Soong Ch'ing-ling [ a ] 27 January — 29 May , Christian name Rosamonde [ 1 ] or Rosamond , [ 2 ] was a Chinese political figure. She entered the Communist government in , and was the only female , non-Communist head of state of the People's Republic of China. However, during the subsequent Chinese Civil War , she continued her support to the CCP, leading to a break in ties with her family. She travelled abroad during the early s, representing China at a number of international events. Despite this, her Beijing home was invaded by Red Guards , and her parents' tombs in Shanghai were destroyed.
As the acting Chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from to , Soong was again the acting Head of State, as the office of President had been abolished. During her final illness in May , she was given the special title of " Honorary Chairman of the People's Republic of China ".
As with the Chinese naming tradition, Soong was the family name, Ching-ling was the first name. However, she was not Sun's only wife. Lu Muzhen was also sometimes described with the same term. Following the Chinese Communist Revolution in , she assumed a largely symbolic role in the Communist government in Beijing. Soong Ching-ling was born in Shanghai, China on 27 January , though the exact location of her birth remains debated.
She was educated at a high school run by American missionaries in Shanghai, where she met Charlie Soong. Charlie was deeply committed to education in the United States for his daughters. Ching-ling was among the first government-funded female Chinese students to study in the United States.
The group, consisting of ten male and four female students, departed from Shanghai on 1 August and arrived in Seattle on 28 August, under the escort of Wen Bingzhong [ zh ] , the director of the Foreign Office of the Viceroy of Liangjiang. Although the Soong sisters spent most of their time on campus, they also travelled across the United States, navigating the prevailing anti-Chinese sentiments of the time.
