Soong May-ling

Soong May-ling or Soong Mei-ling (宋美࿰1; pinyin: Sòng Měilíng) (March 5, 18981 – October 23, 2003), one of the three Soong sisters and described as "the one who loved power". As the wife of President Chiang Kai-shek, she was also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek (蔣夫154; py: Jiǎng fūrén) and played a prominent role in the politics of the Republic of China.

Notes

1 While records at Wellesley College and the Encyclopaedia Britannica indicate she was born in 1897, the ROC government as well as the BBC and the New York Times cite her year of birth as 1898. The New York Times obituary includes the following explanation: "some references give 1897 as the year because the Chinese usually consider everyone to be one year old at birth." However, early sources such as the Columbia Encyclopedia, 1960, give her date of birth as 1896, making it possible that "one year" was subtracted twice.

Related Topics:
Wellesley College - 1897 - ROC - BBC - New York Times - The Chinese - 1960 - 1896

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2The New York Times gives her place of birth as Shanghai, while the BBC and Encyclopædia Britannica gives it as Wenchang, Hainan island (which was then part of Guangdong Province).

Related Topics:
Shanghai - Encyclopædia Britannica - Wenchang - Hainan - Guangdong

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