After meeting Sun Yat-sen, Wang Jingwei, and Chen Bijun in Nanjing, Mao decided to travel to Shanghai to see Soong Ching-ling.

Throughout her life, Soong could be described as a loyal ally of the Chinese Communist Party, consistently aligned with the left. She served as Vice President of the state and, after her death, was honored as Honorary President of the People’s Republic. Shortly before her passing, she joined the Party, formally becoming a “comrade.” She and Mao were born in the same year; she was eleven months older, and Mao affectionately called her “Elder Sister.” Soong Ching-ling died in Beijing on May 29, 1981. The state held a state funeral for her and, in accordance with her will, interred her ashes on June 4 in the Soong family burial plot at the International Cemetery in Shanghai, beside her parents. In 1986, a memorial stele was erected at the Soong Ching-ling Mausoleum, bearing Deng Xiaoping’s handwritten inscription: “Comrade Soong Ching-ling is immortal.”

Mao’s wandering spirit first lingered before Soong Ching-ling’s statue, then went to the Soong family gravesite, and afterward visited the “Former Residence of Sun Yat-sen” and the “Soong Ching-ling Memorial Residence.” This itinerary was, in effect, a notice to her spirit.

As usual, Mao waited quietly for Soong’s spirit to appear. At midnight, a figure emerged. Runzhi opened his eyes and saw—it was indeed his Elder Sister Soong.

Overjoyed, Mao hurried forward, grasped her hands tightly, and said, “Elder Sister Soong, how are you! I am very happy to see you again tonight.”

Soong replied, “Thank you for coming to see me today. I have waited more than forty years!”

Mao said, “Yes. When I passed away in 1976, you came to bid me farewell. But I was confined in the eighteenth level of hell and could not travel.”

Soong said, “After more than forty years in the eighteenth level of hell, you must have gained many new insights. I recall that in 1949, Deng Yingchao came to Shanghai personally with your handwritten letter inviting me north to discuss state affairs. I was deeply moved. You sent a special train from Shanghai to bring me to Beijing. You, Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, and many Party and non-Party figures personally came to Qianmen Station to receive me. Once in Beijing, you appointed me Vice President of the state. I was excited to have the opportunity to serve the country. At first, things were good. But gradually, I saw you become overbearing, unable to tolerate dissent. You suppressed Ma Yinchu and Liang Shuming. You insisted on ‘remolding’ intellectuals. Xiong Shili asked, ‘Why must I be remolded? I am who I am. I came to serve the country, not to be remolded.’ He refused to attend meetings.”

Mao said, “Looking back, I was self-righteous, placing myself above everyone and offending all the intellectuals.”

Soong continued, “In 1953, you announced the General Line of the Transition Period, attempting to bypass your earlier decision to implement New Democracy and rapidly shift to socialism—transforming the people’s democratic dictatorship into a proletarian dictatorship. Through public-private partnerships, private property became semi-state-owned, effectively confiscating capitalist property. Many regarded this as a retreat from the openness at the founding of the nation. I wrote to the Central Committee, directly pointing out the errors in this decision. I could not understand the transformation of industry and commerce. The Communist Party had promised long-term coexistence and protection of industrial and commercial interests. Was this not going back on your word? Capitalists began to doubt and fear Party policy. After reading my letter, you did not reflect; instead, you remarked, ‘Vice Chairwoman Soong has opinions—she wants to speak on behalf of the capitalists.’ My views were ignored. However, on New Year’s Day in 1956, after receiving my greeting card, you wrote me a letter: ‘Dear Elder Sister: I received your card earlier and was very pleased… How are you? Sleeping well? I remain as before—seven parts appetite, ten parts sleep.’ I felt great warmth reading it.”

Mao said, “Yes, looking back, you were right. It would have been better to adhere to the New Democratic policy. I was too eager to push socialism.”

Soong said, “In 1956, when the Party convened the Eighth Congress, although I was not a Party member, you made an exception and invited me to attend. I was very moved by such respect.”

She added emotionally, “In early 1957, you sent me more than twenty catties of Chinese cabbage. It had been specially sent from Shandong for you, yet you did not forget me and Zhang Zhizhong. Three enormous cabbages—you gave each of us one. I deeply appreciated your sentiment. Before that, knowing you had the habit of reading documents in bed, I sent you a down pillow. These were gestures of brotherly and sisterly concern.”

