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< >The young girl seemed even smaller, standing next to the hulking steamship (轮船) at the Shanghai docks. She was only fourteen, and she had just bid a brave farewell (再会) to her parents. Ai-ling Soong was off to spend the next four years of her life at Wesleyan College in Macon (梅肯[美国佐治亚州中部城市]), Georgia. In an age when college was still a relatively (相关地) rare experience even for Western women, Ai-ling would be the first Chinese woman to be educated in the United States.<o:p></o:p>
< ><B>The first "Soong" in </B><st1:country-region><st1:place><B>America</B></st1:place></st1:country-region><o:p></o:p>
<P >A quarter of a century earlier, her father, Charlie Soong (查理·宋), had also left China for America — but under vastly different circumstances. Then a Hainan merchant (商人)’s son known as Han Chiao-shun, Charlie left an apprenticeship (学徒) in the East Indies to join his uncle on a voyage to the West. During a few months in <st1:City><st1:place>Boston</st1:place></st1:City>, employed in his uncle’s tea shop, Charlie set his sights on obtaining an education in <st1:country-region><st1:place>America</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <o:p></o:p>
<P >The shopkeeper (店主)’s life did not appeal to Charlie, and in January 1879 he shipped aboard a Coast Guard cutter plying the Eastern seaboard. The ship’s captain, a staunch Methodist (卫理公会教徒的), took the boy under his tutelage, and Charlie learned the precepts of Christianity (基督教). It was also under Captain Gabrielson’s influence (影响), Sterling Seagrave surmises, that “Chiao-shun” was transmuted to “Charles Sun.”<o:p></o:p>
<P >In the Coast Guard’s service, Charlie followed Gabrielson to <st1:place><st1:City>Wilmington</st1:City>, <st1:State>North Carolina</st1:State></st1:place>. There, in November 1880, Charlie attended revival services at the <st1:place><st1laceName>Fifth</st1laceName> <st1laceName>Street</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName>Methodist</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType>Church</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. It was a fateful occasion — for Charlie professed his faith in Christ as savior. The Wilmington Star carried the unusual news: “This morning the ordinance of Baptism will be administered... a Chinese convert will be one of the subjects of the solemn right [sic], being probably the first ‘Celestial’ that has ever submitted to the ordinance of Baptism in <st1:State><st1:place>North Carolina</st1:place></st1:State>” (quoted in Seagrave, 27).<o:p></o:p>
<P >Charlie found a new life and a new identity: upon baptism (洗礼), his name was anglicized to Charles Jones Soon (the “g” was added later). He announced his wish to be trained in the Christian tradition so that he could return to his native country as a missionary. Both Charlie and the church could see the advantages: Charlie would get an American education, and the Methodists would gain a powerful witness among the Chinese people they were fervently seeking to convert. <o:p></o:p>
<P >The Wilmington Methodists helped Charlie gain admission to Trinity College (later Duke University) and introduced him to tobacco (烟草) and textile (纺织品) magnate Julian S. Carr. “General” Carr underwrote Charlie’s education at Duke and Vanderbilt. He remained a lifelong friend and supporter even after Charlie’s return to <st1:country-region><st1:place>China</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p>
<P >In 1886, Charlie returned to <st1:country-region><st1:place>China</st1:place></st1:country-region> to begin missionary work, spending some time in <st1:City><st1:place>Shanghai</st1:place></st1:City> and rural Kunshan under the direction of pioneer Methodist missionary Dr. Young J. Allen. It was during Charlie Soong’s days of missionary (传教士) service and teaching that he met Ni Kwei-tseng, the daughter of a Chinese Episcopalian family. Miss Ni herself was educated in the Western tradition in <st1:City><st1:place>Shanghai</st1:place></st1:City>. She was an excellent counterpart to Charlie, whose Americanized speech and mannerisms made him an anomaly in his native country.       Her marriage to Soong brought him status within the community and opened up to him new possibilities for accomplishing (实现) his dreams for the “new China.”<o:p></o:p>
<P >During the late 1880s, Charlie grew more influential in his ministerial role as well as more prosperous in a business sideline he had launched: the selling and printing of Bibles in Chinese. Charlie devised ways of publishing Bibles (《圣经》), using local materials, at an even lower cost than they could be supplied by the American Bible Society. Before long, he was taking on job printing as well and was amassing a good profit (利润). <o:p></o:p>
