sister and husband. She was the one who arranged the marriage between her younger sister and Chiang Kai-shek, yet she remained grudge-bearing regarding the marriage of her older sister to Sun Yat-sen. She was both a brotherly sister and a sister turned against sister towards her older sister Soong Ching-ling; she was a powerful woman who had received Western education yet deeply understood Chinese social customs, skilled at associating with people from all walks of life and had wide connections; she was an outwardly gentle and refined but crafty woman, good at managing businesses and financially prosperous, with a life trajectory that is highly worth pondering, reflecting on, and learning from. On October 20, 1973, Soong Ai-ling passed away in New York at the age of 85. The New York Times summarized her life in extremely concise language: "An interesting and opportunistic resident of this world passed away yesterday in a silent atmosphere. She was a woman who achieved great success in finance, one of the few wealthy women in the world who accumulated wealth through her own astute means, the matchmaker for the marriage of Soong Mei-ling and Chiang Kai-shek, the creator of the Soong family myth, and the architect of the Soong family's rise to power." Those who visit the Soong family ancestral home may have various thoughts, but there are also many who come specifically to uncover the secrets of Soong Ai-ling. However, to write a story about Soong Ai-ling, one cannot avoid mentioning her father. In fact, it was her father's many qualities that shaped his children, and his legendary experiences provided the nutrients for Ai-ling's growth. Let us start with the Soong family ancestral home in Wenchang and trace the life journey of Soong Ai-ling.