In October 2003, Soong Meiling died of illness at home in the United States at the age of 105.
may be lamenting the loneliness of life in his later years, or perhaps he wants to make a summary of his life while his mind is still clear.
Before her death, Soong Meiling specially summoned her family members. Facing these juniors, Soong Meiling finally spoke out the words she had hidden in her heart for many years.
Song Meiling told everyone with great emotion that she had been sorry to three men in her life.
One is his husband, Chiang Kai-shek, his brother, Song Ziwen, and the third is Zhang Xueliang, the marshal of the Northeast Army.
After listening to Soong Meiling's words, everyone showed incredible expressions. As an old man over a hundred years old, the things Soong Meiling experienced have become words in history textbooks.
In order not to disturb Soong Meiling's interest, the juniors immediately asked why Soong Meiling said these words.
So, why did Song Meiling say that she was sorry for them? What little-known stories are there between Song Meiling and these three men? Why did Song Meiling specifically say Zhang Xueliang's name before she died?
Next, please let us explain it in detail.
一 The "regret" of the marriage between Chiang and Song
During the Republic of China, there was a saying: "The world of the Jiang family, the party of the Chen family, the sisters of the Song family , the wealth of the Kong family."
The status of the Soong sisters in the entire Republic of China society is recognized by everyone. This is not only because Soong Ching Ling married Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of the Republic of China, but also because Soong Meiling became the wife of Chiang Kai-shek, the president of the Kuomintang.
In fact, before meeting Soong Meiling, Chiang Kai-shek had already had several wives.
When Chiang Kai-shek was young, he spent a long time hanging out in the Fireworks Willow Alley in Shanghai. From Chiang Kai-shek’s diary, we can still see his records of “looking for flowers and asking for willows”.
At that time, Chiang Kai-shek already had a wife like Mao Fumei in his hometown, and Mao Fumei also gave birth to a son for Chiang Kai-shek.
But at this time, Chiang Kai-shek was not yet 30 years old and did not understand what the responsibility of a father was.
Not only did he ignore his wife in his hometown, he even didn't care about his son's studies and life. Later, Chiang Kai-shek met Chen Jieru who had returned from studying abroad in Shanghai.
Later, Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Jieru got married.
When Chiang Kai-shek pursued Chen Jieru, she acted particularly sincerely. In order to pursue Chen Jieru, Chiang Kai-shek even went to Chen Jieru's house to chat with his mother to relieve his boredom.
Of course Mother Chen liked such a young man very much, but neither Mother Chen nor Chen Jieru herself expected that Chiang Kai-shek would soon abandon them for another woman.
In March 1927, Chiang Kai-shek, who was organizing the Northern Expedition at the time, led his troops to invade "Shanghai Beach", because Chiang Kai-shek often traveled to the "Ten Mile Foreign Market" in Shanghai before joining the revolution.
This time he returned to Shanghai with the title of "Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army", so naturally he had to perform a story of "beauties matching heroes".
After some inquiries, Chiang Kai-shek heard that Sun Yat-sen's sister-in-law Soong Meiling also lived in Shanghai.
Moreover, Soong Meiling had studied in the United States and was pretty, which made Chiang Kai-shek suddenly have a "wrong idea."
At Chiang Kai-shek's request, some businessmen who had good relations with the Song family helped Chiang Kai-shek meet Soong Meiling.
After meeting Soong Meiling, Chiang Kai-shek completely forgot the "fact" that he already had a family and began to pursue Soong Meiling openly. The young Soong Meiling was also full of various fantasies about her future marriage life.
In her eyes, Chiang Kai-shek was a young and promising "hero". If she was lucky enough to marry Chiang Kai-shek, it would be great.
However, not all the Song family members liked Chiang Kai-shek. Soong Meiling's second sister Soong Qingling advised her not to marry Chiang Kai-shek.
The third brother Song Ziwen also advised his sister to think twice about marriage and not to marry the wrong husband.
But Song Meiling had already made up her mind, and with her eldest sister Song Ailing constantly fanning the flames, the marriage between Jiang and Song seemed inevitable.
In December 1927, Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Meiling held a luxurious wedding at the Dahua Hotel in Shanghai.
In order to show his obedience to Soong Meiling, Chiang Kai-shek even gave up the Buddhism he had previously believed in and converted to Christianity.
Song Meiling was extremely happy to be able to marry a husband who was completely obedient to her.
In addition, Chiang Kai-shek immediately won the political struggle within the Kuomintang after Sun Yat-sen's death. The status of the Song family also became more and more important because of the marriage between Soong Meiling and Chiang Kai-shek.
After Soong Meiling married Chiang Kai-shek, they stayed together almost all day long.
