23 Facts About Soong Ching-ling

Rosamond Soong Ch'ing-ling was a Chinese political figure.

Soong Ching-ling was a member of the Soong family and, together with her siblings, played a prominent role in China's politics prior to and after 1949.

Soong Ching-ling survived the political turmoil during the Cultural Revolution but appeared less frequently after 1976.

Soong Ching-ling Ch'ing-ling was born to businessman and missionary Charlie Soong Ching-ling in Chuansha, Pudong, Shanghai, the second of six children.

Soong Ching-ling graduated from McTyeire School for Girls in Shanghai, and Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, United States.

Soong Ching-ling married Sun Yat-sen, leader of China's 1911 revolution and founder of the Kuomintang, on 25 October 1915.

Soong Ching-ling returned to China in June 1929 when Sun Yat-sen was moved from his temporary burial site in Beijing to a new memorial in Nanjing, but left again three months later, and did not return until July 1931, when her mother died.

Soong Ching-ling resided afterwards in Shanghai until July 1937, when the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out.

Soong Ching-ling was the third person in the new government mentioned by Mao in the founding Proclamation of the People's Republic of China.

Soong Ching-ling was held in great esteem by the victorious Communists, who reckoned her as a link between their movement and Sun's earlier movement.

In 1950, Soong Ching-ling became chairwoman of the Chinese People's Relief Administration, which combined several organizations dealing with welfare and relief issues.

In 1953 Soong Ching-ling served on the committees preparing for elections to the new National People's Congress and the drafting of the 1954 constitution.

Soong Ching-ling was elected a Shanghai deputy to the first NPC, which adopted the constitution at its first meeting in September 1954.

Soong Ching-ling was elected one of 14 vice-chairpeople of the NPC's standing committee, chaired by Liu Shaoqi.

Soong Ching-ling's trips included a January 1953 visit to the Soviet Union, where she was received by Stalin shortly before his death.

Soong Ching-ling visited Moscow again in 1957 with Mao Zedong's delegation to the 40th anniversary of the Russian Revolution.

Soong Ching-ling resigned at this time from her positions as vice-chairwoman of the CPPCC National Committee and the NPC Standing Committee.

Soong Ching-ling was re-elected to the post of Vice-chairperson of the PRC at the Third National People's Congress in 1965, and appeared frequently in the early 1960s on ceremonial occasions, often greeting important visitors from abroad.

Soong Ching-ling is the only person to ever hold this title.

Soong Ching-ling wrote seven letters to criticize the Cultural Revolution Campaign and objected to the excessive violence against her colleagues and other moderates within the CCP.

Soong Ching-ling died on 29 May, 1981 in Beijing at the age of 88.

From 1948 to 1963 Soong Ching-ling Ch'ing-ling lived in the western end of the French Concession in Shanghai.

Soong Ching-ling Ch'ing-ling obtained a mansion in Beijing in 1963 where she lived and worked for the rest of her life and received many dignitaries.