Chinese Communist Party authorities have restored an 80-year-old house once used by Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), as changing relations with Taiwan transform an archenemy into a recognized figure.
Political differences were plastered over as Nanjing — once China’s capital under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — spent US$4.9 million to renovate the three-story house at the base of a hill.
It was one of several houses used by Chiang and his wife Soong Mayling (宋美齡) before they fled to Taiwan in 1949 at the end of the Chinese civil war.
Photo: AFP
Chiang led Taiwan as president until his death 26 years later, still proclaiming himself the rightful ruler of the whole of China.
For decades, the building was kept as a state guesthouse and closed to the public, but the doors were thrown open after a year-long renovation was completed in October.
“This renovation has a very important use for cross-strait cultural exchanges, so we considered that,” said Liao Jinhan, deputy head of the Chinese government agency that administers the surrounding scenic area. “Our feeling is that the house is a very important cultural heritage landmark.”
The chance discovery of an original architectural plan in a closet in the house allowed workers to faithfully restore the building, down to the basement coal room.
“We completely followed the blueprint from that time. You can see from photos of the time, it is exactly the same,” property manager Zhou Zhongxing said.
“The renovation is significant for cross-strait cultural contacts as it shows the mainland’s focus on preserving historical heritage related to the Kuomintang [KMT],” Shanghai Institute for International Studies research fellow Tong Liqun (童立群) said.
“To take relations one step further would mean exchanges in the field of politics, and that is where the two sides are having trouble,” she said.
The historical sensitivity is such that officials commonly refer to the house as the “Mayling Palace” after Chiang’s last wife, despite its status as the former residence of a Chinese head of state.
Soong Mayling was one of the three Soong sisters, who between them married two top Chinese leaders and a wealthy businessman who served as Chinese finance minister.
Few images of Chiang can be seen inside the property, although the study holds a portrait of Sun Yat-sen (孫中山), founding father of the Republic of China — who is revered by both Communists and Nationalists, and whose tomb is on the hill and visible from the house.
An exhibit on the couple’s lives in Taiwan is called “Years on Taiwan island,” highlighting the Chinese doctrine that it is not a country, but part of Chinese territory.
The house has Chinese features, such as the curved roof, but the interior is Western in style, reflecting Soong’s education in the US.
The building also gives subtle hints about the couple’s lifestyle.
Chiang had a room off the main bedroom where he slept, reflecting his military habit of rising early, while Soong Mayling required a Western-style oven, which still survives, and kept ashtrays in the rooms for smoking — a habit she picked up in the US.
A small chapel shows the couple’s embrace of Christianity: Soong Mayling, who was Methodist, insisted that her husband convert to her religion.
“The manor is like its mistress: graceful and elegant, knowing both Chinese and Western style,” a sign reads.
Soong’s achievements are on display in an exhibition which praises her for building support for China in its fight against Japan in the 1930s and 1940s, and her charitable causes.
“She had class,” tour-guide Chen Chen said. “Soong Ching-ling (宋慶齡), the second one, was very pretty.”
The middle Soong sister, Ching-ling, was Sun’s wife and stayed in China after the Communist takeover. The eldest of the trio, Soong Ai-ling (宋靄齡), married financier Kung Hsiang-hsi (孔祥熙).
Since opening in October, tens of thousands have paid the 30 yuan (US$5) ticket price to see the house, but it has proved especially popular with the elderly, some of them old enough to remember Chiang’s time.
A panel in one part of the exhibition reads: “The perfect combination of traditional Chinese architectural style and modern Western construction technology puts this building in the perfect realm of architectural history in modern China.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
THE GOOD WORD: More than 100 colleges on both sides of the Pacific will work together to bring students to Taiwan so they can learn Mandarin where it is spoken A total of 102 universities from Taiwan and the US are collaborating in a push to promote Taiwan as the first-choice place to learn Mandarin, with seven Mandarin learning centers stood up in the US to train and support teachers, the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET) said. At the annual convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held over the weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana, a Taiwan Pavilion was jointly run by 17 representative teams from the FICHET, the Overseas Community Affairs Council, the Steering Committee for the Test of Proficiency-Huayu, the
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
RSS