Soong Ching-ling

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Soong.

Soong Ching-ling 宋庆龄 宋慶齡
Head of State of the People's Republic of China
In office 16 May 1981 – 28 May 1981 (as honorary president)
Premier	Zhao Ziyang
Preceded by	Ye Jianying (as Chairman of the NPCSC)
Succeeded by	Ye Jianying (as Chairman of the NPCSC)
In office 6 July 1976 – 5 March 1978
Preceded by	Zhu De (as Chairman of the NPCSC)
Succeeded by	Ye Jianying (as Chairman of the NPCSC)
In office 31 October 1968 – 24 February 1972 (as vice president)
Preceded by	Liu Shaoqi (as president)
Succeeded by	Dong Biwu (as acting president)
Member of the National People's Congress
In office 15 September 1954 – 28 May 1981
Constituency	Shanghai At-large
Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Acting
In office 6 July 1976 – 5 March 1978 Serving with Liu Bocheng, Wei Guoqing, Saifuddin Azizi, Chen Yun, Tan Zhenlin, Li Jingquan, Ulanhu, Guo Moruo, Xu Xiangqian, Nie Rongzhen, Zhang Dingcheng, Cai Chang, Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, Zhou Jianren, Xu Deheng, Hu Juewen, Li Suwen, Yao Lianwei, Deng Yingchao
Preceded by	Zhu De
Succeeded by	Ye Jianying
Vice Chairperson of the People's Republic of China
In office 27 April 1959 – 24 February 1972 Serving with Dong Biwu
President	Liu Shaoqi
Preceded by	Zhu De
Succeeded by	Ulanhu
In office 1 October 1949 – 27 September 1954 Acting Serving with Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi, Li Jishen, Zhang Lan, Gao Gang
President	Mao Zedong
Premier	Zhou Enlai
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Zhu De
Personal details
Born	27 January 1893(1893-01-27) Huangpu, Qing Dynasty
Died	29 May 1981(1981-05-29) (aged 88) Beijing, People's Republic of China
Political party	Communist Party (1981)
Other political affiliations	Kuomintang (1919–1947) Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang (1948–1981)
Spouse(s)	Sun Yat-sen
Alma mater	Wesleyan College

Soong Ching-ling
Traditional Chinese	宋慶齡
Simplified Chinese	宋庆龄
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Sòng Qìnglíng - Wade–Giles Sung Ch'ing-ling

Soong Ching-ling (simplified Chinese: 宋庆龄; traditional Chinese: 宋慶齡; pinyin: Sòng Qìnglíng; Wade–Giles: Sung Ch'ing-ling) (27 January 1893 – 29 May 1981), also known as Madame Sun Yat-sen, was one of the three Soong sisters—who, along with their husbands, were amongst China's most significant political figures of the early 20th century. She was the Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China. 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

Soong Ching-ling accompanied Sun Yat-sen in 1924 on his final trip to Beijing

She was born to the wealthy businessman and missionary Charlie Soong in Nanshi (a part of present-day Huangpu District), Shanghai, attended McTyeire School for Girls in Shanghai, and graduated from Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, United States.^[1] Her Christian name was Rosamond (in her early years, she signed her letters as Rosamonde Soong^[2]).

She married Sun Yat Sen in Japan on 25 October 1915; he had previously been married to Lu Muzhen. 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 Kuomintang (KMT) Central Executive Committee in 1926. However, she exiled herself to Moscow 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 front heading up the Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang. In 1939, she founded the China Defense League, which later became the China Welfare Institute. The committee now focuses on maternal and pediatric healthcare, preschool education, and other children's issues.

During the Chinese Civil War, she sided with the Communists. The Kuomintang issued an arrest order for Soong on October 9, 1949, while she was in Beijing with the Communists.^[3]

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China 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 Federation. In 1951 she was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize (Lenin Peace Prize after destalinization).

In the early 1950s, she founded the magazine, China Reconstructs, now known as China Today, with the help of Israel Epstein. 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 China: from 1968 to 1972 she acted jointly with Dong Biwu as head of state.

Though initially a target of more extremist Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong himself and Zhou Enlai 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 Congress since 1954, she was elected acting executive chairman of it on November 30, 1976 replacing Zhu De, 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 China. She is the only person ever to hold this title.

Museums

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 the Former Residence of Soong Ching-ling as a museum and memorial; rooms and furniture are kept as she had used them, and memorabilia are displayed. Her former residence in Shanghai has also been converted into a memorial museum.

Media portrayal

In the 1997 Hong Kong movie The Soong Sisters (宋家皇朝), she is portrayed by Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung.

In the 2009 mainland China movie "The Founding of a Republic" (建國大業), She was portrayed by Xu Qing.

See also

	Republic of China portal
	People's Republic of China portal
	Biography portal

• History of the Republic of China
• Kuomintang
• Soong Ai-ling
• Soong May-ling

Notes

1. ^ Hahn, 43-45
2. ^ http://www.archives.sh.cn:9080/zdhc/mrshj/200304070003.htm
3. ^ "Mme. Sun Yat-Sen Ordered Arrested". Los Angeles Times. 09 Oct 1949. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/420589781.html?dids=420589781:420589781&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Oct+09%2C+1949&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Mme.+Sun+Yat-Sen+Ordered+Arrested&pqatl=google. 

References

• Epstein, Israel. Woman in World History: The Life and Times of Soong Ching-ling: 1993, China Intercontinental press, ISBN 7-80005-161-7.
• Hahn, Emily. The Soong Sisters. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Co, 1941.
• Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, Madame Sun Yat-Sen: Soong Ching-Ling (London, 1986); Penguin, ISBN 0-14-008455-X
• Seagrave, Sterling. The Soong Dynasty: 1996, Corgi Books, ISBN 0-552-14108-9

External links

• Soong Ching Ling Foundation Website
• Soong Ching Ling Foundation Introduction
• Former Residence of Song Qingling, Beijing
• Memorial Residence, Shanghai
• China Welfare Institute

Political offices
New office	Vice Chairperson of the People's Central Government 1949–1954 Served alongside: Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi, Li Jishen, Zhang Lan, Gao Gang	Succeeded by Zhu De
Preceded by Zhu De	Vice President of the People's Republic of China 1959–1972 Served alongside: Dong Biwu	Succeeded by Dong Biwu
Preceded by Liu Shaoqi	President of the People's Republic of China Acting 1968–1972 Served alongside: Dong Biwu
Preceded by Zhu De	Chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Acting 1976–1978	Succeeded by Ye Jianying
Honorary titles
New office	Honorary President of the All-China Women's Federation 1949–1981	None
Preceded by Liu Shaoqi as President of the People's Republic of China	Honorary President of the People's Republic of China 1981	Succeeded by Li Xiannian as President of the People's Republic of China

Persondata
Name	Soong, Ching-Ling
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	27 January 1893
Place of birth	Huangpu, Shanghai, Qing Dynasty
Date of death	29 May 1981
Place of death	Beijing, People's Republic of China