On the morning of September 16, 1975, Song Meiling left Taiwan on the "Sino-US" special plane to settle in the United States. This year, Song Meiling was 78 years old.
Before leaving, she published a 3,000-word "Letter to All Chinese People", which mainly explained the reasons behind her "leaving Taiwan for the United States". The purpose of painstakingly writing such a long article before leaving is naturally related to politics: she is trying to calm the rumors about the reason for her departure, and it is rumored that "she left because she was forced to flee with Xiao Jiang's failure to seize power."
Song Meiling and Chiang Ching-kuo
When Song Meiling arrived in New York, USA, she was accompanied by more than a dozen attendants and nurses. Her next step was to stay at the Locust Valley Villa on Long Island. The 37-acre garden villa was purchased by her eldest brother-in-law Kong Xiangxi in 1943.
The villa is characterized by a strong degree of privacy, and from this time on, Song Meiling's life in the United States has been overshadowed with a layer of mystery.
After living in the Locust Valley Villa, Song Meiling has been living a reclusive life, and locals can only occasionally see her limousines coming and going.
Because Every time she gets on and off the bus, Song Meiling covers her face with a headscarf, it is difficult for her neighbors to meet her.
Neighbors only know that Song Meiling regularly goes to the town's beauty center to take care of her hair, but she chooses Sundays or holidays every time she goes. Because at that time, the shopping mall was not open, and no other residents entered the city.
Although the Locust Valley is beautiful and private, it is too far from the city center after all, and for the elderly and sickly Song Meiling, there are obviously many inconveniences here, the biggest of which is not to seek medical treatment.
Locust Valley Song Meiling's former residence
Considering the issue of medical treatment, Kong Lingkan bought a duplex house for his aunt Song Meiling in a 15-story apartment in East Manhattan. Located on the 9th and 10th floors, this residence has 18 rooms and a private elevator.
In contrast, it is also a mansion without a doubt.
Song Meiling's small apartment in Manhattan looks unremarkable, but it is actually the most prime location in New York. It was close to the hospital, but In order to avoid being recognized, Song Meiling was escorted into the hospital by guards through the back door every time she went to the hospital for examination. Sometimes, in order to avoid "out-of-the-box", the guards would even empty a floor.
Song Meiling's deep retreat made her more and more mysterious, and there were more and more rumors about her.
Six years after Song Meiling moved to the United States, her sister Song Qingling passed away, and the funeral committee sent her an invitation. Soon, reporters who heard the news flocked to her villa, huddled at the door of her villa, wondering too much whether Song Meiling would come to the mainland to mourn.
Because Song Meiling adhered to the three principles set by Chiang Kai-shek, "no negotiation, no compromise, and no contact", she did not respond to the funeral invitation.
Is it that Song Meiling has no feelings for her sister Song Qingling? The answer was no, and her attendants revealed that she had shed tears several times after learning of her sister's death.
Politics made the sisters miss the last chance to meet in this life.
Song Xialing, Song Meiling, Song Qingling
During Song Meiling's seclusion in the United States, something happened that made her depressed and angry. In 1985, an American writer named Sterling launched a shocking popular history bestseller, The Song Dynasty. This book is the first book in the English publishing industry to give a completely negative description of the Kong Song family.
Because the book was so sensational, some magazines, including the New York Times Book Review, treated the book as a cover story.
Perhaps because this incident touched Soong Mei-ling so much, she actually returned to Taiwan on the occasion of Chiang Kai-shek's 100th birthday the following year. Her return to Taiwan has sparked a lot of speculation, you know, the last time she returned to Taiwan was on the first anniversary of the death of her husband Chiang Kai-shek. After returning to Taiwan, she successively published articles such as "I will rise again", "Talk about what I have thought and felt over the years", and "The result you will bear".
Many people speculate that Soong Mei-ling wants to return to Taiwanese politics. The result of her "attempt" this time was that she touched a nose of ash, her image was greatly damaged, and she even fell behind a "empress dowager's interference in politics" because of it.
Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling
After Chiang Ching-kuo's death, the Chiang dynasty had ended, but Song Meiling in her later years was not fully aware of it, which was the reason why she was ridiculed after trying to make a comeback.
In 1989, Song Meiling was admitted to Taipei Veterans General Hospital due to illness and had her ovarian tumor removed. In the past, her illness was completely blocked by her niece Kong Lingwei, but this time, her condition was leaked, and many "royal doctors" of The Veterans General Hospital had a decline in the future of the incident, and some people had no hope of promotion and had to leave the hospital.
For Song Meiling, who is in her 90s, removing the cyst is a major surgery. After the surgery, she also fell several times, so that for several months, she was confined to a wheelchair.
Surgery and stumbling are fatal to the elderly, but Song Meiling has repeatedly overcome the danger. In order to restore the function of her legs, she insisted on exercise therapy very hard. During the physiotherapy, the strong Song Meiling often exercised more intensely than the doctors required, and the staff was impressed by her perseverance.
On September 21, 1991, two years after surgery, Song Meiling bid farewell to Taipei, where she had stayed for five years, and returned to New York. When she left, she carried nearly a hundred boxes of luggage, and because of this problem, she once again aroused heated discussion. There was speculation about what exactly was in these suitcases, but nothing was known except that one of the boxes contained bird's nest and the other contained mooncakes.
People familiar with the matter later revealed that Ms. Song's suitcase contained not only books and clothing, antique calligraphy and paintings, but even large wooden furniture that had been used for many years, which showed that she did not plan to return to Taipei.