If she encounters a public event that needs to be attended, Soong Meiling will dress up carefully and stand next to Chiang Kai-shek, playing the role of "First Lady".
In this way, Chiang Kai-shek's face was bright, and Soong Meiling also fulfilled her princess dream.
However, even sweet dreams have shortcomings. When Soong Meiling and Chiang Kai-shek got married, they wanted to have a child of their own more than once.
However, due to an unexpected accident, Soong Meiling suddenly suffered a miscarriage.
Later, although Soong Meiling was pregnant, she was never able to give birth to a child due to the inertia caused by previous miscarriages.
Although Chiang Kai-shek already has two children, Chiang Ching-kuo and Chiang Wei-guo .
But as a woman, Soong Meiling could not become a mother, which was also the biggest regret in her life.
Coupled with the fact that the relationship between Soong Meiling and Chiang Ching-kuo was not harmonious, Soong Meiling's life in her later years was not easy.
In 1949, after the Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek was still very deferential to Soong Meiling as before. Soong Meiling's heart was also full of gratitude to Chiang Kai-shek.
However, he was never able to give birth to an heir for his husband, which made his heart somewhat distorted.
According to Xiong Wan, the personal medical officer of Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo and his son, Song Meiling once asked him to prepare some drugs to promote fertility.
However, Xiong Wan considered Soong Meiling’s age and physical factors and ultimately rejected her request.
On the Tomb Sweeping Day of 1975, Chiang Kai-shek passed away in his Shilin official residence in Taipei. After the death of her husband, Soong Meiling seemed to be a changed person.
He boarded a plane flying to the other side of the ocean and lived in the United States for a long time.
Only when major events about Chiang Kai-shek are held in Taiwan will she attend in person.
But no matter what Song Meiling did, she always felt sorry for her husband in her heart.
2 The "estrangement" between siblings
Song Meiling believed that the second man she felt sorry for was her third brother Song Ziwen.
Song Ziwen is four years older than Song Meiling. Since she is the eldest son of the Song family, she often plays the role of "parent" in life.
Song Ziwen had clearly expressed his opposition to the marriage between Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Meiling. However, Soong Meiling had been accustomed to being arrogant and domineering since she was a child, so how could she listen to her third brother's words?
In the end, although Soong Meiling married Chiang Kai-shek, Soong Ziwen always looked down on this brother-in-law.
Later, Chiang Kai-shek once invited Song Ziwen to serve as the Minister of Finance of the National Government, but Song Ziwen sternly refused.
Moreover, Song Ziwen unabashedly said to the entourage around him: Chiang Zhongzheng is just a little loser in Shanghai, what qualifications do he have to negotiate terms with me?
These words reached Chiang Kai-shek’s ears and almost made him angry to death.
In October 1933, Chiang Kai-shek approached Song Ziwen, hoping that he could provide money to help him "encircle and suppress the Red Army".
But Song Ziwen was a thorough businessman. He believed that Chiang Kai-shek's encirclement and suppression of the Red Army was a loss-making business, so he refused to invest.
In response to this, Chiang Kai-shek was furious, and Song Ziwen was not to be outdone. He picked up a stool on the side and was about to throw it at Chiang Kai-shek's head.
Fortunately, Chiang Kai-shek's entourage arrived in time and separated the two of them, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.
It can be seen that Song Ziwen despised people like Chiang Kai-shek from the bottom of his heart, which made Song Meiling, his younger sister, very embarrassed.
On the one hand, Soong Meiling loves her husband deeply, but on the other hand, Soong Meiling does not want to offend her third brother too much.
So Soong Meiling decided to personally talk to her third brother Song Ziwen about Chiang Kai-shek. However, when Soong Meiling and Soong Ziwen met, they broke out in a fierce quarrel.
Song Meiling believed that Song Ziwen did not support her family's career enough, but Song Ziwen insisted that Chiang Kai-shek was just an "opportunist."
The reason why he married Soong Meiling in the first place was because he was greedy for her beauty, and on the other hand he was greedy for his status as "Sun Yat-sen's brother-in-law".
Moreover, Song Ziwen is the eldest son of the family and must be responsible for the family business. How could he ignore the entire family industry in order to satisfy his sister's selfishness?
Seeing that this conversation was about to end in vain, Song Meiling also showed a helpless expression. Perhaps Chiang Kai-shek and Song Ziwen, the "family enemies", would never reconcile in their lifetime.
By the 1960s, it had been more than ten years since the Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan.
At this time, Chiang Kai-shek was trying to build Taiwan into a "model province" to promote Chinese culture. Soong Meiling once again invited Song Ziwen back to Taiwan as her sister to participate in related activities.
However, Song Ziwen kept declining on the grounds of business and refused the invitation of Soong Meiling and Chiang Kai-shek. Soong Ziwen's behavior made Soong Meiling very embarrassed.
