The Soong Sisters (Traditional Chinese: 宋家姐妹, pinyin: Sòngjiā Jiěmèi, or 宋氏三姐妹) were three Hainan Chinese women who were, along with their husbands, amongst China's most significant political figures of the early 20th century. They each played a major role in influencing their husbands, which, along with their own positions of power, ultimately changed the course of Chinese history.
Their father was American-educated Methodist minister Charlie Soong, who made a fortune in banking and printing. Their mother was Ni Kwei-tseng (倪桂珍 Ní Guìzhēn), whose mother Lady Xu was a descendant of Ming Dynasty mathematician and Jesuit Xu Guangqi. All three sisters attended Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. Their three brothers were all high-ranking officials in the Republic of China government, one of whom was T. V. Soong.
Read more about Soong Sisters: History, The Three Sisters, Cultural Materials
Famous quotes containing the words soong and/or sisters:
“Ful weel she soong the service dyvyne,
Entuned in hir nose ful semely,
And Frenssh she spak ful faire and fetisly,
After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe,
For Frenssh of Parys was to hire unknowe.”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)
“The quickness with which all the “stuff” from childhood can reduce adult siblings to kids again underscores the strong and complex connections between brothers and sisters.... It doesn’t seem to matter how much time has elapsed or how far we’ve traveled. Our brothers and sisters bring us face to face with our former selves and remind us how intricately bound up we are in each other’s lives.”
—Jane Mersky Leder (20th century)