<P >And none too soon — for Charlie and Kwei-tseng had started their family. Their first child was born in 1890. They named her Ai-ling (“pleasant mood”), but she was also known by the Christian name <st1:City><st1:place>Nancy</st1:place></st1:City>, after General Carr’s wife. A second daughter, Ching-ling (“happy mood”) was born in 1892 and was called Rosamond — after the daughter of the <st1:City><st1:place>Wilmington</st1:place></st1:City> minister.<o:p></o:p>
<P >Charlie’s business ventures prospered as his family grew. Son Tse-ven (styled T.V. in the Western form) was born in 1894; third daughter May-ling (“beautiful mood”) was born in 1897. Two more boys followed, Tse-liang (T.L.) and Tse-an (T.A.). The daughters began their education at <st1:City><st1:place>Shanghai</st1:place></st1:City>’s exclusive <st1:place><st1:PlaceName>McTyeire</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType>School</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> for Girls, founded in 1892 by Dr. Allen and an 1864 Wesleyan alumna, Laura Haygood. Ai-ling started school at age five and Ching-ling at seven.<o:p></o:p>
<P >By the turn of the century, Charlie had become extremely (非常地) wealthy. He had also begun a surreptitious involvement with the revolutionary movement (改革) spurred by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Revolutionary sentiment was growing against the old dynastic rule, and Charlie was right in the midst of it.<o:p></o:p>
<P ><B >(Continued)<o:p></o:p></B>

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< 0cm 0cm 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" align=center><B>A ten-thousand-mile journey to school</B><BR>      The political climate in China became increasingly dangerous following the Boxer Rebellion (叛乱) of 1900. Charlie foresaw (远见) the need to send his children to safety as well as to provide for their higher education. He asked the advice of his missionary (传教士) friend William Burke for an appropriate college for Ai-ling. Burke, whose family had connections to Macon’s Mulberry Street United Methodist Church, highly recommended (推荐) Wesleyan College, where his friend Judge DuPont Guerry was then president. Charlie arranged for Ai-ling to enroll as a sub-freshman in 1904. <o:p></o:p>
< 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 48pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; mso-char-indent-count: 3.0; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto">That summer, Ai-ling, for safety reasons traveling under a Portuguese (葡萄牙的) passport, undertook the long Pacific crossing under the protection (监护) of William and Addie Burke. But Mrs. Burke became fatally ill with typhoid, and the couple left Ai-ling in the care of another missionary, Anna Lanius, to see her safely to <st1:country-region><st1:place>America</st1:place></st1:country-region>. When the ship arrived in <st1:City><st1:place>San Francisco</st1:place></st1:City>, Ai-ling was detained for nineteen days until she could obtain clearance to make the rest of the trip by train to <st1:country-region><st1:place>Georgia</st1:place></st1:country-region>..<o:p></o:p>
<P 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 48pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; mso-char-indent-count: 3.0; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto">Ai-ling was described as precocious (聪明), a serious and determined student who was clever with finances (财经) and business. Ching-ling and May-ling joined their older sister at Wesleyan in the fall of 1908 — Ching-ling because she was college-age, and May-ling because, the story has it, she insisted she have her way and be allowed to accompany (陪伴) her older sister though she was only ten. During the summer before their arrival at Wesleyan, Ching-ling and May-ling spent time being tutored (辅导) in missionary families in Summit, New Jersey, and Demorest, Georgia. <o:p></o:p>
<P 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 48pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; mso-char-indent-count: 3.0; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto">Upon coming to Macon, May-ling was entrusted (委托) to the care of President W. N. Ainsworth’s household, while Ching-ling enrolled as a regular college student. The 1908 school term marked the only year that all three sisters were at Wesleyan at the same time. Their signatures — in Chinese and English — appear together in the college’s Matriculation (录取入学) Book for 1908–09.<o:p></o:p>
<P 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 48pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; mso-char-indent-count: 3.0; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto">May-ling was privately (私底下) tutored by two older Wesleyan students: “Miss Margie” Burks, daughter of Wesleyan’s professor of English, and “Miss Lucy” Lester. Whereas Ching-ling was quiet and profound, May-ling had the reputation for being mischievous and sharp-witted. <o:p></o:p>
<P 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 48pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; mso-char-indent-count: 3.0; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto">May-ling’s quick quips (双关语) are often recounted (叙述), as in this Seagrave passage:<o:p></o:p>
