the song dynasty by sterling seagrave summary

How did Jiaozhun the Hainanese country kid of nine draw the courage to leave the security of his close-knit family in an isolated village and accompany some relatives to a world that was alien to him, first to Java and then to the U.S.A.? Passing through this narrow, fairly deserted modern road, I can now fully sense and appreciate his audacity and unyielding spirit.īorn in 1866 according to Western records (which I am using, or 1863 in others), Han Jiaozhun was taken with his older brother to Java at the tender age of nine. This road was in all probability a sandy country track back then and the village was remote and populated by few families. Dense rows of tall trees on both sides mesmerise and transport my mind back one hundred and fifty years earlier. Two kilometres before hitting the suburban town of Changsa, our car turns left into the long bitumen by-road to Charlie’s home. The “g” in “Soong” was added later.Ĭharlie Soong (Han Jiaozhun 韓教準), father of the famous Soong sisters “Charles Soon” was the anglicized version of his given name “Jiaozhun”, adopted after his conversion by Methodist missionaries in America, where he had gone at the age of twelve. The house is the birthplace of their father Han Jiao Zhun, better known as Charlie Soong. We are excited because we have read books about them. Returning to 203 Provincial Road, my wife and I head north for the ancestral home of the famous Soong sisters.

Charlie Soong and his eminent Soong daughters

The song dynasty by sterling seagrave summary