T. V. Soong 宋子文 papers, 1920-1999

Collection context

Summary

Creators:
Soong, T. V. (Tzu-wen), 1894-1971
Abstract:
The T. V. Soong 宋子文 papers (1920-1999) contains correspondence, speeches and writings, memoranda, reports, and photographs relating to political and economic conditions in China during the 1930s and 1940s; Chinese foreign relations, especially with the United States; events in China during World War II; and wartime Chinese diplomacy, especially regarding Sino-American relations. Also available on microfilm (80 reels). Digital copies of select records also available at https://digitalcollections.hoover.org.
Extent:
64 manuscript boxes, 11 oversize boxes, 1 small object box, 2 envelopes, 3 album boxes, 2 oversize folders, 2 microfilm reels (45.1 Linear Feet)
Language:
In English and Chinese
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], T. V. Soong 宋子文 papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

The Hoover Institution acquired fifty-eight boxes of T. V. Soong 宋子文 papers from the Soong family in the 1970s. Of this material, thirty-nine boxes have been available for research since their acquisition. The other nineteen boxes were closed by the family during the lifetime of Madame Chiang Kai-shek, who passed away on October 23, 2003. This finding aid describes the papers in those fifty-eight boxes (re-housed into fifty seven boxes for preservation in 2012).

In 2004 the family donated additional Soong papers, which are described below as Incremental Materials. On April 26, 2004, the nineteen boxes of papers closed by the family since the 1970s and all of the papers acquired in 2004 were opened for research.

Increments in the T. V. Soong collection were acquired in 2004 and 2006, when the Soong family descendents augmented the existing T. V. Soong collection at the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

These incremental materials describe such turning points as the abduction of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in 1936 (the Xi'an incident), the dismissal of General Joseph Stilwell, and the framing of the Sino-Soviet Treaty of 1945. A major component of the collection includes T. V. Soong's notes, memoranda, confidential telegrams, financial records, and correspondence with Chiang Kai-shek and other government officials in China's wartime government. It also includes personal correspondence exchanged between members of the Soong family, including T. A. Soong, Soong Ai-ling (Madame H. H. K'ung), Soong Ching-ling (Madame Sun Yat-sen) and Soong Mei-ling (Madame Chiang Kai-shek). Selected telegrams in the T. V. Soong papers were transcribed and translated from Chinese to English and published in a bilingual edition as Song Ziwen yu wai guo ren shi wang lai han dian gao = T. V. Soong: Important Wartime Correspondences (1940-1942), Hsiao-ting Lin and Wu Jingping, editors (Shanghai: Fudan University Press, 2009). This publication is available in the Hoover Archives reading room.

The arrangement of this material has been closely maintained as it was received from the donors in 2004 and 2006. In some cases, as a standard archival preservation procedure, use copies have been substituted for original documents. All information contained in the original documents is open and available in the use copies. Upon request, the original documents, which comprise the Restricted Material series, may be viewed under direct supervision by archives staff. This series includes all restricted originals from boxes 1 to 64.

The family could not authorize the release of security-classified government documents, which were present in both the original acquisition and the 2004 addition. The vast majority of these were declassified by the U.S. government and opened in summer 2004. In January 2005 the declassified documents were returned to their original folders. A list of folders containing declassified documents re-filed in January 2005 is available below.

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1894 December 4
Born, Shanghai, China
1915
B.A., Harvard University. T.V. Soong (Soong Tzu-wen, Song Ziwen, Soong Tse-vung, Soong Tse-ven, Sung Tzu-wen) also received two honorary doctorates, from Columbia University and Yale University.
1915-1917
Graduate studies, Columbia University, New York
1917-1923
Secretary, Han-yeh-p'ing iron and coal complex, China (Hanyang steel mill, Tayeh iron mines, P'inghsiang coal mines). Also involved in trade and banking circles, Shanghai
1923
Manager, Salt Administration in Kwangtung and Kwangsi provinces
1924
Member, Committee for Food Control
Manager, Central Bank, Canton
1925
Minister of Finance, National Government, Canton
1926
Member, National Government (State) Council
Minister of Commerce
Member, Central Executive Committee
1927
Member, Kuomintang Political Council
Member, Military Council
Member, Standing Committee, Government Council
Minister of Finance, Wuhan Government
1928
Governor, Central Bank of China, Shanghai
Minister of Finance, Nanking government
1932-1933
Acting President, Executive Yuan, Nanking
1933
Resigned government posts, except for National Economic Council
Head of Chinese Delegation to the World Economic Conference, London
1934
Founder, China Development Finance Corporation
1938
Acting Chairman, National Aeronautical Affairs Commission
1940-1942
Personal representative of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Washington, D.C.
1942-1945
Minister of Foreign Affairs
1944
Acting President, Executive Yuan
1945
Elected as one of four chairman of United Nations Conference
Head of Chinese Delegation, United Nations Conference, San Francisco
1945-1947
President, Executive Yuan
1947-1949
Governor, Kwangtung Province
1949-1950
President, Bank of China, Taiwan
1971
Died, San Francisco, California; interred, New York
Acquisition information:
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1973, with increments received in 2004 and 2006.
Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Microfilm use only except for Boxes 66-68, photograph albums and envelopes, and map case material. Boxes 69 and 76 may not be used without permission of the Archivist. Materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], T. V. Soong 宋子文 papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563