She continued, “Before the Anti-Rightist Campaign in 1957, Liu Shaoqi visited me in Shanghai and mentioned that Sun Yat-sen’s decades of struggle had failed partly because he lacked a good party. I nodded and told him I hoped to join the Party. At that time, I still had confidence in you. You disagreed with my joining, saying I could play a greater role outside the Party. I accepted that. In 1957, you called upon non-Party人士 to help rectify the Party—encouraging bold criticism and open expression to create a lively political atmosphere. But in less than two months, you ordered the shift from rectification to the Anti-Rightist Campaign, labeling 550,000 people as ‘bourgeois rightists.’ As Vice Chairwoman of the National People’s Congress, I wrote to the Central Committee: how could the Party call for open expression and then withdraw it? The Party was not afraid of eight million Nationalist troops or American imperialism—how could it fear the people? I could not understand this movement. I pondered for two months and still could not understand how so many pure-minded individuals could suddenly become enemies of the Party and government. You did not like my views and suppressed them. In 1959, you expressed opposition to my continuing as Vice President, saying I was a fellow traveler during the democratic revolution but could not walk with you during the socialist revolution. Nevertheless, since most supported me, I continued in office—though I understood I was merely ornamental.”

Mao said apologetically, “The Anti-Rightist Campaign now seems to have been wrong, harming many intellectuals. But the responsibility was not entirely mine. Without Deng Xiaoping and others pushing strongly, it would not have escalated so much.”

Soong retorted, “By that logic, was the Cultural Revolution not your fault either? Was it simply Jiang Qing acting in your name? In 1966, when the Cultural Revolution began, I was deeply shocked. My family was implicated. Sun Yat-sen was slandered as ‘the ancestor of those taking the capitalist road,’ and his bronze statue in Nanjing was removed. My parents’ graves in Shanghai were dug up and flattened. I was speechless. Red Guards stormed into Zhang Shizhao’s home and ransacked it for hours. To prevent disaster, I burned many documents and letters and moved my cherished portrait of Sun Yat-sen and artworks. Rebels threatened to attack my residence and cut off my hair bun. You sent Jiang Qing to explain the Cultural Revolution to me and asked me to understand it. I told her that the Red Guards’ actions should be controlled and should not harm the innocent. I continued writing a long essay commemorating the centenary of Sun Yat-sen’s birth, refuting the rebels’ slanders and vicious rumors about my marriage. I said justice exists in the world—let those dogs bark!”

Mao said, “The Cultural Revolution frightened you. It was meant to consolidate the dictatorship of the proletariat. Unfortunately, I did not see its final victory.”

Soong said, “During the Cultural Revolution, you purged Liu Shaoqi. He was the President of the state—how could he be treated like that? I wrote seven letters to you and the Central Committee expressing my incomprehension. I declared solemnly that overnight, colleagues of decades were labeled ‘capitalist roaders’ and ‘counterrevolutionaries.’ The Central Committee asked me to criticize Liu Shaoqi. I refused. Could someone who had served for thirty or forty years suddenly be a traitor? I did not believe it. Was the Constitution still valid? How could people be arrested and persecuted at will? I inscribed my Selected Works to Liu in solidarity. Foreign friends called me the ‘Statue of Liberty standing alone by the sea.’”

She continued, “When you read my letters, you could no longer tolerate dissent. You told the Premier that if I could not accept the changes, I could go to Taiwan, Hong Kong, or abroad—you would not retain me. But the Premier conveyed it gently, saying you cared about me and suggested I travel to relax. I understood the implication. I replied that I would finish my life on this land. After that, I was rarely allowed to appear publicly, as if I no longer existed.”

Mao said, “The Cultural Revolution sought great order through great chaos. Our political philosophies were very different.”

Soong reflected on her late-life marriage to a younger secretary, saying Mao had approved it with the remark “It should have happened long ago,” while Zhou Enlai had advised caution. After both she and Mao had passed, Deng Xiaoping chose not to recognize the marriage to preserve her image. She appreciated that decision.

Mao clarified that he had meant she should have remarried earlier in life after Sun’s death, not thirty years later.

Soong replied thoughtfully about fate, reputation, and missed opportunities.

She concluded by saying she finally joined the Party not because of empty slogans but because she affirmed Deng Xiaoping’s reform and opening path. She believed Mao’s greatest late achievement was breaking the ice in Sino-American relations in 1972, paving the way for later reforms. The earlier decision to enter the Korean War, she said, had been a grave mistake influenced by Kim Il-sung and Stalin.

Mao admitted, “After forty years of reflection, I see that following the Russian path was wrong. Deng Xiaoping’s path was correct.”

Soong said, “I accompanied you for thirty years like a vase—decorative, not decisive. But on major principles, I stood my ground. I believe I can withstand the judgment of history. You may not.”

Having said what needed to be said, Elder Sister Soong bade farewell. Mao, still reluctant, watched her figure slowly recede into the distance.

NEXT: 22. John Leighton Stuart (1876–1962)