Mme. Chiang Kai-shek and her two worlds: 1908--1949 (China, United States, Mayling Soong)

The major focus of this study is to investigate Mayling Soong's political experience from 1908, when she entered America as a student, to 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek's government left the mainland for Taiwan. Within the context of ideological, political, and cultural interaction between Mayling Soong and America, this project shows through an examination of Mme. Chiang's background, activities, and influence some of the reasons for her many achievements and fundamental political failures in her Chinese and American worlds.; Through literature review, analysis of primary sources, and analysis of official documents, this study demonstrates that her American experience shaped her world view and this view helped her fashion a new China. Despite her efforts she failed in her endeavor to modernize China by introducing American values and practices. During the Second World War, she made a substantial contribution to the national war effort by engaging in relief and publicity activities and by obtaining moral and financial support from other nations, especially from the United States. As an insider in two political and philosophical worlds, she ultimately was rejected as an outsider by both—the marginal cultural thinking and habits of her native country made it difficult for the two worlds to accept her wholeheartedly.