American influenced on the Chinese Urban Population in the 1930s and 1940s was best exemplified by the lives of Madame Chiang Kai-Shek. As we shall see, both American style education and American Methodist theology played a major role in her life. But we must also remember that the lifestyle of the urban elite differ vastly from the Chinese population in the hinterland. Mei Ling Soong was born in 1898 into a devout Methodist family. Her father, Charlie Soong, was an American educated Methodist minister. As a young man from a poor family in Canton, he immigrated to the United States and was mentored by a generous industrialist in North Carolina named Julian Carr. Carr sent Charlie Soong to study at Vanderbilt University and then later graduated with a degree in theology. The Methodist Episcopal Church sent Charlie back to China, where Charlie pursued multiple business interests in addition to his missionary work. By the time Mei Ling was born, he had become a wealthy entrepreneur. He was also a strong financial supporter and best friend of Sun Yat-sen. Mei Ling attended the prestigious Methodist-run Mateer School, founded by the American Reverend Young J Allen in 1892. Founding a girls school followed in the strong tradition of American Protestant engagement in China, which also established many institutions of higher learning including St. John's University in Shanghai and Hwa Nan Women's College in Fujian. Mei Ling was sent to America for further studies, and graduated from Wellesley College in 1917. She returned to China and pursued civic activities that befit the lifestyle of a westernized elite Chinese. She joined YWCA, served on a National Film Censorship Committee, and on the Child Labor Commission. As an attractive young lady from a prominent family Mei Ling had many suitors. However, she chose to marry a thrice divorced Chiang Kai-Shek in 1927. It is widely understood that Mei Ling saw in this marriage an opportunity to make a positive impact on the fate of the nation. After all, Chiang was a rising star in the Nationalist Party, which was the most powerful party in China at the time. For his part, Chiang divorced his third wife and promised to convert to Christianity before winning her parent's approval. Here a brief sketch of the history of China, since the founding of the Republic, is in order. When, in 1911, Sun Yat-sen and his comrades overthrew the Qing dynasty and founded the Republic of China, he was unable to hold onto the presidency due to a lack of military and political power. Warlords fought to control the country and the country descended into chaos in the 1920s. Chiang, Mei Ling's husband, was able to win the leadership of the Nationalist Party, upon Sun's death in 1925. However, Chiang's control of China was tenuous, as he faced Japanese aggression in the northeast, challenges to his rule from various warlords around the country, as well as the growing stronghold of the Chinese communists in rural China. As wife of the Supreme Commander, Mei Ling elevated her American style of civic engagement to the national level. She led a fundraising campaign for a military hospital, created a social club for army officers along the line of the YMCA, and set up schools for the orphans of the Nationalist soldiers. In 1934, Mei Ling and her husband launched the New Life Movement, ostensibly to achieve a moral transformation of the people. They called for return to the Confucian principles of ritual, righteousness, honesty, and a sense of shame: li, yi, lian, chi. American Reverend George Shepherd was appointed as chief advisor to the movement, which was also modeled after Western Christian Evangelical movements. Mei Ling became leader of the project. Due to the superficiality of many of his concerns, such as a ban on spitting, being rude or talking loudly in public, at a time when China's ills ran much deeper, the movement did not improve the morale of the people, nor generate more support for the Nationalists as the Chiangs had hoped. Mei Ling's most important contribution in the arena of Sino-American relations came during the years of the Sino-Japanese War, 1937 to 1945. Before the United States declared war against Japan, China was on the brink of defeat and desperately needed American aid. Using her fluency in English and familiarity with American media, Mei Ling wrote articles for American publications such as the New York Times Magazine and the Atlantic Monthly. She also authored a book titled, China Shall Rise Again, detailing China's devastation at the hands of the Japanese and analyzing the geo-political dynamics of the war. Possibly her most triumphant hour, was her 1943 tour of the US where she was invited to address both houses of Congress. She won a standing ovation and became an overnight media sensation. Her subsequent speech at the Hollywood Bowl in Las Angeles drew over 30,000 people. The tour raised over a million dollars in aid for China. Because of her success, US war relief to China was much larger than Congress or Roosevelt had intended. Mei Ling's Christian faith, fluency in English, charm, beauty and strong influence on her husband, gave her great access to powerful Americans such as media moguls Henry and Clara Luce, as well as a group of influential policy makers. She and Chiang Kai-shek were named man and wife of the year by Time Magazine in 1937. With the strong support of publisher Henry Loos, the Chiangs, altogether appeared eight times on the cover of Time, either individually or as a couple. In her speeches, she also raised the issue of China's status as a second class citizen in the international arena and expressed her disappointment at the mistreatment of Chinese in America. Her efforts facilitated the repeal of the exclusion law in 1943. After the Sino-Japanese War ended in 1945, the Nationalists lost the civil war against the Communists, and Chiang Kai-shek escaped to Taiwan. In Taiwan, Mei Ling continued her social work, founding the Washing Orphanage, and leading the Chinese Women's Anti-Communist League. After Chiang's death in 1975, Mei Ling moved to the United States and passed away in New York in 2003. In this chapter, we observed how Madame Chiang Kai-shek used her familiarity and fondness of American culture, her fluency in English, her intelligence and charm to help China during war time. In the next chapter, we watch how the symbol of America was first conceived as an enemy and later as a friend of the People's Republic of China in Mao's power play against domestic and international foes alike.
