Charles Jones Soong (1866-3 May 1918), American-trained missionary who became a successful businessman and industrialist in Shanghai as well as the patriarch of the influential Soong family. The Wench'ang district of the island of Hainan, off the coast of Kwangtung province, was the native place of Charles Jones Soong. He was the youngest of three […]

Soong Mei-ling (c. 1897-), was the wife of Chiang Kai-shek and a leader of Chinese women. A native of the Wench'ang district of Hainan Island, Kwangtung, Soong Mei-ling was born in Shanghai. She was the fourth of six children and the youngest of the girls in her family. Because her father, Charles Jones Soong (q.v.), […]

Soong Ch'ing-ling (1892-), was the wife of Sun Yat-sen. She was active in social welfare work, and after 1949 she held a variety of posts in the People's Republic of China. The second daughter of Charles Jones Soong (q.v.), Soong Ch'ing-ling was born in Shanghai. Like her elder sister, Soong Ai-ling, she received her early […]

K'ung, H. H. Orig. K'ung Hsiang-hsi 孔祥熙 T. Yung-chih 庸之 H. Tzu-yüan 子淵 H. H. K'ung (1881-15 August 1967), banker and businessman who married Soong Ai-ling and who entered the service of the new National Government in 1928 as minister of industry and commerce. As minister of finance (1933-44) he was responsible for the currency […]