Chiang Fang-liang (original) (raw)

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First Lady of the Republic of China, wife of Chiang Ching-kuo (1916–2004)

Chiang Fang-liang
蔣方良Фаина Вахрева
Chiang in 1944
3rd First Lady of the Republic of China
In role20 May 1978 – 13 January 1988
President Chiang Ching-kuo
Preceded by Liu Chi-chun
Succeeded by Tseng Wen-hui
Spouse of the Premier of the Republic of China
In role1 June 1972 – 20 May 1978
Prime Minister Chiang Ching-kuo
Preceded by Liu Chi-chun
Succeeded by Hsu Huang-chen (acting)
Personal details
Born Faina Ipat'evna Vakhreva(1916-05-15)15 May 1916near Orsha, Vitebsk Governorate, Russian Empire
Died 15 December 2004(2004-12-15) (aged 88)Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
Resting place Daxi Presidential Burial Place Touliao, Taiwan
Nationality Soviet (until 1937)Chinese (1937–2004)
Spouse Chiang Ching-kuo ​ ​(m. ; died )​
Children Chiang Hsiao-wen Chiang Hsiao-wu Chiang Hsiao-yung Chiang Hsiao-chang
Chiang Fang-liang
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 蔣方良
TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinJiǎng FāngliángHakkaPha̍k-fa-sṳChióng Fong-liòngSouthern MinHokkien POJChiúⁿ Png-liông
Russian name
Russian Фаина Ипатьевна Вахрева
Romanization Faina Ipatyevna Vakhreva

Faina Chiang Fang-liang (Chinese: 蔣方良; pinyin: Jiǎng Fāngliáng; born Faina Ipatyevna Vakhreva; Russian: Фаина Ипатьевна Вахрева; Belarusian: Фаіна Іпацьеўна Вахрава, romanized: Faina Ipatsyewna Vakhrava; 15 May 1916 – 15 December 2004) was the First Lady of the Republic of China on Taiwan from 1978 to 1988 as the wife of President Chiang Ching-kuo.

On 15 May 1916, Faina was born near Orsha, then part of the Russian Empire (now in Belarus). Faina was orphaned at a young age and raised by her older sister Anna.[1][2]

At age 16, as a member of the Soviet Union's Communist Youth League, Faina worked at the Ural Heavy Machinery Plant in Sverdlovsk, Russian SFSR, where she met Chiang Ching-kuo, her supervisor.[3][4] On 15 March 1935, aged 18, Faina married him.[2][3]

In December 1936, Joseph Stalin granted Chiang's return to China.[2] After the couple was received by Chiang Kai-shek and his wife Soong Mei-ling in Hangzhou, they traveled to the Chiang home in Xikou, Zhejiang, where they held a second marriage ceremony.[4] Fang-liang stayed behind to live with Chiang Ching-kuo's mother, Mao Fumei. She was assigned a tutor to learn Mandarin Chinese, but she learned the local Ningbo dialect of Wu Chinese instead.[1][2] She reportedly got along well with Mao Fumei and did her own housework.[2][4]

When Chiang Ching-kuo became President, Fang-liang rarely performed the traditional roles of first lady, partly due to her lack of formal education; her husband also encouraged her not to get into politics. She occasionally taught Russian to Kuomintang cadets.[5] She largely stayed out of the public spotlight,[1][3] and little was ever known of her in an anti-communist atmosphere in the government. She never returned to Russia and travelled abroad only three times in the last 50 years of her life, all to visit her children and their families. In 1992, she received a visit from a Belarusian delegation.[4][6]

On 14 December 1935, their first son Chiang Hsiao-wen was born in the Soviet Union.[3] Each of her three younger children was born in different parts of China, reflecting turbulent years as an official of the country.[4] Faina had four children:

With Chiang Ching-kuo and Chiang Hsiao-wen in Gannan Prefecture, where Ching-kuo was serving as commissioner (c.1940s)

All her children were sent to study in foreign universities[4] – Hsiao-wu to West Germany and the remaining children to the United States. All three sons died shortly after Ching-kuo's death in 1988: Hsiao-wen in 1989, Hsiao-wu in 1991, and Hsiao-yung in 1996.[3] Fang-liang then lived in the suburbs of Taipei. She received occasional visitors, such as some prominent politicians who went to pay their respects every few years. In the Taiwanese media, if she ever received coverage, she was depicted as a virtuous wife who never complained and endured her loneliness with dignity.[1][2][7]

Chiang died of respiratory and cardiac failure stemming from lung cancer at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital on 15 December 2004, at the age of 88 (or 89 according to East Asian age reckoning).[1][7][8][9]

