On December 1, 1927, in the presence of two thousand relatives and friends, Song Meiling, dressed in a silver cheongsam-style wedding dress, took the arm of her brother Song Ziwen and walked to Chiang Kai-shek's side.
On this day, this marriage of Jiang and Song, which gathered celebrities from all walks of life, sensationalized the entire Shanghai Beach.
Chiang Kai-shek, who was proud of the spring breeze, published "Our Today" in the newspaper of the same day, saying: "Today we must marry the most beloved beauty, and be the most glorious and pleasant day in our lives." He was convinced that if there was no happy marriage in life, everything would be meaningless, so the revolution should start from the family. ”
However, for this big event on the beach, there are many rumors in the street. Among them, the most widely circulated is nothing more than that the two people of Jiang and Song are just political marriages, and there is no basis for love.
It is no wonder that the people's associations are one after another, Jiang and Song have known each other for only ten days, and they have hurriedly set a lifelong decision, which is unconvincing for Song Meiling, who has "loved power all his life", saying that there is no factor of family interest involved.
For Soong Mei Ling, Chiang Kai-shek is only the third among those she wants to marry. So, who are the top two?
The controversial first love "gossip"
When she married Chiang Kai-shek, Soong Mei Ling was already 28 years old, and if she had followed the concepts of the old society, she might have been married 10 years ago; However, she has studied abroad for many years, "except for looks, almost nowhere else is like an Oriental", and it is not surprising that she has had several romantic relationships.
Moreover, Song Meiling was born in the four major families of the Republic of China, and she was at the age of Fang, and her style was unique, and the suitors were like carps crossing the river.
The Song Dynasty (by Higref Staining) describes it this way: "... There are often boys who come to the steps of 'Kimura' and go out about Meiling, most of them are Chinese students at Harvard University and MIT, and they are also friends of Song Ziwen, for these visiting Chinese, the other students only remember Mr. Zhang, Mr. Li, Mr. Wang and so on. ”
At that time, Song Meiling was very uneasy about the arranged marriage she would have to accept after returning to China, and in this extremely uneasy mood, she was engaged to a Harvard student, Peter Lee, and after a few weeks, Song Meiling's anxiety disappeared and the marriage was canceled.
This incident is also mentioned in another Taiwanese book. In the midst of various rumors, Song Meiling has captured the hearts of countless people with her charm, and even some people are willing to play such an "engagement game" with her.
But Song Meiling did have a rumor of first love. The most widely circulated is her love affair with Liu Jiwen, the later first mayor of Nanjing, so is this really true?
In Amy Hahn's Biography of Soong Mei Ling, there is a reference to the past: Liu Jiwen was once a good friend of Song Ziwen, who studied at Waseda University in Japan, specialized in political science, and was born with great appearance. Under the agreement of Song Ziwen, Liu Jiwen and Song Meiling began to communicate.
In 1923, Chiang Kai-shek disregarded the fact that Soong Mei-ling was already engaged to Liu Jiwen and launched an extremely enthusiastic pursuit of Soong Mei-ling, which lasted for five years. But at first, Soong Mei-ling ignored it because Mrs. Soong had always opposed Chiang Kai-shek becoming her son-in-law.
However, in this past, there are many absurd doubts.
First of all, in 1923, Liu Jiwen had been following Sun Yat-sen, serving as the minister of finance and treasury chief of the military government of the Republic of China in the Grand Marshal's Office in Guangzhou, ranking at a high level, if he had been engaged to Soong Mei ling, the two lang cai female appearance, roses and scepters, must be a good story that was recited for a while, and there was no need for Chiang Kai-shek to inquire about Song Meiling's situation.
Secondly, during the Northern Expedition, Chiang Kai-shek had already met and made friends with Liu Jiwen, and Chiang's pursuit of Song Meiling also received strong support from Liu Jiwen.
In May 1927, Chiang Kai-shek visited Japan in order to persuade Ni Guizhen, an old lady of the Song Dynasty, to agree to his marriage to Soong Mei-ling.
Liu Jiwen was also with him on this trip, and if Liu Jiwen had a marriage contract with Song Meiling, in his capacity in the Kuomintang, he would not have to flatter Jiang, so that his reputation would be temporarily discredited, in exchange for the subsequent smooth progress.
Third, Liu Jiwen traveled all over Japan and the United Kingdom during his studies, but he only went to the United States in 1923, and he did not have the experience of going to the United States in his entire history of study, and Song Meiling had already returned to China as early as 1917, and it was impossible to talk about song Meiling's acquaintance and love.
With the death of Song Meiling, her letters with her lifelong friend Mills were published one by one. Song Meiling's first love is actually a Dutch architect named Van Eivigh.
Encounter with "destiny" on the way back home
In June 1917, Song Meiling took a steamship and set off to return to China with her brother Song Ziwen.
In a letter to Mills on her return home, she mentions her girlish encounter with Destiny.
On the way back, Song Metling met an architect named Van Eivigh.
His father is Dutch and his mother is French.
In just 10 days of getting along, 19-year-old Song Meiling was impressed by the tall, handsome, and humorous Van Eivigh, especially when Van Eivigh proposed marriage.
But after returning to Shanghai, the marriage was unsurprisingly interfered with by the Song family. Song Yaoru was a returned missionary, and although his idea of marriage and love was not conservative, he did not want his daughter to marry prematurely, nor did he want her daughter to marry a foreigner. Her mother, Ni Guizhen, a traditional Chinese woman, was furious at the foreigner's hasty marriage attitude and did not want her daughter to marry such a person.
