Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China by Jung Chang (PDF)

Description

They were the most famous sisters in China. As the country battled through a hundred years of wars, revolutions and seismic transformations, the three Soong sisters from Shanghai were at the center of power, and each of them left an indelible mark on history.Red Sister, Ching-ling, married the ‘Father of China’, Sun Yat-sen, and rose to be Mao’s vice-chair. Little Sister, May-ling, became Madame Chiang Kai-shek, first lady of pre-Communist Nationalist China and a major political figure in her own right. Big Sister, Ei-ling, became Chiang’s unofficial main adviser – and made herself one of China’s richest women. 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.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.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “Deeply researched, Chang’s book is a riveting read”—The New York Times Book Review “Chang adds another title to her series of lively depictions of key figures in Modern Chinese history . . . This accessible book will appeal to history buffs and biography fans in addition to those already familiar with the Chang’s body of work.”—Library Journal “The book intertwines the intimate with the big historical picture, tying their personal stories to the deep and irreconcilable political divisions among them . . . it is stamped by her revisionist impulse.”—The Atlantic “A highly readable and accessible introduction to three important women who deserve wider recognition.”—Booklist “Chang seamlessly chronicles the lives and marriages of the Soong sisters in this captivating triple biography. . . . This juicy tale will satisfy readers interested in politics, world affairs, and family dynamics.” —Publishers Weekly”One of this autumn’s biggest reads, it’s an astounding story told with verve and insight”—Stylist“The complicated history of China during this period is little-known to most Westerners, so this readable book helps fill a gap. By hooking it onto personalities, Jung Chang has been able to chart a comprehensible way through these decades and an immense mass of information that could otherwise be difficult to digest.”—Washington Times“Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister is a monumental work . . . 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.”—The Spectator “The book’s strongest point is its nuanced sympathy for the sisters . . . The lives of the three Song sisters—the subjects of Jung Chang’s spirited new book—are more than worthy of an operatic plot.”—The Guardian “[Chang] paints China’s intense and complex history in bold strokes . . . It is a rollicking ride.”—Literary Review “Absorbing . . . In this lucid, wise, forgiving biography Chang gives a new twist to an old line. Behind every great man . . . is a Soong sister.”—The Times (UK)“Utterly engrossing…it stars a trio of extraordinary women, each of whom enjoyed tremendous privilege and fame, but also endured contact attached and mortal danger as well as heartbreak and despair. Their gripping collecting story reads like Wild Swans meets the Mitfords; and the history feels remarkably close to our own times too.”—The Bookseller “[Chang’s] book is well worth reading, in particular for the way it shows how powerful women have helped to shape modern China. At a time when, 70 years after Mao’s victory, the country’s political leadership contains almost no prominent women at all, that is a particularly apposite message to hear.”—The Sunday Times“In the hands of master storyteller and contrarian Jung Chang, the old tale finds a new interpretation by one who knows well the intricacies of family, influence, gender, and power in modern China . . . A provocative view of the historical times that produced these extraordinary sisters”—Air Mail“Her breathtaking new triple biography restores these “tiger-willed” women to their extraordinarily complex humanity . . . A gripping and emotional personal story.”—The Telegraph About the Author JUNG CHANG (張戎) is the author of the best-selling books Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (1991), which the Asian Wall Street Journal called the most read book about China; Mao: The Unknown Story (2005, with Jon Halliday), which was described by Time magazine as “an atom bomb of a book”; and Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China (2013), a New York Times “notable book”. Her books have been translated into more than 40 languages and sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. She has won many awards, including the UK Writers’ Guild Best Non-Fiction and Book of the Year UK, and has received a number of honorary doctorates from universities in the UK and USA (Buckingham, York, Warwick, Dundee, the Open University, and Bowdoin College, USA). She is an Honorary Fellow of SOAS University of London.Jung Chang was born in Sichuan Province, China, in 1952. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) she worked as a peasant, a “barefoot” doctor, a steelworker, and an electrician before becoming an English-language student at Sichuan University. She left China for Britain in 1978 and obtained a PhD in Linguistics in 1982 at the University of York – the first person from Communist China to receive a doctorate from a British university.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The backdrop to the three fascinating, influential sisters is a landscape of China painted by three men – Sun Yat Sen (‘Sun”), Chiang Kai Shek (‘Chiang’), and Mao Tze Tung. There is a longer list of supporting characters like Charlie Soong and Chou En Lai, but the focus of this book is on the three sisters; thus, the men who complete the picture of the rebirth of a nation. Big sister is Soong Ei-Ling (‘Big Sister’), Little Sister is May-Ling (‘Little Sister’), and Red Sister is Ching-Ling (‘Red Sister’). Jung Chang (‘Chang’) became famous for her earlier book on another trio of women – her grandmother, her mother, and herself, ‘The Wild Swans’. This is as riveting as her earlier books (including ‘The Empress Dowager’), and in some ways, more stunning. Chang has written a biography with the meticulousness of a historian and the subtlety of a novelist. Her style and the subject personalities make this book compelling. She has kept adjectives sparse and made strong play with verbs and nouns – truly in Orwellian style. That has also ensured that she does not go overboard with her own judgment of the personalities. She describes them and lets her readers form their own opinions. Sun, who married Red Sister, was once revered by Chinese outside China, but his stature has been diminished by his own fallibility and ambition – faults comparable to that of his brother-in-law, Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek’s. Had these two men cared more of China than their own wealth and self-aggrandisement, the history of China would have been different. Charlie Soong, the father of the three sisters has a side of him that is Methodist preacher, and the other, a calculating businessman. A strong supporter of Sun, he objected to him marrying his second daughter, Red Sister. Sun was 48 years old and Red Sister was then only in her twenties. She adored Sun throughout her life, but Chang hinted in her book that Red Sister’s love and admiration evaporated when she realised that Sun made use of her when he was escaping his enemies in Canton, risking her life for his ambition.Big Sister married H H Kung (‘Kung’) who was a business man in name only because Big Sister was the brains and driving force behind him and Sun, both of whom she manipulated. Little Sister married Chiang, an avaricious, womaniser, and ambitious man with little scruples – exactly like Sun, his mentor. When he was captured by a warlord and about to be turned over to the communists, Little Sister, aided by Big Sister, arranged for his release. There are good men and women in this historical too, and Chang is very clear who they were and of her own sympathies with them. Among them, Marshall Wu Pei-Fu, a warlord (not all warlords were bad), and Mu-Zhen, Sun’s first and long-suffering wife. And the sisters? They were all bright, manipulative, and ambitious. All became drunk with the power that came with the men they manipulate (the slant given by Chang, although other accounts suggest that Sun and Chiang did what they did mainly on their own, with just some influence from the sisters). They became as avaricious as their women – save for Red Sister. Sun created his own bank for China but under his name, and listed all its assets in his papers under ‘family affairs’. Sometimes, one cannot help but feel that the whole of China was a Mu-zhen.