Chiang's funeral was held on 27 December 2004, with President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu in attendance.[10] Kuomintang politicians Wang Jin-pyng, Lin Cheng-chih, P. K. Chiang, and Ma Ying-jeou draped her casket with the Kuomintang party flag, and Kuomintang party elders Lee Huan, Hau Pei-tsun, Chiu Chuang-huan, and Shih Chi-yang draped her casket with the ROC national flag.[11][12]Chiang was cremated and her ashes taken to her husband's temporary mausoleum in Touliao, Taoyuan County (now Taoyuan City). They were buried together in the Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery.[1]

Chiang family tree viewtalkedit
Soong May‑ling宋美齡Mao Fumei毛福梅Chiang Kai‑shek蔣介石Yao Yecheng姚冶誠Chen Jieru陳潔如 Faina Chiang Fang‑liang蔣方良Chiang Ching-kuo蔣經國Chang Ya‑juo章亞若(mistress)Shih Chin‑i石靜宜Chiang Wei‑kuo蔣緯國(adopted)Chiu Ju‑hsüeh丘如雪Chen Yao‑kuang陳瑶光(adopted) Alan Chiang Hsiao‑wen蔣孝文Amy Chiang Hsiao‑chang蔣孝章Alex Chiang Hsiao‑wu蔣孝武Eddie Chiang Hsiao‑yung蔣孝勇Winston Chang Hsiao‑tzu章孝慈John Chiang Hsiao‑yen蔣孝嚴Chiang Hsiao‑kang蔣孝剛 Nancy Xu Nai‑jin徐乃錦Yu Yang‑ho俞揚和Wang Zhang‑shi汪長詩Michelle Tsai Hui‑mei蔡惠媚Elizabeth Fang Chi‑yi方智怡Chao Chung‑te趙申德Helen Huang Mei‑lun黃美倫Wang Yi‑hui王倚惠 Theodore Yu Tsu‑sheng俞祖聲Chang Ching‑sung章勁松Chang Yo‑chu章友菊Vivian Chiang Hui‑lan蔣惠蘭Chiang Hui‑yün蔣惠筠Chiang Wan-an蔣萬安 Chiang Yo‑mei蔣友梅Alexandra Chiang Yo‑lan蔣友蘭Johnathan Chiang Yo‑sung蔣友松Demos Chiang Yo‑bo蔣友柏Edward Chiang Yo‑chang蔣友常Andrew Chiang Yo‑ching蔣友青Chiang Yo‑chüan蔣友娟Chiang Yo‑chieh蔣友捷 Notes Dashed lines represent marriages Dotted lines represent extra-marital relationships and adoptions Solid lines represent descendants
  1. ^ a b c d e f Tsai, Wen-Ting; Tsai, Julius (January 2005). "Farewell, Faina — Chiang Fang-liang Dies Aged 90". Taiwan Panorama. Taipei, Taiwan. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Wu, Pei-shih (18 May 2003). "Forgotten first lady served as model traditional wife". Taipei Times. Taipei, Taiwan. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Wen, Stephanie (16 December 2004). "Chiang Fang-liang remembered". Taipei Times. Taipei, Taiwan. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Wang, Jaifeng; Hughes, Christopher (January 1998). "Cover Story — Love to Fang-Liang – the Chiang Family Album". Taiwan Panorama. Taipei, Taiwan. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  5. ^ "The lonely widow of Huaihai Rd in sealed memory". China Daily. Beijing. 12 January 2005. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  6. ^ Yu, Susan (16 June 1992). "Mensk officials meet Chiang Fang-liang Chiang Ching-kuo's widow breaks precedent to receive countrymen". Taiwan Today (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Taipei, Taiwan. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  7. ^ a b Yiu, Cody (16 December 2004). "A sad life ends for Chiang Fang-liang". Taipei Times. Taipei, Taiwan. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  8. ^ "Faina Chiang dies at 88 in Taipei". China Daily. Beijing. 15 December 2004. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  9. ^ "President Chen pays tribute to former first lady Faina Chiang". China Post. Taipei. 17 December 2004. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  10. ^ "Nation bids farewell to former first lady Faina Chiang". China Post. Taipei. 27 December 2004. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  11. ^ Chuang, Jimmy (25 December 2004). "Faina Chiang's funeral will be held on Monday". Taipei Times. Taipei, Taiwan. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  12. ^ "Faina Chiang's funeral held in Taiwan". sina.com. 27 December 2004. Retrieved 4 November 2014.