Soong May-ling - "Warphans"

"Warphans"

Though Soong May-ling initially avoided the public eye after marrying Chiang, she soon began an ambitious social welfare project to establish schools for the orphans of Nationalist soldiers. The children of Communist soldiers were not welcome. The orphanages were unusually well-appointed: with playgrounds, swimming pools, a gymnasium, model classrooms, and dormitories. Soong May-ling was deeply involved in the project and even picked all of the teachers herself. There were two schools- one for boys and one for girls- built on a thousand acre site at the foot of Purple Mountain, in Nanjing. She referred to these children as her "warphans" and made them a personal cause. The fate of the children of fallen soldiers became a much more important issue in China after the beginning of the war with Japan in 1937. In order to better provide for these children she established the Chinese Women's National War Relief Society. She made frequent mention of her "warphans" in her many campaigns for foreign military aid.