The 3 Soong sisters honored at alma mater
History reflects ‘example of exchanges’, says China envoy, urging enhanced ties
China’s Ambassador to the US Qin Gang, during a visit to the Soong Sisters Gallery at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, on Friday, said the history of the three Soong sisters at Wesleyan is “a good example of people-to-people exchanges”, and he wants “this friendship and tradition to be amplified”.
The three Soong Sisters — Ai-ling, Ching Ling and Mei-ling — were the first Chinese women to further their education in the US, all three studying at Wesleyan College in the early 1900s. They went on to become influential women in China. Soong Ching Ling, the wife of the revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen, was one of the most revered women in China.
The President of the college, Viva Fowler, gave Qin a tour of the gallery, which has numerous artifacts, photos and memorabilia related to the lives of the Soong sisters and their family.
“The sisters, especially Ching Ling, had a lifelong friendship with their classmates, alumni and Wesleyan administrators,” Fowler said. “We have a substantial collection of Soong-related artifacts that attracted thousands of visitors each year before the pandemic.”
Expressing his admiration for the collections, Qin said: “It feels like a portion of history has come alive and is unfolding before my eyes. Through the photos, notes and correspondence, I can understand how the time the Soong sisters spent here changed their lives, and how it left a rich legacy at the college and even influenced the China-US relationship.”
Wesleyan College occupies a very special and unique place in the China-US relationship and their people-to-people friendships, he said. “The three Soong sisters were educated here more than 100 years ago, and two of the three sisters became the first ladies of modern China. That’s partially due to the education Wesleyan gave to them.”
Acknowledging that the current US-China relationship is very complicated and challenging, Qin said “we need to work harder to put it back on the right track”, and people-to-people exchanges can improve understanding between the two countries just as the Soong sisters helped people in the US understand China when it was fighting against fascists.
Fowler said the school is proud to have been the steward of the Soong sisters’ legacy for all these years, and, in a way, Wesleyan is better known in China than in the US because of the three sisters.
Wesleyan’s connection with China now goes beyond them. The college has formed a partnership with Guangzhou University to offer dual degrees from both schools. More than half of Wesleyan staff had spent months teaching at Guangzhou University before the pandemic, and dozens of staff from Guangzhou University had taught at Wesleyan, Fowler said.
Enriched relationship
As many as 75 Chinese students enrolled at Wesleyan every year before the pandemic.
“Many chose Wesleyan because it’s the alma mater of the mother of their country, Soong Ching Ling. We hope to see those students return very soon,” Fowler said.
A relationship with China enriches the college, Fowler said. “It’s a way to broaden our minds. When we know each other, talk to each other, work with each other, we find that we have more in common with each other than what is different about us.”
During Qin’s visit, he presented Fowler with a certificate in recognition of her outstanding contribution to China-US educational collaboration and women’s education and leadership and donated several books about China and Chinese culture to the college library.
In return, Fowler presented Qin with a 1936 Wedgwood china plate that commemorated the first 100 years of Wesleyan and a portrait of the three Soong sisters by an Atlanta artist.
The same plate was given as a gift to Soong Ching Ling, who placed it above the fireplace next to the portrait of her parents, Fowler said.
Wesleyan will co-host an exhibition on Soong Ching Ling and Sun to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Soong Ching Ling Foundation in Beijing, Fowler said.