Monday, October 7, 2024
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| After breakfast, Jerry gave some of us a lesson in tai chi |
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| Jerry is more skilled than we are in tai chi (KSS) |
Our morning activity was to visit the residence and museum of Song Qingling near
Beihai Hu/North Lake. [I am using
pinyin (the standard system of Romanized spelling for transliterating Chinese) to write her name.]
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| Well-behaved dogs on a walk (KSS) |
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| Beihai Hu/North Lake |
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| The gardens of the former residence of Song Qingling |
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| Long covered walkway |
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| Kids on swings |
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The Rock of Good Fortune is a typical
porous stone taken from Taihu/Tai Lake,
stones which were used as decorative
elements in classical Chinese gardens |
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Memorial statue of Song Qingling, the wife of Sun Yat-sen,
leader of the 1911 Revolution and the first President of the
Republic of China (1912) and later the Premier of the
Kuomintang/Nationalist Party of China (1919-1925) |
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Miss Song was born in Shangahi, educated in a private
girls' school, then attended Fairmount College in Monteagle, TN,
and graduated from Wesleyan College in Macon, GA; this
diamond brooch and woolen waistcoat were given to Song
Qingling by her mother when she left to study in the US |
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Song Qingling and schoolmate
Alexandra Mann in 1912 (KSS) |
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Song Qingling and Sun Yat-sen were
married in 1915, and were considered the
Mother and Father of Modern China |
Sun Yat-sen died in 1925, and his successor was Chiang Kai-shek, who was later defeated by the Chinese Communist Party in 1949 and left in exile to Taiwan. He was married to Qingling's younger sister, Song Meiling.
In 1927, the Kuomintang expelled the Communists to the Soviet Union. Qingling broke with her family and left China for Moscow. She returned to Shanghai in 1931 when her mother died.
In 1939, Song Qingling founded the China Defense League, which raised funds and sought supplies primarily for northern China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. After World War II, it was renamed the China Welfare fund, continuing to seek funds and support for the Chinese Communists.
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Armband of a US Army observation group,
whom Song Qingling had asked to transport
medical supplies during the Sino-Japanese War |
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A diorama showing Mao Zedong and other state leaders
greeting Song Qingling at the Beijing train station in 1949
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When the Communists took over in 1949, Song Qingling was active in the establishment of the People's Republic of China and served a a vice-chair of the Central People's Government. In 1950, she became chair of the Chinese People's Relief Administration, which dealt with welfare and relief issues.
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This Soviet ZIS sedan automobile was given to
Song Qingling by Joseph Stalin |
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At the closing of the First National People's Congress
in 1954, Song Qingling is seen as a Vice Chairperson of the
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress |
From 1959-1975, Son Qingling was one of two Vice Presidents of China. Shortly before her death in 1981, she was named Honorary Chairwoman/President of the People's Republic of China.
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Woolen suit used to meet important
people in the 1970s and 1980s |
It is difficult to summarize Song Qingling's accomplishments for women's rights, child welfare, and social reform. She wrote letters, articles, and speeches about
The Struggle for a New China, her contribution to make China's voice heard in the world.
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Powder compact, lipstick, and small radio,
which belonged to Song Qingling |
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"Phoenix-shaped Scholartree"/Styphnolobium japonicum
that is over 500 years old, and the last residence
(1962, Western style interior) of Song Qingling |
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Dovecote where Madame Song kept doves,
as symbols of peace |
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| Song Qingling's bedroom and study (KSS) |
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| Small kitchen used personally by Madame Song |
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| Library/study |
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| Small reception room for meeting party and state leaders |
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Song Qingling liked to play this game of caroms,
often with her staff members |
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| Small dining room |
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| A peace dove brooch |
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| Snacks of sugar-coated fruits |
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Blue license plates denote regular cars which are
restricted as to the days they can be driven, whereas cars
with green plates mean they are electric or hybrid,
and can be driven every day |
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| Street lamps |
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During the National Day (October 1st) holiday week, children
came to drop their rubber duckies in Beihai Hu/North Lake; this
worker is done with collecting the ducks on her paddleboard |
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| Caramel lollipops in the shape of animals |
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| Luffa aegyptiaca/Loofah Sponge Gourds |
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| McDonald's with food delivery services ready to go |
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A walk through the hutongs (alleys crowded
with houses built around a courtyard)
had doorways that showed the rank of the
occupant; however, today, the larger
"mansions" have been partitioned into
apartments for the proletariat |
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The wooden boards are to prevent dogs
from urinating on the car wheels |
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| A more typical hutong |
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Many hutongs do not have running water, so
these community bathrooms are necessary |
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| Jianzi/Chinese hacky sack using a weighted shuttlecock |
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| Art lesson in the park |
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| Restaurant of a former kung fu master |
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| Oh! The food is almost gone |
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| We were eating in the two downstairs rooms... |
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...while the kung fu master played the erhu/
two-stringed bowed musical instrument |
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I never saw the wife who cooked the meal
in this tiny space, for 24 guests! |
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| The kung fu master's son was in a movie with Jackie Chan |
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