⭐I have enjoyed other Jung Chang books on China and was getting into this one – until page126 was followed by p. 199. Then p. 230 skipped back to p.156 and ran until p. 278 went right to p.39, which continued to p.70 and then p. 311. I liked the Choose Your Own Adventure series as a kid, but I didn’t think this was supposed to be one of them! The misprinting isn’t just erroneously inserted sections – the bound mini-sections skip right in their middles; mine can’t be the only misprinted copy out there, so check yours before reading or sticking on a shelf for later! We have 1 day to get ours in for a return.My impressions of the content so far: as other reviewers have stated, it’s a little hard to get into as the sisters’ story is approached slowly. But if you read the introduction you will note that the author originally intended to write about Sun Yat-Sen and the period between Empress Dowager Cixi and Mao Ze-dong, but found that the Soong sisters’ story was a more interesting viewpoint, so she gives the background for their entrance into the saga first. Also, the timeline goes back and forth a bit, and this is somewhat characteristic of Chang’s other books; maybe consult or make a timeline to keep things straight as you read. It also would be helpful to have Chinese name pronunciations more clearly indicated in the text or introduction for “auditory” readers like myself.UPDATE: New replacement copy received quickly, and with all the pages in the correct order!

⭐I just finished it. It is interesting but I don’t think it’s her best work. I liked Seagrave’s “Soong Dynasty “ better I think because she fled China as a young woman under Mao that she comes off as glossing over how much wealth the Soong clan stole from China. Seagrave really puts it to them flat out calling them crooks and thugs. So I figure that somewhere in the middle, probably closer to Seagrave, the reality must lie.

⭐but skip the first few chapters about Sun Yat Sen. There is far too much detail for chapters and chapters about Sun which most details really have little bearing on the alleged purpose of the book being about the Soong sisters. It I s like reading a separate book you did not select. By the time you get past all that unnecessary detail, you finally reach the book you selected to read. It’s like schizophrenia. The author has tried to marry a boring book about Sun with an interesting book a out the Soong sisters. The portion of the book about the Soong sisters is very good, but even so, it tries to be linear, but gets lost when backtracking to focus on a different sister or event. The book needs a good editor who is not afraid to delete some material that the author is roo close to because it is historical info -but unfortunately sends the book off track. That would also probably omit the need for some redundancies which tell me that the author keeps making some of the same points to bring us back to the Soongs b/ c he know the story went off track. I am now debating about whether I want to read the author’s book about CIXi. I probably will, but I know that I am forewarned.