With the interference of the family and the separation of the two places, the relationship eventually ended without a problem.
10 years of study abroad career, so that Song Meiling developed a strong personality. She got into a big fight with her family over the issue, and in the end she still couldn't get it done, and she was hit hard, which created her extremely pessimistic view of love.
In her letters with Mills, she mentions that Van Eivigh is "my destiny" despite their short time together. Since she can't marry someone she really cares about, it's also good to stay home, and she'll be happy to stay home and not marry anyone else, "except for fame and money."
After this battle, Song Meiling's attitude towards love and marriage became more and more rational, and the personnel around Song Meiling floated around, never leaving a trace. In letters to Ms. Mills, matters involving feelings are also mentioned less and less.
But later, Song Meiling mentioned a gentleman named Birnie, who was another foreigner.
But Song Meiling knew very well that there would be no relationship between them that went beyond pure friendship, although she especially liked Birnie and had surpassed any male.
In the Song family's attitude toward Song Meiling and Van Eivigh, she has clearly seen that the Song family prides itself on the purity of the family's blood, "They would rather see me die than marry a foreigner." Normally, I would think the same way. ”
For this relationship, whether Song Meiling has won it is unknown. But from her correspondence with Ms. Mills, we can read some hints, perhaps she has long chosen not to choose pure love as a guide in her marriage. She chose to listen to her family and socialize with good people.
Drifting away from H.K. Jun
When Song Meiling was studying in the United States, she had met many friends of the opposite sex, and some of them had always kept in touch.
When she was studying, Song Meiling may have had an agreement with a Mr. H.K.
Regarding this Mr. H.K., Song Meiling mentioned in her letter with Miss Mills that his father was the general office of the Shanghai Arsenal, whose predecessor was the famous Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau and was also the largest modern ordnance manufacturing plant in the mainland in modern times.
The general office of the arsenal is directly appointed by the Beiyang government. In the era of smoke and smoke, if you hold the lifeblood of arms, it is equivalent to the object of various forces competing for the envelopment, even the Song family can not avoid it.
After Song Meiling returned to China, H.K. and his mutual friend, Mr. Yang, came from Beijing to visit Song Meiling, and have been pursuing her intermittently for about two years.
Many times in Beijing and Shanghai, in order to often visit Song Meiling, but Song Meiling, who has a large number of suitors, does not care about this. She didn't care about H.K., even though her family would love to be able to do it.
Gradually, rumors spread between Song Meiling and H.K.'s mutual friends, and the friends heard from nowhere that they were engaged, which caused Song Meiling's great dissatisfaction.
H.K. learned of this matter, but he has been allowed to develop it and has not come out to clarify, which makes Song Meiling's attitude towards him even worse. Originally, Song Meiling's love for H.K. can be said to be more than a friend, the two often talk and laugh, and it is very natural to get along, but after the rumors spread, Song Meiling avoided him and did not want to see him again.
Unwilling to give up, H.K. embarked on a more active pursuit. He began to appear frequently in the church where Song Meiling went to worship, attending the evenings that Song Meiling might attend, and Song Meiling had to stay at home and not go anywhere. Until the last time the friends meet, it is like a strange road.
After realizing that he had aroused Song Meiling's disgust, H.K. disappeared from Song Meiling's sight. In the letters after January 1918, the name that caused Song Meiling an abnormal headache did not appear again.
After rejecting H.K., Song met another man she did not name in the letter.
This man has also stayed beautiful, but he is already married. But Song Meiling likes it, she still thinks that it is difficult for her to like other people, and it is very stupid not to marry the person she likes.
After thinking about it, she gave in to reality and decided to give up the relationship.
At the same time, a man who was 15 years older than her and extremely rich in material possessions also entered her field of vision. She likes each other, but it is not a kind of liking between men and women, so she tells each other very clearly that she can marry him because she likes him, but she will never fall in love with him.
In May 1918, Song Meiling's father, Song Yaoru, died of kidney disease. The death of a loved one prompted Song Meiling to think more.
Although she believes that her thoughts have been completely Westernized, Song Meiling still believes that as a woman, she must be married, but the object of marriage is always hesitant, always hovering between pure love and material abundance.
The family is prominent and just in its prime, and the many suitors around her, which bring endless rumors to Song Meiling, who is alone with her sister-in-law, each rumor is tied to a different man, and it is not very clear who she is not very familiar with, and even who she is dating, whether she is married or not.
On the one hand, she has to face such a big choice as love or bread, on the other hand, the rumors of the fire give her a lot of headaches. Song Meiling simply ignored it and plunged into social activities to collect more wealth for herself, but instead achieved remarkable results in social work.
In this way, Soong Mei-ling missed Van Eivigh and the nameless married man, and it was not until the emergence of Chiang Kai-shek, a political star who had just won the Northern Expedition at the age of 28, that it was truly determined.
Resources
1. Hunan Red Network: "Who is Song Meiling's real "first love"? 》
2. "The Song Family: Father-Daughter Marriage and Family", pp. 103-105, translated by Li Yusheng, Jin Jianguo and Wang Qiuhai, published by Beijing Xinhua Publishing House in 1985
3. Party History Research Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China: "Declassification: Song Meiling's Emotional Past Before Her Marriage with Chiang Kai-shek"
4. The Biography of Song Meiling, compiled by Long Liu, Beijing Rural Readers Publishing House, published in 1988