talk #373

" The Soong sisters"--- Someone loaned me a set of VCDs (not DVD) containing " The Soong sisters " . I don't know how old the movie was, but it featured Maggie Cheung ( of the " Time for love" fame , she played Soong Hing Ling) ), Michelle Yeon ( " Crouching tiger, hidden dragon", Soong Oi Ling) and Vivian Wu ( have not seen her before, she played Soong Mei Ling and looked quite the part).

Near the beginning of the movie, three little girls were playing together, then came their father, Charlie Soong, teaching them to sing in English ( "Home on the Ranch"). I came to learn something I did not appreciate before while watching. In the movie, the Soong brothers including T.V. Soong never appeared as if they did not exist. Dr Sun Yat-Sen, Chiang Kai-Chek and Kung Cheung-Hee were there,but not " Big Ear Tu".

After the movie, I found a Chinese version of " The Soong Dynasty " ( written by Sterling Seagrave) on my book shelf and read the book. The book was the worst of two worlds---westerner's account of Chinese events written in English and translated back into Chinese. The movie, a drama based on history, just like the movie "Pearl Harbor", tells a story, but not necessarily historically factual. The book may be more factual , which led me to believe that The Soong family name was an English translation of the name Han. How it got to be Soong from Han, I can't say.

Charlie Soong was sent to the US as a kid and eventually went to Trinity college in N. Carolina ( now the Duke University). He came back to China and started a publishing business of the Holy Bible. Apparently he became wealthy primarily due to that---a small wonder at that. According to the book, Charlie Soong was poisoned to death, who knows?

When the Soong sisters were in their teens, they were sent to the state of Georgia, USA, for schooling ( there was an inconsistency between the book and the movie about the age when they got sent).

They finished college at Wellseley ( Mass) and came home to China. At the time, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, in his late 40s, was in Japan , frustrated by the failure of a complete unification of the country after 1911. Soong Hing-Ling was in her early twenties after schooling. She went to Japan to become Dr Sun's secretary at the urging of her father, who was Dr. Sun's close friend and a strong supporter of Dr. sun's cause. Dr. Sun and Soong Hing-Ling became "involved" at the dismay of her father, and got married in Japan over the strong objection of her father.

I believe we are familiar with these events. While the actor who portrayed Dr. Sun looked like the character, I think our fellow Lighter Peter, Sun Bit-tat ( B9) looks exactly like Dr. Sun. Of course Bit-Tat is related to Dr. Sun. I think Bit-Tat's great grandfather Sun Mei (eye brow) was Dr. Sun's brother. Dr. Sun went to
his brother in Hawaii ( Maui) to seek help for his cause, an event well documented.

For the 2002 reunion, B.T. is going to show Dr. Sun's family home located in the " Evergreen Village", now a museum, to the lighters. This is going to be some treat.

The lighters may remember Cheng Leepo received the " Lo Tai fu yen " fellowship in 1959. Who was " Lo Tai Fu Yen" ? you may ask. From what I can gather " Lo Tai Fu Yen" was Dr. Sun's first wife. They must have gotten married in the traditional Chinese way. Lo Tai Fu Yen was the mother of " Sun For ", the only son of Dr. Sun.

Dr. Sun had another home in Macao, now also a museum. I was there twice in the last 6 years. Each time I enjoyed very much the peacefulness of the house and the surroundings, admiring Lo Tai Fu Yen's former bedroom, sparsely but serenely furnished. According to the house keepers, the bedroom has been kept in it's original form. If you have the chance to visit Macao, this is a must-see. The Lo family Garden is another Lin Nam style garden, not to be missed.

In reading the book and watching the movie, I remember some of the events that our history teacher, Mr. Mai Sul-Wai, talked about in his lectures. I wish I had paid more attention to Mr. Mei's lectures, and I miss him.

Footnote:
After writing the article, I found these URL for your reference
(http://us.imdb.com/Title?0120164) and
(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060913185/o/qid=992501877/sr=
2-1/103-4250170-7406243).

I also sent the article to Bit-Tat for a sanity check. He replied within 10 hours. I learned more about the modern history of China. Here is what he said, very interesting story...
-----

Dear S.S.,

As a whole, the "Three Soong Sisters Story" is more or less correct. Details of each had been left out mainly because the author wanted a different emphasis I guess. One could only take a glimpse of the influence the sisters had had on history but there should be much more to tell if one is truely interested in the real character of each of the sisters.

In your article, you mentioned the sisters went to Wellesley, but actually only Soong Mei Ling attained Wellesley, Soong Oi Ling went to William & Mary and Soong Hing Ling went to Smith.

Soong Hing Ling was not Dr. Sun's secretary at first but her eldest sister Oi Ling was. She took over the job only because Oi Ling had to quit to get married.

I never heard that the family name was supposed to be Han before so I can't comment. But I will look into it to make sure.

Lo Tai Fu Yen was Dr. Sun's first wife. I had the fortune of living with her briefly in Macao in 1948. We lived in the same house you described in your article. I also had the fortune of meeting Soong Hing Ling in Beijing between the years of 1979 to 1982. In fact, I still keep the letters she wrote me and the pictures we took together. Sadly, during her final moment of life, I was standing beside her bed and witnessing the passing away of a great and strong lady.

I will be pleased to welcome fellow Lighters to visit Zhongshan in 2002. I hope by telling some of our family stories while touring our little and humble home in
Cui Hung Village could help make the trip worthwhile. Looking forward to seeing you all! With kind regards,

Peter Bit Tat Sun