⭐This book gets a little overwhelmed in details, but it’s a good read. Informative.

⭐Very interesting book of Chinese history and how the Soong family work and manipulated countries and societies.

⭐Always interesting to read about China through the experiences of the three Soong sisters. Find the mysteries of 20th century China unwrapped.

⭐The backdrop to the three fascinating, influential sisters is a landscape of China painted by three men – Sun Yat Sen (‘Sun”), Chiang Kai Shek (‘Chiang’), and Mao Tze Tung. There is a longer list of supporting characters like Charlie Soong and Chou En Lai, but the focus of this book is on the three sisters; thus, the men who complete the picture of the rebirth of a nation. Big sister is Soong Ei-Ling (‘Big Sister’), Little Sister is May-Ling (‘Little Sister’), and Red Sister is Ching-Ling (‘Red Sister’). Jung Chang (‘Chang’) became famous for her earlier book on another trio of women – her grandmother, her mother, and herself, ‘The Wild Swans’. This is as riveting as her earlier books (including ‘The Empress Dowager’), and in some ways, more stunning. Chang has written a biography with the meticulousness of a historian and the subtlety of a novelist. Her style and the subject personalities make this book compelling. She has kept adjectives sparse and made strong play with verbs and nouns – truly in Orwellian style. That has also ensured that she does not go overboard with her own judgment of the personalities. She describes them and lets her readers form their own opinions. Sun, who married Red Sister, was once revered by Chinese outside China, but his stature has been diminished by his own fallibility and ambition – faults comparable to that of his brother-in-law, Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek’s. Had these two men cared more of China than their own wealth and self-aggrandisement, the history of China would have been different. Charlie Soong, the father of the three sisters has a side of him that is Methodist preacher, and the other, a calculating businessman. A strong supporter of Sun, he objected to him marrying his second daughter, Red Sister. Sun was 48 years old and Red Sister was then only in her twenties. She adored Sun throughout her life, but Chang hinted in her book that Red Sister’s love and admiration evaporated when she realised that Sun made use of her when he was escaping his enemies in Canton, risking her life for his ambition.Big Sister married H H Kung who was a business man in name only because Big Sister was the brains and driving force behind him and Sun, both of whom she manipulated. Little Sister married Chiang, an avaricious, womaniser, and ambitious man with little scruples – exactly like Sun, his mentor. When he was captured by a warlord and about to be turned over to the communists, Little Sister, aided by Big Sister, arranged for his release. There are good men and women in this historical too, and Chang is very clear who they were and of her own sympathies with them. Among them, Marshall Wu Pei-Fu, a warlord (not all warlords were bad), and Mu-Zhen, Sun’s first and long-suffering wife. And the sisters? They were all bright, manipulative, and ambitious. All became drunk with the power that came with the men they manipulate (the slant given by Chang, although other accounts suggest that Sun and Chiang did what they did mainly on their own, with just some influence from the sisters). They became as avaricious as their women – save for Red Sister. Sun created his own bank for China but under his name, and listed all its assets in his papers under ‘family affairs’. Sometimes, one cannot help but feel that the whole of China was a Mu-zhen.

⭐A great subject. The three Soong sisters are fascinating characters. Their extraordinary story spans the history of modern China. I learned a lot. I read the whole book with a great deal of enjoyment, even though my energy flagged toward the end.I’m still not quite sure what this book is. It’s not really a biography of three influential women in the 20th century. It’s more of a political history of events where the three sisters played important parts. In some chapters, there seems to be more on the two key husbands – Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek – than on the three women themselves. The style is a little disjointed and the book would have benefitted from a tough editor. The observations are often naïve.I don’t regret reading the book. On the contrary. but I did come away feeling disappointed.

⭐I read this for my book club, we chose it thinking it would be a great insight into the sisters lives in revolutionary China. It’s very much about the MEN in their lives and little about the women themselves. It’s very dry and very boring to read. I gave up about 20% in, others in my book group felt similar. Those who did enjoy it were interested in political history.

⭐A fascinating and highly readable swing through Chinese history in the 20th century, tracing the involvement of three women who were there or thereabouts at most of the key moments and had a significant yet comparatively little known influence on world events. As in her other books, Jung slices through the propaganda and hagiography that surrounds the major figures of the time and allows us to draw our own conclusions as to their true nature from their actions and omissions.

⭐An interesting topic, however the style of writing was rather like a list. The sisters are not introduced until well into the book and the timeline is very confusing. This book could have been written in a much more engaging way.

Keywords

Free Download Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China in PDF format
Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China PDF Free Download
Download Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China 2019 PDF Free
Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China 2019 PDF Free Download
Download Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China PDF
Free Download Ebook Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China