Figure 1.--Here Madame Chiang is speaking to children at a Chinese orphanage. Madame Chiang took an interest in orphans, sponsoring orphanages for the orphaned children of army veterans, one for boys and another for girls. .Here we have both boy and girl orphans. The phonograph is dated October 10, 1939. This was over 2 years into the war Japan lunched. The Japanese had gained great victories and committed horrendous atrocities, but were beginning to wonder if they could ever bring the war in China to and end, especially given the fact that the United States was beginner to apply pressure on Japan and aid China. Madame Chiang was a effective spokes person for China's cause in America. This was a month after Hitler and Stalin would lunch World War II in Europe. The Japanese leadership was beginning to calculate how to take advantage of the opportunities the war in Europe was opening up.

Chiang married Mei-Ling Soong and commonly became known as Madame Chiang/Chang in the West (1927). Mei-ling was born into the influential Shanghai Song family 1896-97). She was the fourth of six children and youngest girl of Charlie Soong, a wealthy businessman who had begun as a Methodist missionary from Hainan, and his wife Ni Her mother was Kwei-tseng, a force on her own. Mei-ling's siblings were eldest sister Ai-ling, second sister Ching-ling, who married Sun Yat-sen. here were also six boys, including elder brother Tse-ven (T.V. Soong) and younger brothers Tse-liang (T.L.) and Tse-an (T.A.). 【Tyson Li, p. 5.】 Given the fact that her parents were Christian and her father a wealthy businessman, Mei-Ling and her sisters received a Western education. She was a talented student and graduated from Wellesley College in the United States with academic honors. Her sister married Sun Yat-Sen, founder of the Chinese Republic. This is how she came in contact with Chiang. An the family connection with Sun must have been part of Chiang's proposal. Chiang was 11years older than her, already married, and a Buddhist--no exactly the best natch. Mei-ling's mother was appalled and tried to stop the marriage even though Chiang had replaced Sun as the Chinese leader. She eventually consented after Chiang divorced his wife committed to convert. Chinese women traditionally stay in the background and this is how Mei-Ling began, but the Japanese seizure of Manchuria (1931) and subsequent invasion of China proper (1937). Mei-Ling became an became an effective spokeswoman for China in the United States, the only country that could realistically aid china at the time. Here she had support from the influential missionary movement. American missionaries n China reported on the Japanese atrocities and their reports were carried not only by the press, but in churches around the country. She skillfully promoted her country's caused. Because of her education, she understood both Chinese and Western culture and was a popular figure not only at home, but abroad, especially the United States. As a result, President Roosevelt steadily expanded American support for China, including loans and weapon shipments. Madame Chiang encouraged women in China, but understood they needed to remain ostensibly in he background, in contrast to her own prominence. 【Chung, p. 72.】 Madame Chiang appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, three times at a time that it was rare to see a woman on the cover even once. These were factors in President Roosevelt being able to deal wih Japanese aggression more forcefully than German aggression in Europe. Which is why at the time of Pearl Harbor, the American Flying Tigers had already arrived in Burma. Madame Chiang not only promoted the Chinese cause in America, but had an important role in China as well. Her most important contribution was in the air war. She actively supported te Chinese Air Force and was instrumental in getting American support, including the recruiting U.S. Army Air Corps Major Claire Chennault, an expert on tactical air doctrine (1937). It would be Chennault and his Flying Tigers that would finally provide an effective air defense for Chinese cities being bombed by Japan (1942). Her detractors point to charges of corruption which permeated the KMT and ostentatious displays of wrath in her attire. (This was mostly missed by Americans because she appeared in Chinese outfits.).

Sources

Chung, Mary Keng Mun. Chinese Women in Christian Ministry: An Intercultural Study (Peter Lang: 2005).

Tyson Li, Laura. Madame Chiang Kai-shek: China's Eternal First Lady (New York: Grove Press, 2006)..

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Last updated: 9:56 PM 12/28/2024