Madame Sun Yat-Sen: Soong Ching-Ling (Lives of Modern Women) [Mass Market Paperback]

Jung Chang (Author), John Halliday (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The history of modern China and the life of Mme. Sun Yat-sen (Soong Ching-ling) are closely aligned. Her husband, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, was the revered founder of the first Chinese Republic. At his side, and alone, after his death in 1925, she worked to bring order to the chaos of postImperial China, a task made all the more complex by her sister's marriage to Kuomintang General Chiang Kai-shek. Her story, which has often been told (mostly recently in The Soong Dynasty, is without question fascinating. But because the history of China in the 20th century is so vast and sprawling, this dry and sometimes fawning account of her life (written from secondary sources and running scarcely over 100 pages) has a tough time even setting the stage for her accomplishments. Though meant only as an introduction (the latest in the Lives of Modern Women series), this brief biography owes readers more than it delivers.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 014008455X
• ISBN-13: 978-0140084559
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,533,455 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The jewel of the nation, April 28, 2007

By 

Luc REYNAERT (Beernem, Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Madame Sun Yat-Sen: Soong Ching-Ling (Lives of Modern Women) (Mass Market Paperback)

Jung Chang tells the extraordinary itinerary of Ching-ling Soong, one of the three daughters of a former US Methodist minister becoming a billionaire comprador in China, Charlie Soong.

She married her political hero, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Chinese republic. Sun Yat-sen was driven into he hands of the Bolsheviks, when all the aid he asked for his country was turned down by all Western countries. The only solution left was help from the communist regimes. His wife saw in the Communist Party the only real successor of her husband's revolution after his death.

Mme Sun Yat-sen's political influence was only marginal, although she changed the face of the world by hiding Ho Chi Minh in Shanghai in the years 1933-34.

In China, she boosted women's liberation by attacking feudal traditions, like arranged marriages.

Internationally, she supported the `Universal Peace' movement, the `The Hague Tribunal' for settling all political disagreements and the `League for Civil Rights' which came up against torture of political prisoners.

Being a staunch supporter of the CP, she was nevertheless briefly attacked during the Cultural Revolution and her movements were closely watched (`Burn this after reading').

Jung Chang's vision on Mao Ze-dong changed drastically since the publication of this book, wherein she characterizes Mao's infamous intervention during the communist Moscow meeting of 1957 as `too philosophical'. But, Mao really meant what he said: 'How many people will die if war should break out? Out of the world's population of 2,700 million, one third- or, putting the figure a bit higher, one half - may be lost ... The other half would remain while imperialism would be razed to the ground and the whole world would become socialist.' (sic!)

This short biography of an idealistic fellow traveler is a must read for all historians and Chinese scholars.