However, three years later, in 1994, Song Meiling returned to Taiwan again. She came back this time to visit her niece Kong Lingwei, who she had loved all her life and was suffering from terminal cancer.
Kong Lingwei, known as Miss Kong Er, grew up under the spoiling of Song Meiling, loved women to dress up as men, and never married. During her time in Taiwan, she often lived in the official residence of Shilin and personally took care of Song Meiling's life. Song Meiling regarded this niece as her own, and for this reason, there were rumors that "she is Song Meiling's biological daughter".
In the middle are Song Meiling and Kong Lingwei
Returning to Taipei this year, Song Meiling is already a 97-year-old man. A few days after she arrived in Taiwan, Kong Lingwei died. At her niece's funeral, she, who had always restrained her emotions, cried bitterly.
Over the years, Song Meiling has experienced a lot of "white-haired people sending black-haired people", the death of step-son Jiang Chingguo, the death of the eldest grandson Jiang Xiaowen, and the death of grandson Jiang Xiaowu...
After sending Kong Lingwei away, Song Meiling's last concern in Taiwan was also gone. The political environment has also been unfavorable to Soong Mei-ling, and a remarkable manifestation is that Taiwan's "Ministry of Foreign Affairs" for the first time required Soong Mei-ling to use a diplomatic passport to enter Taiwan, instead of using the previous special pass.
On the other hand, the 5.2-hectare Shilin mansion, which had been reserved for her, has also changed, and from time to time people have demonstrated in front of the official residence with signs demanding that this vast urban land be handed over for the public to play.
Seeing this scene, Song Meiling flew back to New York for the first time after the funeral, and for a long time after returning to the United States, she was depressed.
Song Meiling seems to have devoted all her attention to writing brush characters and painting Chinese paintings, and everyone knows that she is lonely. Wang Ji, the son of Wang Shuchang, a former Kuomintang chairman of Hebei Province who came to visit her, suggested that she write a memoir, believing that doing so would enrich her life and that her mood might improve as she sorted through the past.
But Song Meiling refused, saying:
"I don't have a memoir, and I don't have anything to remember. My best time was when I was young and when I was in school. After returning to China, the domestic wolf smoke was everywhere, and marrying her husband was busy with the War of Resistance, the Civil War, and the rush and work, and there was nothing to remember. ”
Not only did Song Meiling not want to write a memoir, she also rejected public activities, and she participated in fewer and fewer activities. What is strange is that even if she no longer has to "show her face", she has always insisted on daily makeup in her later years.
Soong Mei Ling has a habit of getting up early to make up, because she gets up very early every day, and Chiang Kai-shek has never even seen her remove makeup in her whole life, and others are even worse.
When Song Meiling was in her 90s, there were signs of decreased vision and hearing, and her hands-on ability was also weakening. One of her attendants revealed that she often painted her eyebrows deep and light when she was making up, the foundation was thick and thin on one side, and lipstick was easy to apply to the outside of her lips.
If she is at home by herself, the staff usually turns a blind eye and does not remind her, so as not to be embarrassed, and if there is a guest visiting, help her to re-integrate.
Every time a guest comes, Song Meiling will definitely dress up in makeup, and she will also wear her carefully matched jewelry to tidy up her hair without messing up. It can be said that Song Meiling's only change in dress in her later years: only the height of high heels. Even when she was old, she refused to remove her makeup in front of people.
In order to keep herself up with the trend of the times, she often asked Jiang Weiguo's wife, Ellen Qiu, "what kind of clothing and makeup are popular now?"
In her later years, Song Meiling
Because Song Meiling is very exquisite every time she appears in front of the public, her beauty dafa and health secrets have become a topic that everyone is happy to talk about.
As she grew older, song Meiling saw fewer and fewer visitors. After the age of 99, she often refused to see guests. Some people said that Song Meiling's shelf was too big, but after an old attendant who had served for many years asked to see her and was rejected, he expressed his understanding to her, saying:
"When you see a guest, you have to comb your hair, wear makeup, wear jewelry and wear a cheongsam, which is too troublesome and tiring for a centenarian, and if you can't see it, you will disappear."
While refusing to meet guests, Song Meiling likes to meet her relatives more and more. Song Zhonghu, the son of her brother Song Zi'an, visits her several times a year, and each time, he stays in her apartment for a week.
People who couldn't see Song Meiling all inquired about her from Song Zhonghu. When asked "Is Song Meiling sober?" Song Zhonghu smiled helplessly and said, "She is sober in her own way... She would sometimes chat with me for a long time as someone else. ”
Song Zhonghu also said:
"She repeats the phrase every day: 'My sisters are dead, my brothers are dead, and I don't know why God left me behind.'" ”
Song Zhonghu said that sometimes, she would also nag her sister Song Qingling and repeatedly say" if my sister Qingling was still alive.
From Song Zhonghu's description, the world saw a lonely centenarian, she was so old that there was no one around.
Lonely Song Meiling also has a lively time, every year for the New Year, Christmas and her birthday, there will always be a large number of juniors to accompany her. Whenever this happens, Song Meiling can always produce a kind of joy of "children and grandchildren full of halls".
Song Meiling
On the evening of October 23, 2003, Song Meiling, who was 106 years old, passed away peacefully, and the last person to send her to her was her elderly niece Kong Lingyi and her husband.
The next morning, Song Meiling's body was wrapped in a wool blanket and moved, and a large number of reporters held up cameras near the hearse. But because Song Meiling's family had already prepared, they were all stopped, and no one took any photos of her.
Until the last moment of her life, she remained mysterious...