There were once three sisters who occupied the epicenter of the transformations of 20th century China. The extraordinary story of the Soong is told by Jung Chang in the book “Three Sisters: The Women Who Defined Modern China” (Company of Letters). It is one of the highlights among the books published about China in Portuguese this year.
Born in Shanghai between 1889 and 1898, the Soong sisters lived through a turbulent period in the country. From their marriages, they played a key role in the establishment of the Republic, in commanding the post-civil war communists and in the resistance offered by nationalists in Taiwan.
Middle sister Ching-ling married Sun Yat-Sen, known as the father of the Chinese Republic. A great enthusiast of the republican cause, Ching-ling fell in love with its leader and with him faced the troubled years of the end of the empire.
She, however, became interested in communism when her husband, for convenience, approached the Soviet Union. With Sun’s death and the growth of the communist movement, Ching-ling embraced the cause and acquired a political stature of his own. When Mao Tse-Tung took power, he was with him at the gate of Tiananmen Square. The so-called Red Sister became Mao’s vice president.
The youngest, Mei-Ling, married Chiang Kai-Shek and was first lady of the Republic of China. It also had its own political weight. She traveled to the United States to rally her husband’s support in fighting the Japanese during World War II in 1943 and delighted the US Congress with a speech in impeccable English that earned him standing ovations for a long four minutes. When the nationalists lost the civil war, he took refuge in Taiwan with the generalissimo. While Red Sister was dedicated to the Communist cause, Mei-Ling was on the very opposite side.
The eldest sister Er-Ling married the richest man in China. Due to his wife’s connections, HH Kung held the positions of prime minister and finance minister for several years (contributing, in fact, to the couple’s fortune). With great political influence, Er-Ling served as an informal adviser to brother-in-law Chiang Kai-Shek. The older and younger sister, staunch anti-Communists, were especially close.
Jung Chang sheds light on the role of these three women in key years for the formation of modern China — and the book is surprising because we are used to the men’s version of history. Between the backstage and the front lines, the Soong sisters are of unquestionable importance.
“Three Sisters”, moreover, brings a Chinese look at China — it may seem like something minor, but we barely realize how accustomed we are to learning about the country from readings by foreigners. And more, from men. Jung Chang, also the author of “Wild Swans,” enriches our understanding of history not only through the focus of study but through the eyes of a woman born and raised in China.
In a year when feminism, #metoo and Peng Shuai made headlines, “Three Sisters” offers a bridge between the past and the present.
It may seem paradoxical that, given the speed of events in China in recent years, this book of historical nature deserves to be highlighted. But he’s a breath of fresh air in the plethora of recent publications about the country. It takes a break from the maddening pace of the news about China — and the talk of geopolitical tensions, a new Cold War and crises about to explode.
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