On the night of April 5, 1975, Chiang Kai-shek, a prominent figure in modern China, died of a heart attack at the Shilin Official Residence in the northern suburbs of Taipei at the age of 88.
Chiang Kai-shek's annals record that at midnight that day, "thunder and lightning, wind and rain, such as mountains and decadence, like wild crying, although the Dinghu Jiwei and the Heavenly Dao are difficult to know, Gu Qianwei is a Zen ancestor, and the people Gu Yuntongye is also." It simply has the meaning of heaven and earth and sorrow.
After Chiang Kai-shek's death, his eldest son Chiang Ching-kuo succeeded to power and became the new ruler of Taiwan. So, where should Chiang Kai-shek's wife, Soong Mei-ling, go?
Song Meiling is the gold of the Song family in Shanghai. She was 29 years old when she married Chiang Kai-shek in 1927. Chiang Kai-shek was older, 40 years old, had a history of marriage, and had the eldest son, Chiang Ching-kuo. Although some people called it a political marriage at the time, the two did not have real love, but in any case, the two have walked hand in hand for nearly half a century of ups and downs, it is still quite rare.
According to common sense, after Chiang Kai-shek's death, Chiang Ching-kuo inherits power, and Soong Mei-ling should stay in Taiwan. As she herself put it: "This is my country, why can't I live for a long time." However, what is puzzling is that only half a year after Chiang Kai-shek's death, Soong Mei-ling left Taiwan and left for the United States, which lasted for 11 years.
What is the reason for this? We have to start with the delicate and awkward identities between Song Meiling and Chiang Ching-kuo.
Song Meiling is not Chiang Ching-kuo's biological mother, and in terms of age, she is only 12 years older than Chiang Ching-kuo. After Chiang Ching-kuo understood things, he did not have any good feelings for this "stepmother" who replaced his birth mother. Later, with the passage of time and the reconciliation of Chiang Kai-shek, the relationship between them improved. At least, chiang ching-kuo was still respectful to Song Meiling on the surface.
According to Wang Zhengyuan, an official of Chiang Kai-shek's attendant office, every time Chiang Ching-kuo called Soong Mei-ling, his first sentence was to say in the Ningbo dialect, "Mu Ma, I am Jingguo." ”
For this, Song Meiling is quite touched, and she often praises people: "Jingguo is the most polite." ”
However, behind this warm pulse, there is a power struggle. Before chiang kai-shek's imminent death, he arranged for Chiang Ching-kuo to serve as the "chief executive" with the intention of succeeding him. Song Meiling was very dissatisfied with this, and she strongly recommended her nephew Kong Lingkan to take this position, trying to exclude Chiang Ching-kuo.
In the end, Chiang Kai-shek did not agree to the candidate recommended by Soong Mei-ling, but still let Chiang Ching-kuo serve as the "chief executive" of the executive. At this time, the contradiction between Song Meiling and Chiang Ching-kuo began to intensify. They caused contradictions, which in turn caused Chiang Kai-shek to become physically and mentally exhausted, and his physical condition deteriorated day by day.
After Chiang Kai-shek's death, Soong Mei-ling and Chiang Ching-kuo fought fiercely for power. The aforementioned Kong Lingkan made a special trip from the United States to Taiwan, and together with the "Lady Faction" who supported Soong Mei-ling, planned to support Soong Mei-ling as the president of the Kuomintang and inherit Chiang Kai-shek's power.
This move was strongly opposed by the top level of the Kuomintang who supported Chiang Ching-kuo. On April 28, 23 days after Chiang Kai-shek's death, all members of the Kuomintang Central Committee held an extraordinary meeting to elect Chiang Ching-kuo as chairman of the Kuomintang and chairman of the Central Standing Committee. As for the position of "president of the Kuomintang" that Soong Mei-ling longed for, it will always be reserved for Chiang Kai-shek and will not be used by others.
This means that Song Meiling has nothing to gain in this power struggle.
The grief of losing her husband, coupled with the failure of the power struggle, made Song Meiling disheartened. After living alone for half a year at the Shilin residence, she left Taiwan for the United States in September 1975.
Song Meiling studied in the United States in her early years and has been to the United States many times later, she is very familiar with the United States and speaks fluent English. She is used to living in the United States. Except for April 1976, when he returned to Taiwan to attend Chiang Kai-shek's memorial service, he rarely returned to Taiwan. Even in May 1978, when Chiang Ching-kuo officially took over as "president," Soong Mei-ling did not return to Taiwan to attend his inauguration.