An Unexpected Introduction
The first thing I noticed when the minibus in which my wife and I were riding drove into the entrance courtyard of the Maoming (Guangdong) Social Welfare Institute was a large statue of a stately-looking woman. We were traveling with three other couples, all of whom, like us, would be adopting a baby girl in an hour or so.
We were very tired from the long journey, but incredibly excited to receive our daughter. It was October 15, 1996. When I came down the steps to exit the minibus, I was drawn to the statue, however I knew I needed to follow the group to enter the orphanage.
When my four-month-old daughter, Kathryn, was placed in my arms, my heart became instantly connected to China through the miracle of adoption. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my heart would also soon be connected to the woman whose statue I had noticed in the entrance courtyard. Later that day, I asked our adoption facilitator whose statue it was. He told me, “Soong Qingling.”
Discovering Soong Qingling
I hadn’t heard of her. I wondered what her connection to the orphanage was. After I returned home, I went to the library and discovered a book titled The Soong Dynasty. Written by Sterling Seagrave, the book tells the story of Charlie Soong and his six children, one of whom was Soong Qingling. The Soong family was a prominent family whose fortunes were interwoven throughout China’s twentieth-century history.
Charlie Soong was an American-educated Methodist who returned to China in 1886 after receiving a theology degree from Vanderbilt. Qingling (born in 1893) was the middle daughter of his three daughters. Like their father, all three daughters were international students in the US. Qingling graduated from Wesleyan College, a private women’s college in Macon, Georgia, founded with Methodist roots.
The oldest daughter, Ailing, married Kung Hsiang-Hsi, who became China’s minister of finance. The youngest daughter, Meiling, married Chiang Kai-shek, moving to Taiwan after the Kuomintang’s loss in the Chinese Civil War.
Qingling married Sun Yat-sen, who was instrumental in the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 and is considered the “founding father” of the Republic of China. After Sun’s death in 1925, Qingling became politically active. When the People’s Republic of China was formed in 1949, Qingling, unlike her sisters, stayed in the PRC and later became a senior state leader, including serving as vice chair (vice president) of the PRC. At a time when the PRC was isolated from many other countries, Qingling was an unofficial ambassador, traveling abroad to represent the PRC. In China, Qingling focused on setting up institutions focused on social welfare and women’s rights.
Why the Statue Stands There
Which gets us back to the statue at the Maoming Social Welfare Institute—the statue honors Qingling because she was the founder of the institutes that care for orphans. I was very inspired by her love for orphans and felt a strong heart connection.
Connecting Past and Present
When each of my daughters turned nine, I brought them to China, in part to facilitate a heart connection with their birth country. In 2007, when Kathryn was nine, she traveled to Beijing with me. The highlight of the trip for me was not the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, or the Great Wall—instead, it was a visit to the former home of Soong Qingling. She lived in Beijing from 1963 until she passed away in 1981. Her home is now a museum. It is filled with mementos given to her on trips abroad and other meaningful items.
In 2008, I traveled to Shanghai with my second daughter, also from the Maoming orphanage. Qingling returned to Shanghai after World War II and lived there until 1963, when she relocated to Beijing. The highlight of our time in Shanghai was visiting her former home there, now a museum filled with mementos from her travels.
Walking through Qingling’s former homes with my adopted daughters after reading so much about her and learning about her heart for children was very powerful. Stopping in each room to reflect and share a bit with my daughters created moments of genuine connection.
A Shared Calling Across Generations
Another heart connection is that for the past 25 years, I have worked for a Christian ministry that welcomes international students to the US. Qingling is yet another example of someone who returns to his or her home country and has a big impact on society.
Now, almost 20 years after my visits, the priority of heart connection to Chinese children has grown even stronger. As I continue to share meaningful moments with my children now that they are in their 20s, I continue to reflect on the blessing of having a heart connection with Soong Qingling.
Heart Connections That Endure
As I look back now, I realize that these moments of connection—between people, places, and stories—don’t happen by accident. They are nurtured, protected, and sustained by communities that choose to listen, to remember, and to walk alongside others with patience and care.
A Shared Journey Forward
ChinaSource has been one of those communities for me over the years. As it enters this next season, my hope is that more readers will find their own place within this shared journey—whether through prayer, presence, or practical support—so that these heart connections can continue to form, deepen, and bear fruit for the generations to come.
