Source plot synopsis — includes the ending
The Soong family is a wealthy family who run a successful printing business in China during the final years of the Qing dynasty. The family patriarch, Charlie Soong, sends his three daughters abroad to study at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, United States.
Of the three sisters, the eldest, Soong Ai-ling, is the first to get married in 1914. Her husband is K'ung Hsiang-hsi, a wealthy banker and descendant of Confucius.
Around the same time, Sun Yat-sen is living in exile in Japan after failed attempts to end imperial rule in China. He weds Soong Ching-ling despite strong opposition from Charlie Soong, once his friend and supporter. After the Xinhai Revolution overthrows the Qing dynasty in 1911, Sun Yat-sen becomes the Republic of China's first provisional president and leader of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party). He dies of liver cancer in 1925 and leaves his wife with his dying wish of reunifying a fragmented China in the wake of the fall of the Qing dynasty.
Chiang Kai-shek succeeds Sun Yat-sen as the leader of the Kuomintang. In 1927, he marries Soong Mei-ling, the youngest of the three sisters. The Chiang couple are at odds with the Communist Party. The widowed Soong Ching-ling often quarrels with the family, accusing Chiang Kai-shek and his followers of persecuting the Communists and hindering the process of Chinese reunification. She leaves the Kuomintang and openly voices dissent against Chiang Kai-shek. The three sisters are never reunited again except at their parents' deathbeds and on a few special occasions.
While the Kuomintang and Communists are fighting with each other, the Empire of Japan takes advantage of the situation to invade China in the 1930s. In 1936, Chiang Kai-shek is kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang in the Xi'an Incident. He is forced to make peace with the Communists and focus on dealing with the Japanese invaders.
After the Second Sino-Japanese War concludes with the Japanese surrender in 1945, the Kuomintang and Communists continue fighting in a civil war, which ends with a Communist victory in late 1949. The Kuomintang, having lost control of Mainland China, relocates the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan. On 1 October 1949, Communist leader Mao Zedong announces the establishment of the People's Republic of China.
Of the three sisters, the eldest, Soong Ai-ling, is the first to get married in 1914. Her husband is K'ung Hsiang-hsi, a wealthy banker and descendant of Confucius.
Around the same time, Sun Yat-sen is living in exile in Japan after failed attempts to end imperial rule in China. He weds Soong Ching-ling despite strong opposition from Charlie Soong, once his friend and supporter. After the Xinhai Revolution overthrows the Qing dynasty in 1911, Sun Yat-sen becomes the Republic of China's first provisional president and leader of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party). He dies of liver cancer in 1925 and leaves his wife with his dying wish of reunifying a fragmented China in the wake of the fall of the Qing dynasty.
Chiang Kai-shek succeeds Sun Yat-sen as the leader of the Kuomintang. In 1927, he marries Soong Mei-ling, the youngest of the three sisters. The Chiang couple are at odds with the Communist Party. The widowed Soong Ching-ling often quarrels with the family, accusing Chiang Kai-shek and his followers of persecuting the Communists and hindering the process of Chinese reunification. She leaves the Kuomintang and openly voices dissent against Chiang Kai-shek. The three sisters are never reunited again except at their parents' deathbeds and on a few special occasions.
While the Kuomintang and Communists are fighting with each other, the Empire of Japan takes advantage of the situation to invade China in the 1930s. In 1936, Chiang Kai-shek is kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang in the Xi'an Incident. He is forced to make peace with the Communists and focus on dealing with the Japanese invaders.
After the Second Sino-Japanese War concludes with the Japanese surrender in 1945, the Kuomintang and Communists continue fighting in a civil war, which ends with a Communist victory in late 1949. The Kuomintang, having lost control of Mainland China, relocates the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan. On 1 October 1949, Communist leader Mao Zedong announces the establishment of the People's Republic of China.
Sources and content license
Source and revision history ↗ · Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, The Soong Sisters (film). Section headings and formatting adjusted. · Content license