historynut.info created by Tim Sheehan the self-proclaimed history nut Home >> About the Author

Eleanor Roosevelt’s High Expectations Regarding Madame Chiang Kai-shek
by Tim Sheehan

Table of Contents | Introduction | Conclusion | Endnotes | Related Web Resources

From Mayling Soong to Madame Chiang Kai-shek
Page 2 of 24

Whereas the Roosevelts had been a wealthy and established family for generations at the time of Eleanor Roosevelt’s birth, Mayling (Meiling) Soong’s father, Charles Soong (1861-1918), led the rags-to-riches life. In the late 1870’s, he left China and went to the United States, where, as a cabin steward, he had the good fortune to meet the right people. He obtained, at no cost, a Vanderbilt University education due to an agreement to return to China as a Southern Methodist missionary. After returning to China in 1886, Soong became frustrated with his lack of advancement in the missionary hierarchy. He, instead, decided to focus on business. Soong prospered by publishing Bibles and importing manufacturing equipment. By 1898, the year of Mayling Soong’s birth, Soong had accumulated enough wealth to provide his family very well. With wealth came power, allowing Soong to act as the financer of the 1911 Chinese Revolution led by Sun Yat-sen.(7)

Possessing western ideals, Charles Soong and his wife treated their daughters and sons the same, providing all with an education. Mayling spent ten years in the United States, attending Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia for her secondary education. Upon her 1913 arrival at Wellesley College, located in Yankee New England, people were surprised by the southern accent she acquired from her five years down in Georgia. She studied English literature and philosophy at Wellesley and graduated in 1917 as a Durant Scholar, the highest academic honor awarded by the College. Mayling Soong returned to China very Americanized.(8)

Mayling stayed with her family in Shanghai after her return from America. She did charity work, some of which involved soliciting donations from very prominent Shanghai residents and businesses. She became the first Chinese and the first woman to hold a post on the Shanghai Municipal Council Child Labor Commission. Mayling had several romantic interests, some of whom were foreigners, but nothing led to a marriage. Mayling’s sister, Eling Kung, brokered a political deal that led, not only to the appointment of her husband H.H. Kung as prime minister and her brother T.V. Soong as a finance minister in the Nanking government, but, more importantly, led to the 1927 marriage of Mayling to Chiang Kai-shek, the dictator of Nationalists controlled China. (9)

The marriage benefited both Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and Mayling, the new Madame Chiang Kai-shek.(10) Because Chiang did not possess the art of conversation, Madame Chiang acted as the conversationalist, especially with English-speaking foreigners. Although Madame did participate in charity work and women’s rights issues as did Eleanor Roosevelt, Mayling had more official responsibilities than her counterpart in the United States. From 1929 to 1932, she served as an appointed member of Nanking’s government parliament. From 1936-1938, her husband had her run the government’s air force. Madame Chiang also led the New Life Movement in the 1930’s, an attempt to sway people away from Communism and promoted both Christianity and education. She became known as the one to see should something need to get done within the Nationalist government. Madame also became known for her finesse regarding public relations, especially in creating within the United States sympathy for the Nationalist government.(11)

©2009-2012 Tim Sheehan tim@historynut.info

Previous Page | top-of-page | Next Page

This page last updated 1 January 2012