Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China

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It’s certainly far from hyperbolic to say that these three women shaped China; that, without them, China today would not be the nation we know today. Three sisters, daughters of a Christian preacher, grew up to become the wives and advisors of China’s most powerful men, affecting their moves and decisions and helping carve out a new China. Their stories are incredible, almost beyond belief. And the way that Jung Chang tells them is masterful, to say the least. All three sisters enjoyed tremendous privilege and glory, but also endured constant mortal danger. They showed great courage and experienced passionate love, as well as despair and heartbreak. They remained close emotionally, even when they embraced opposing political camps and Ching-ling dedicated herself to destroying her two sisters’ worlds. This is partly because the sisters lives are so bound up with these two towering figures, but also because Jung Chang portrays history as a fundamentally personal process and so wants to get as close as possible to the people who “made history”: what were the motives for their decisions and how did their personalities affect the course of events. Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China by Jung Chang, was a sweeping and gripping account of the Soong family of Shanghai, not only of these three sisters that played a large part in the shaping of the history of China in the twentieth century, but it also tells about their three brothers, each making history in their own right, as part of the inner circle of the Chiang Kai-shek regime. Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister is a gripping story of love, war, intrigue, bravery, glamour and betrayal, which takes us on a sweeping journey from Canton to Hawaii to New York, from exiles’ quarters in Japan and Berlin to secret meeting rooms in Moscow, and from the compounds of the Communist elite in Beijing to the corridors of power in democratic Taiwan. In a group biography that is by turns intimate and epic, Jung Chang reveals the lives of three extraordinary women who helped shape twentieth-century China.

Huge, huge power. My father loved writing and encouraged us to write diaries. But I had to destroy my diary during the revolution. Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister is a monumental work, worthy both of Jung Chang’s Mao and of the great, rambling, heterogeneous Chinese folk epics of the oral past, such as The Water Margin and The Three Kingdoms. Its three fairy-tale heroines, poised between east and west, spanned three centuries, two continents and a revolution, with consequences that reverberate, perhaps now more than ever, in all our lives to this day. Hilary Spurling, Spectator Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister upends a great many myths that have been propagated both by the Chinese government in Beijing and the China Lobby in the US. The three sisters’s father, Soong Charlie, grew up poor but gained the advantage of a missionary education. Trained as a missionary himself in the United States, he found ways for all six of his children to gain American college degrees. They all became fluent English speakers. Getting close to in this case means giving the dirty laundry a good airing. Sun Yat-sen, the bad father of China

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The Soong sisters came from a world of privilege—they had every comfort they could want and were the first Chinese women to be educated at American universities. They even spoke English more comfortably than their native tongues. What set them on their paths to destiny was perhaps their father’s love for the country. By quietly funding Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary schemes to democratize China, Charlie Soong inadvertently introduced his daughters to the world of politics. Ei-ling, Big Sister, was the eldest daughter of Charlie Soong; a fiercely strategic, sharp, ambitious, and intelligent woman who rose to become an advisor to Chiang Kai-shek – an advisor with so much strength that she could have accurately been called his puppet master. Sun Yat-sen, who pioneered the idea that China should become a republic, became angry when he was not elected as the republic's first president. He did everything he could to supplant the elected government, even soliciting funds from Germany and Japan, so that he could be the leader. He died without achieving his goal. Ching-ling was devoted to him until she learned that even her life was expendable. Later, as his widow, she became a symbol for the Communists. From here, the accomplishments, frustrations, and failures of Sun continue, with Ei-ling and Ching-ling’s lives weaving in and out of the narrative as necessary. Little Sister May-ling doesn’t appear until the book’s half-way point and, before that, a large focus is placed on Red Sister Ching-ling as she marries and dedicates herself to Sun completely, until his cold and callous actions create an irreparable rift between them.

