Remembering Soong Ching Ling at the 75th Anniversary of the PRC

SOONG Ching Ling， one ofthe founders of the People’sRepublic of China （PRC），passed away in 1981 but herwork to support the revolution inChina and create a network of loyalfriends worldwide for the PRC liveson through the China Soong ChingLing Foundation （CSCLF）. Soong’slife was defined by the struggle for anew China and her prolific writingsand speeches have become importantdocuments in Chinese history.

A collection of these as well ashistorical photographs and artifactsare part of a special exhibition onthe occasion of the 75th anniversaryof the founding of the PRC， highlightingher contributions. Orga-nized by the foundation， it is beingheld in her former residence inBeijing， where she lived and workedfor 18 years.

Li Bin， vice chairperson of the13th National Committee of theChinese People’s Political ConsultativeConference （CPPCC） and chairpersonof the CSCLF， attended theopening ceremony with representativesof Soong Ching Ling’s goodfriends. Shen Beili， vice chairpersonof the CSCLF， gave a speech at theceremony. More than 100 peopleattended the opening ceremony andvisited the exhibition.

The exhibition is based on thebook The Struggle for New China ，a collection of articles， speeches，and statements by Soong between1927 and 1952. Late Chinese leaderZhou Enlai inscribed the title and"Chairman Mao Zedong expressedhis “great pleasure” on receiving acopy as a gift. Soong’s lofty idealsare a precious spiritual asset of theChinese people.

In the preface to the book， shewrote the following， “The ChineseRevolution has been unique in manyrespects and the more that is writtenabout it， the more benefit can bederived from its experience... Hopingalso that it would be useful to studentsin their research of this periodin the Chinese people’s struggle.”

Soong， who was married to SunYat-sen， the national hero wholed the revolution that ended theimperial rule in China， continuedhis work after his death by supportingthe Chinese revolution and thePeople’s Republic. She dedicated TheStruggle for New China to “thoseheroes of all the peoples who wantpeace and peaceful construction.”

The exhibition opens with aphotograph of the First National"Congress of the Kuomintang， thenationalist party. Sun Yat-senpresided over the Congress held inGuangzhou in south China in January1924. The Congress establishedthe three major policies of “alliancewith the Soviet Union， cooperationwith the Communist Party ofChina， and advancing the interestsof the workers and peasants，” whichpresented a unified opposition tothe invading Japanese army thoughfor a short time.

After Sun Yat-sen’s death in1925， the two contenders for theleadership of the Kuomintang，Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Jingwei，launched purges， arbitrarily arrestingand killing communists andother revolutionaries. In protest，Soong issued a statement on July14， 1927， saying they were violatingSun Yat-sen’s revolutionary principlesand policies. The statementis the first piece of the exhibition.

In 1927， Soong along with AlbertEinstein， Maxim Gorky， RomainRolland， Henri Barbusse and others，initiated the World CommitteeAgainst Imperialist War to fight imperialismand colonial oppression.On April 1， 1933， she published anarticle， “To the Chinese People –A Call to Rally to the Protection of"Imprisoned Revolutionaries，” demandingthe release of the peoplearrested by the Kuomintang. Subsequently，she went to the GermanConsulate in Shanghai with herfriends to condemn the Germanpersecution of Jews and progressiveGermans.

On September 30， 1933， the FarEast Conference of the World Committeeagainst Imperialist War wasconvened in Shanghai， with Soongpresiding over the meeting. In 1937，the Battle of Shanghai was foughtbetween the nationalists and theJapanese army， with the lattercapturing Shanghai. In November1937， Soong issued a statement oncooperation between the Kuomintangand the Communist Party ofChina， calling on the nation to uniteagainst Japanese invaders. Twoyears later， she wrote “When ChinaWins，” which was published bythe New Masses magazine in NewYork. She attended the first plenarysession of the CPPCC on September21， 1949.

People’s Daily published “OnPeaceful Coexistence” on June 1，1951. In October that year， theChina Reconstructs magazine waslaunched， which later was renamedChina Today . The first issue published"an article by Soong， “WelfareWork and World Peace.” The lastpiece of the exhibition is her 1952article “For Peace in Asia， the PacificRegions， and the World.”

The works not only accuratelyand deeply showcase her thoughtsand practices during this time butalso relate to the collective memoryof the country， the spiritual accumulationof the nation， and theinheritance of culture.

Literature records history， andhistory is transmitted throughliterature. Through this exhibition，the audience experiences theemotional journey of Soong ChingLing during that period and understandsher spiritual world and herstrong sense of responsibility andmission that influenced the Chineserevolution.

The exhibition also includes apeace dove brooch belonging toSoong， the cheongsam she woreduring the War of ResistanceAgainst Japanese Aggression， andSun Yat-sen’s suit. The day theexhibition opened was also the dayin 1949 when Soong Ching Lingwas elected as vice chairperson ofthe Central People’s Government ofthe PRC. The exhibition will run tillDecember 31.