Soong Ai-ling


Soong Ai-ling, legally Soong E-ling or Eling Soong was the eldest of the Soong sisters and the wife of H. H. Kung, who was the richest man in the early 20th century Republic of China. The first character of her given name is written as 靄 in some texts. Her Christian name was Nancy.

Life

Born in Shanghai, she attended McTyeire School beginning at age 5. Soong Ai-ling arrived in the United States at the Port of San Francisco, California on June 30, 1904, aboard the SS Korea at the age of 14 to begin her education at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. She returned to China in 1909 after her graduation. In late 1911, she worked as a secretary for Sun Yat-sen, a job later succeeded by her sister, Soong Ching-ling, who later became Madame Sun Yat-sen.
Soong Ai-ling met her future husband, Kung Hsiang Hsi, in 1913, and married the following year in Yokohama. After marrying, Soong taught English for a while and engaged in child welfare work. She went to the United States in the 1940s. She died at age 83 on October 18, 1973 at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. She is interred in a mausoleum at Ferncliff Cemetery in Westchester County, New York.

Children

In the 1997 Hong Kong movie The Soong Sisters, Soong Ai-ling was portrayed by actress Michelle Yeoh.