Miss Ni was an “unyieldingly independent” character who had rebelled against her parents’ attempts to bind her feet (as they had done with her siblings) and developed a serene spirituality. May-ling recalled that one of her strongest childhood memories was “Mother going to a room she kept for the purpose on the third floor to pray. She spent hours in prayer, often beginning before dawn.” I feel very bad. She’s just come out of hospital. I wish I could just jump on a plane and go and see her. Fortunately, we can Skype. My mother is extraordinary. I still draw strength from her capacity to make me feel that everything is OK, that I should just be myself. She can take anything: glory, danger, hardship. I would recommend this book for anyone with an interest in early 20th Century China. Using the three sisters it brings the politics of the period to life. You will get most out of it if you already have some knowledge of this period because you will then be able to appreciate just how controversial Chang is on occasion – and also weigh up more independently whether you think she is right or wrong in her judgements. It is these judgements – which for me come across as superficial and / or misguided on critical points – that prevent a good book from being a great one.Once upon a time, a wealthy man lived in Shanghai with his devoutly Christian wife, with whom he had three sons and three daughters. The girls grew up to be educated, cultured and stylish, and their family’s money and status attracted many aspiring suitors. In an era when China was experiencing significant political upheaval, each sister married an influential man and secured her position at the top of society. Their selection of husbands appeared to crystallize an essential aspect of each woman’s character, as summed up by an oft-repeated saying: “One loved money, one loved power and one loved China.” Buku ini sengaja saya baca utk yg pertama di tahun 2021 krn saya kuatir bakal lama membaca buku nonfiksi biografi berbahasa Inggris. To my surprise, I couldn't believe I finished read this book today. I'm so happy and excited because this book is great and very good for biography/memoir. Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister is a gripping story of love, war, intrigue, bravery, glamour and betrayal, which takes us on a sweeping journey… a group biography that is by turns intimate and epic, Jung Chang reveals the lives of three extraordinary women who helped shape twentieth-century China. Southern Star

This is a magnificent biography of the three Soong sisters, Ei-ling, Ching-ling, and May-ling. Each of the girls were sent, as young children, to be educated in the United States. Ei-Ling, known as "Big Sister," married H.H. Kung, a business man, and ultimately became the wealthiest woman in China. Ching-ling, known as "Red Sister," married the "father of China," Sun Yat-sen, and ultimately rose to be Mao Zedung's Vice-Chair. May-ling, known as "Little Sister," became Madame Chiang Kai-Shek and first lady pre-Communist Nationalist China. This is an extraordinary and riveting account of the life stories of the Soong sisters and their involvement and influence in the sweep of the turbulent history in China during the twentieth century. But what we are not told is why people still followed his lead? Why did his opinion matter? What was it that made people listen to him? Without influence all these destructive dreams mean nothing. I am non the wiser after reading this account, but to say it was all Sun’s fault seems superficial to say the least.

Jung Chang divides the book into five parts spanning the years 1866 – 2003. It features the rise of Sun Yat-Sen and the overthrow of the Chinese monarchy to May-Ling’s marriage to Chiang Kai-Shek. Dari yg saya baca ini hidup mereka sangat tidak mudah dan enak dibayangkan oleh saya yg boleh dibilang lahir pd menjelang akhir abad 20. Ayah mereka punya visi jauh ke depan sehingga dari awal anak-anaknya baik perempuan maupun lelaki disekolahkan dikirim jauh ke Amerika di seberang lautan tanpa pendampingan, supaya mereka hidup mandiri. Sekembalinya mereka ke Cina, 2 diantaranya bekerja pd Dr Sun dan salah satunya jatuh cinta dan memutuskan kawin lari. Hidup dikejar-kejar "musuh" suami mereka di zaman Warlord ini (dlm kasus ini, Ching Ling dan May Ling) membuat mereka keguguran dan tidak bisa memiliki anak. Dan masih banyak lagi pengorbanan mereka dlm membantu suami mereka utk mempersatukan Cina.