Later, Soong Ziwen died unexpectedly in the United States, and Soong Meiling did not even go to the United States to attend her brother's funeral. The emotional gap between the "rich brother and sister" was quite deep.
But when Song Meiling recalled the past events of her youth in her later years, she always felt that she was sorry for Song Ziwen.
Perhaps it was the blood-thicker-than-water relationship between brother and sister that Soong Meiling always felt guilty for Soong Ziwen. Until Soong Meiling's death, she maintained very close contact with Soong Ziwen's descendants.
Even when Soong Meiling celebrated her 105th birthday, Soong Ziwen's descendants came to Soong Meiling's home to wish her a birthday.
In a sense, this can be regarded as a "reconciliation" between Song Meiling and Song Ziwen.
3 The "fate" between Soong Meiling and Marshal Zhang
The third man Soong Meiling mentioned was Zhang Xueliang, the former Marshal of the Northeast Army. Soong Meiling and Chiang Kai-shek had different feelings for Zhang Xueliang.
Song Meiling was born in 1898, and Zhang Xueliang was born in 1900, so they can be considered the same age.
At a dinner hosted by American diplomats, Zhang Xueliang met the young and beautiful Soong Meiling for the first time.
At that time, Zhang Xueliang was deeply attracted by Song Meiling's appearance.
Later, when Zhang Xueliang recalled the "first meeting" between the two, he would also say to his friend very helplessly: If Ms. Meiling had not married Chiang Zhongzheng, then I would definitely pursue her.
For such a personable, handsome and suave young general like Zhang Xueliang, Song Meiling also had a good impression in her heart. He once took the initiative to invite Zhang Xueliang to attend a reception at his residence.
The two people have also established a very deep friendship, and they often give each other gifts as a souvenir.
However, the Xi'an Incident in 1936 became the "watershed" in the relationship between Song Meiling and Zhang Xueliang.
In December 1936, a burst of gunfire rang out beside Huaqing Pool in Xi'an.
Subsequently, an explosive news spread throughout the world: Northeast Army General Zhang Xueliang and Northwest Army General Yang Hucheng detained Chiang Kai-shek, the top leader of the National Government, in Xi'an.
Although Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng did not intend to really harm Chiang Kai-shek, but just to force him to resist Japan, the "military remonstrance" action still caused a lot of irritation to Soong Meiling.
Since the Xi'an Incident broke out, Song Meiling tried to persuade Zhang Xueliang through her personal influence.
Zhang Xueliang said that he detained Chiang Kai-shek not out of personal grudges, but out of national justice. Soong Meiling quickly expressed her understanding and said that Chiang Kai-shek had long had plans to fight against the Japanese invaders.
Subsequently, under the persuasion of the Chinese Communists, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng decided to release Chiang Kai-shek. In order to show their sincerity, Zhang Xueliang even offered to personally escort Chiang Kai-shek to Nanjing.
When things developed to this point, everyone noticed a strange atmosphere, but Song Meiling repeatedly expressed to Zhang Xueliang that she would do her best to ensure his life safety.
How Zhang Xueliang sent Chiang Kai-shek back to Nanjing today will be how he will send Zhang Xueliang back to Xi'an in the future.
Song Meiling's words completely dispelled Zhang Xueliang's doubts. However, when Zhang Xueliang arrived in Nanjing, what awaited him was only the black hole of the gun and the fate of being imprisoned.
Although Song Meiling once said all the good things for Zhang Xueliang in front of Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Kai-shek seemed determined to put Zhang Xueliang under house arrest.
Even Soong Meiling's request to "meet Zhang Xueliang" was sternly rejected by Chiang Kai-shek.
This made Song Meiling feel extremely guilty. She believed that she had framed Zhang Xueliang.
In the following days, Zhang Xueliang was kept under house arrest by Chiang Kai-shek in a secret location, while Song Meiling expressed her concern in various ways.
But the matter has come to this, no matter how considerate Soong Meiling behaves, it is all in vain. General Zhang Xueliang has lost his freedom for decades because of his patriotic actions.
Behind this, although Chiang Kai-shek was narrow-minded, it was also inseparable from Song Meiling's fueling.
After the Kuomintang troops withdrew to Taiwan, Zhang Xueliang also had several brief meetings with Chiang Kai-shek, but Chiang Kai-shek did not mention his release except asking about Zhang Xueliang's daily life.
Zhang Xueliang was very aware of Chiang Kai-shek's psychology. In fact, he still held a grudge against himself, but it was only because of their relationship that he did not get things done.
In 1964, Zhang Xueliang and his lover Zhao Yidi, who had taken care of him for many years, got married in Taiwan. As a friend of both parties, Soong Meiling sent a "surprise" to their wedding.