<P 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 48pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; mso-char-indent-count: 3.0; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto">“In a day when lipstick and rouge were regarded as shameful, [May-ling] was once caught wearing Chinese flour makeup and lip rouge.<o:p></o:p>
<P 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 48pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; mso-char-indent-count: 3.0; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto">‘Why, May-ling,’ exclaimed an older student, ‘I believe your face is painted!’<o:p></o:p>
<P 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 48pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; mso-char-indent-count: 3.0; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto">‘Yes,’ snapped May-ling, ‘<st1:country-region><st1:place>China</st1:place></st1:country-region> painted.’ ’’.<o:p></o:p>
<P 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 48pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; mso-char-indent-count: 3.0; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto">On another occasion, one of May-ling’s tutors asked her to recount a history lesson on <st1:City><st1:place>Sherman</st1:place></st1:City>’s march through <st1:country-region><st1:place>Georgia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. The teacher was quite unprepared (没准备) for her response: “Pardon me, I am a southerner (南方人), and that subject is very painful to me. May I omit it?’”<o:p></o:p>
<P 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 48pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; mso-char-indent-count: 3.0; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto">May-ling’s repartee (巧妙的回答) was undimmed upon her visit to campus in 1943. Miss Jennie Loyall, it is said, told Madame Chiang that the college was keeping a Soong scrapbook.<o:p></o:p>
<P 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 48pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; mso-char-indent-count: 3.0; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto">“Oh, you must scrap it soon,” she shot back.<o:p></o:p>
<P 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 48pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; mso-char-indent-count: 3.0; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto">Ching-ling, however, is remembered for her wholehearted (全心全意) devotion to her country. When dynastic control of China was finally overthrown (推翻) in 1911, Ching-ling tore down the old banner of the Chinese dragon from her wall and vehemently (激烈地) replaced it with the new flag her father had sent her. Ching-ling wrote several impassioned (热情洋溢的) essays for the student magazine on the subject of the Chinese Revolution. <o:p></o:p>
<P 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 48pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; mso-char-indent-count: 3.0; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto">Ai-ling received her A.B. in the Wesleyan class of 1909 and promptly returned to <st1:City><st1:place>Shanghai</st1:place></st1:City>, where she secured a post as secretary to Sun Yat-sen. Ching-ling graduated in 1913 and returned to <st1:country-region><st1:place>China</st1:place></st1:country-region> as well. When Ai-ling resigned (辞去) her position with Sun in 1914 to marry future finance minister H. H. Kung, Ching-ling took over Ai-ling’s job. “Ching-ling believed as did no one else in [Sun’s] revolution,” wrote Seagrave (136). Defying her father’s orders, Ching-ling eloped with Sun in October 1915. Charlie Soong viewed the marriage between his old friend and his young daughter as a betrayal (出卖), and the union remained a source of contention in the Soong family.<o:p></o:p>
<P 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 48pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; mso-char-indent-count: 3.0; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto">May-ling’s only remaining sibling in the <st1:country-region><st1:place>United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> after Ching-ling’s departure was her brother T.V. at Harvard. After spending her freshman year, 1912–13, at Wesleyan, May-ling transferred to Wellesley College, to be closer to T.V. She earned her bachelor (学士)’s degree from <st1:City><st1:place>Wellesley</st1:place></st1:City> in 1917.<o:p></o:p>
<P 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 48pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; mso-char-indent-count: 3.0; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto">Upon May-ling’s return to China, she met Chiang Kai-shek, a rising star in China’s military (军事). Though already married, Chiang proposed marriage to May-ling. He persisted in his suit, eventually winning Mrs. Soong’s blessing for marriage to her daughter, on the conditions that he divorce his present wife — and that he convert (转变信仰) to Christianity (基督教).<o:p></o:p>