Charles Jones Soong Reference collection, 1882-1995
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Summary
- Creator:
- Duke University. University Archives
- Abstract:
- Han Chiao-shun (Charles "Charlie" Jones Soong), born in Hainan, China in 1866, was Trinity College's (Randolph County, N.C.) first international student. He was an American-trained missionary who became a successful business man and industrialist in Shanghai as well as patriarch of the Soong family. Collection contains correspondence, publications, clippings, and articles concerning Charles Jones Soong and the Soong family.
- Extent:
- 0.25 Linear Feet
- Language:
- Material in English
- Collection ID:
- UA.01.11.0058
- University Archives Record Group:
- 01 -- General Information and University History
01 -- General Information and University History > 11 -- Reference Collections
Background
- Scope and content:
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Collection contains correspondence, publications, articles, and clippings related to Charles Jones Soong, his time in Durham and at Trinity College, and the Soong family. Correspondence includes photocopies of the letters of Charles Jones Soong, T. V. Soong, Madame Chiang Kai-shek (May-ling Soong) and a brief letter from Franklin D. Roosevelt to T. V. Soong. Most of the materials are photocopies of the originals, and transcription is provided for select materials.
- Biographical / historical:
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Han Chiao-shun (Charles "Charlie" Jones Soong) was Trinity College's first international student. Born in 1866 in the Wench'ang district of the island of Hainan, off the coast of the Kwangtung province of China, he was the youngest of three boys. Around 1875, he was sent off to the East Indies with one of his brothers to find work. Three years later, he was adopted by a childless maternal uncle and taken to the United States where his name was changed to Soon Chai-Jui.
Upon arriving in the United States, the young Soong worked in his uncle's tea and silk shop in Boston. He then became a cabin boy in the Coast Guard where he met Eric Gabrielson. Gabrielson, a devout Methodist, talked to Soong about Christianity and took him to church whenever they were in port. On November 7, 1880, Charles Jones Soon (the final "g" was not added until his return to China in 1886) was baptized at the Fifth Street Methodist Church in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Soong, who had expressed interest in securing an education and returning to China as a missionary, received aid from Julian S. Carr of Durham, North Carolina. Carr financed his education at Trinity College in Randolph County, North Carolina (the forerunner of Duke University). Soong studied under Braxton Craven, president of Trinity, from 1881 to 1882 as a "special and preparatory student." In the fall of 1882, Soong entered the theological seminary of Vanderbilt University.
In January 1886, Soong arrived in Shanghai as a missionary under the auspices of the North Carolina Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In 1887, he married Ni Kwei-Tseng. They had six children- Ai-ling, Ching-ling, May-ling, Tse-ven, Tse-liang, and Tse-an. Soong continued to serve as a missionary until 1892 and went into private enterprise. Although no longer a missionary, Soong continued to be a "devout and active Christian" founding the YMCA in China, working with the American Bible Society in Shanghai, teaching Sunday school classes, and providing financial support. Some of his business ventures included publishing bibles through his publishing house and operating a flour mill. Charles Jones Soong died in 1918 in Shanghai.
The Soong family are often regarded as "republican China's first family." Although the exact extent of Charles Soong's participation in the revolutionary movement is undocumented, he was known to be an ardent supporter and close friend of Sun Yat-sen. His children Ai-ling, Ching-ling, and Tse-ven worked as secretaries for Sun at different times. Ching-ling and Ai-ling graduated from Wesleyan College. Ching-ling was vice chair of the People's Republic and was known as the "Mother of China." She married Sun Yat-sen in 1915. May-ling graduated from Wellesley College and worked to amass financial and military support for China during the country's war with Japan. She married Chiang Kai-shek, a Chinese Nationalist and military leader, in 1927. Soong's eldest son, Tse-ven, graduated from Harvard University. He was head of the Central Bank of China and served as China's finance minister and minister of foreign affairs.
- Acquisition information:
- This collection was compiled from a variety of sources by the University Archives staff for use in reference and research.
- Processing information:
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Processed by Archives Staff, July 2004
Encoded by Sherrie Bowser, December 2007
Updated February 2014
Materials refoldered and redescribed by April Blevins, August 2025
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Subjects
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Contents
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- Restrictions:
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Collection is open for research.
- Terms of access:
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Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
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- Preferred citation:
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[Identification of item], Charles Jones Soong Reference Collection, Duke University Archives, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
- Permalink:
- https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m11h7d