This gave Zhang Xueliang a little bit of pleasure in his boring life in prison. In the following time, Chiang Kai-shek also placed many fewer restrictions on Zhang Xueliang.
Zhang Xueliang could maintain correspondence with Soong Meiling, and the two parties could even exchange some private words. However, if Soong Meiling wanted to see Zhang Xueliang in private, she still needed the consent of Chiang Kai-shek himself.
In 1975, Chiang Kai-shek died of illness in Taipei, but Zhang Xueliang did not wait for the dawn of freedom. After Chiang Kai-shek's death, Soong Meiling went to the United States to live a new life, but she still sent letters to Zhang Xueliang in Taiwan from time to time.
In 1988, Chiang Kai-shek’s eldest son Chiang Ching-kuo passed away in Taiwan at the age of 78. After enduring the death of the Chiang family and his son, Zhang Xueliang finally ushered in a free life.
After he was released in 1990, Zhang Xueliang immediately accepted an exclusive interview with Japanese TV station .
After that, he took his family to the United States and lived a very low-key life.
After Zhang Xueliang arrived in the United States, he once visited Soong Meiling. The two old people in their nineties sat together and talked about the past, which unknowingly added a touch of vicissitudes of life.
It's just that compared to those conversations in the past, the words between the two now are full of warmth.
Song Meiling showed her pet dog and apartment to Zhang Xueliang, and Zhang Xueliang told Song Meiling about his plans for the future. Although the two of them failed to get together in the end, they became friends who "treasure each other".
One day in October 2001, Soong Meiling was reading the newspaper with the younger generations of her family.
Suddenly, she found a piece of news in the newspaper that made her very sad: General Zhang Xueliang died of illness in Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii, on October 14 at the age of 101.
After seeing the news, Song Meiling remained silent, tears flashing in her eyes.
Zhang Xueliang's departure is undoubtedly a heavy blow to Soong Meiling, because the only person in the world who shares a common language with her is no longer here today.
Song Meiling suddenly felt an unprecedented desolation and loneliness in her heart. She said a few words to the juniors beside her, then turned and walked back to her bedroom.
No one knows what Song Meiling did in the bedroom that day, but it is no longer important.
In March 2003, Soong Meiling celebrated her 105th birthday in her apartment in the United States. Facing the younger generations who came to congratulate her on her birthday, Soong Meiling showed enough patience, but in her heart she had lost expectations for her birthday.
Because when Song Meiling found out that her friends had passed away one by one, her heart had long since lost the joy of celebrating her birthday, and was replaced by endless loneliness.
In October of that year, Soong Meiling was admitted to the hospital due to illness. Although Soong Meiling was discharged safely later, she already felt that her time was running out.
When facing the juniors and family members around her, Song Meiling said with emotion that she had been sorry for three men in her life.
The first one was her husband Chiang Kai-shek. She did not leave any children for her husband.
The second one is his brother Song Ziwen. He once brought him a lot of trouble because of his temper. In the end, when his brother died, he was not able to see him.
The third one is his friend Zhang Xueliang. If he had not come forward as a guarantee, maybe Zhang Xueliang would not have returned to Nanjing with Chiang Kai-shek, and his fate might have been rewritten.
After saying these words, Song Meiling smiled tiredly and looked at the family members around her. She knew that no one in this world could understand her words. People had already regarded her as a character in the history books.
Perhaps, it’s time for my life to come to an end.
Song Meiling was found dead in her residence in the United States on October 24, 2003.
When Soong Meiling passed away, her expression was very peaceful, and she seemed to have accepted it all calmly. As a figure who played a certain influence in the modern history of China, Soong Meiling's life was full of controversies.
His death did not bring an end to all this, but instead made more things become permanent mysteries.
There is no doubt that as an ordinary woman, Soong Meiling is very happy. She has a family background and status that most people in the world never have.
Regardless of whether Chiang Kai-shek was sincere when he married Soong Meiling, Soong Meiling still enjoyed a lifetime of glory and wealth.
But from a national perspective, Soong Meiling's image is not so glamorous, because such a life of extravagance and extravagance is based on the suffering and grief of ordinary people, and it also contains the humiliation, blood and tears of our nation.
At a time when the nation is in danger, those who still do not forget personal enjoyment are not worthy of being respected by everyone.
People today don’t know how much of the “confession” he made in his later years was sincere.
History has proven countless times that only groups with the people in mind can have a glorious future, and the people are the creators and writers of history.
Over the past thousands of years, only one group has truly "served the people."
And our nation will continue to move forward amidst the struggles of countless people, glowing with more dazzling vitality and vitality.
Editor: Zhuojiu
Editor: Lin Hua
