[Reading Notes] Three women whose history outside textbooks influenced Chinese modern history—"Three Song Sisters and Their Husbands: Three Legendary Women in the 20th Century, A Turbulent Chinese Modern History for a Century"

With the three sisters as the main body and their husbands, a complete narrative can be obtained in the forty years of the Republic of China. Not only that, the longevity of them witnessed the democratic China in the early Republic of China (generally inaccurately called the "warlord melee" or the "Beiyang government" period), Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang China, Mao Zedong's communist China, as well as the reform and opening up of the mainland, Taiwan. Meiling has even witnessed three centuries of ups and downs. During such a long period of time, they are all at the peak of their respective political powers, and the three sisters can be regarded as the best witnesses of modern Chinese history.

As a recommended reading for Women's Day, "The Three Sisters of the Song Family and Their Husbands: Three Legendary Women in the 20th Century" may be a good choice, not only because it tells about the three sisters at the core of modern Chinese history, but also because This work takes women as the main body, and tells the history of the long-standing male-dominated voice. In this book, we will not see the absurd myths of "little fish swimming upstream" or "the father of the nation heals China", but how these women are intertwined with the fate of China (including the CCP and the Republic of China), and have become an influence on history. The cornerstone of the torrent.

The so-called three Soong sisters, namely Soong Ailing, Soong Ching-ling and Soong Mei-ling, their husbands are Kong Xiangxi, the former executive director of the Nationalist Government, Sun Yat-sen, the "father of the country", and Chiang Kai-shek, the former president. The importance of the latter two to modern China is self-evident, but the former In the early days of the Nationalist government, he controlled the finances for a long time and was known as a wealthy businessman. But in this book, they're all supporting characters, well... at least in the second half.

The head of Sun Yat-sen created "The Three Sisters of the Song Family"

Just as the author Jung Chang stated in her self-preface, she actually played Sun Yat-sen as the protagonist at first, until she realized that he was just a "monochrome" "political animal", and then she focused on the three sisters of the Song family. Therefore, in the first half of this book, Sun Yat-sen's fortune is still the main focus, and the dark side behind the "Father of the Nation"'s creation of gods, which many people do not know, is exposed through historical materials. Then, it was Song Yaoru, the father of the three sisters, who made the three protagonists appear.

By comparing the "deeds" of Sun Yat-sen with the three sisters, readers can also deeply feel why the author calls him "monotone". Compared with the former, every step is just a calculation to reach the political peak. How did the eldest sister Soong Ailing change from a "smart" woman to a big parent who will take care of her family at all costs (even the country); how about the second sister Soong Ching Ling From being infatuated with Sun Yat-sen to simply using the name "Mrs. Sun", she even used it to protect herself in the early days of the CCP; her younger sister Song Meiling went from "Lady of Shanghai" to a strong man's wife and a well-known international figure, three sisters. The story of love and hatred is far richer.

Legendary women around strongmen see things that history textbooks don't say

The stories told through historical materials in "The Three Song Sisters and Their Husbands: Three Legendary Women in the 20th Century" are honestly very different from the textbooks of the author's past school days, except that the so-called "Father of the Nation" has actually been repeated many times. The attempt to betray the country to gain power was mentioned in a few simple sentences in the textbook, and the "Tongmenghui" and "Xingzhonghui" that once made people wonder why they were constantly created are also explained in the book. Like the cognitive difference between "democratic China" and "warlord melee", although it is impossible to determine who is right and who is wrong, this work does allow readers to see more, which is different from other aspects of traditional education about modern Chinese history.

Although it is also important to present the other side of history, for the author, the biggest feature of "The Three Song Sisters and Their Husbands: Three Legendary Women in the 20th Century" is that women are the protagonists to explore Chinese history (especially Sun Yat-sen). , Chiang Kai-shek and Kong Xiangxi, three historically important figures, even directly reduced to "their husbands"). In the past, many people would say, "Behind every successful man, there is a great woman." But this work allows the "behind" women to be seen, and the people who see it have to be convinced and agree that they also have Qualifications to be the protagonist.

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