"It would be hard to find a parallel in modern times to the Soongs and their in-laws, from Sun Yat-sen to Chiang Kai-shek, for the wide swath they cut in history and their influence, mostly for the worse, on so many hundreds and millions of people. Their story is a major part of modern Chinese history and an important slice of American history as well.

"The Soong Dynasty is a tremendous though tragic story, marvelously told. "

--Professor Edwin O. Reischauer; Harvard University

"Mr. Seagrave is a fine investigative reporter--digging up information from a multitude of sources, much of it original, and piecing together a gripping account of epochal events."

--Frank Chiug, Wall Street Jou rnal

Descendants of a Chinese runaway who grew up in America under the protection of the Methodist church and who returned to his homeland to make a fortune selling Western Bibles, the Soong family became the principal rulers of China during the first half of the 20th century and won the support of the American government and press for many decades. In The Soong Dynasty Sterling Seagrave describes for the first time the intricate and fascinating rise to power of Charlie Soong and his children: daughters Ai-ling, who married one of China’s richest men, H. H. Kung; Ching-ling, who married Sun Yat-sen, leader of China’s republican revolution; May-ling, who married Chiang Kai-shek, the autocratic ruler of Nationalist China whose ties to the Shanghai underworld the author has documented; and son T. V. Soong, who at various times served as Chiang’s economic minister, foreign minister, and premier. How all of the Soongs except Ching-ling amassed enormous wealth while millions of Chinese starved or were killed in the long fight against Japan and the equally bitter struggle with,Mao are just some of the revelations in this explosive book.

The Soong Dynasty: A Genealogical Chart

A Note on Names and Sources 

Prologue SHANGHAI TAPESTRY 

One A RUNAWAY CELESTIAL 

Two THE HYBRID RETURNS 

Three THE REVOLUTIONARIES 

Four THE MONEYMAN 

Five THE PRODIGIES 

Six THE FATAL EUPHEMISM

Seven  THE DRAGON’S TEETH 

Eight THE DANCING BEAR 

Nine SCRAMBLE FOR POWER 

Ten THE GREEN CONSPIRACY

Eleven  ALL IN THE FAMILY 

Twelve A TALE OF TWO SISTERS

Thirteen THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRIES 

Fourteen THE HIGH PRIEST 

Fifteen TOOTHLESS AT TIGER ROCK 

Sixteen ON FAMILY BUSINESS 

Seventeen LITTLE SISTER WOOS AMERICA 

Eighteen A HOUSE DIVIDED 

Nineteen ASHES, ASHES, ALL FALL DOWN

Twenty THE SOONG LEGACY 

Epilogue THE CONCUBINE IN THE WELL 

Acknowledgments

Notes 

Bibliography 

Index