Collection Guide
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Soong, T. V. (Tzu-wen) papers
73004
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Table of contents
Title: T. V. (Tzu-wen) Soong papers
Date (inclusive): 1920-1999
Collection Number: 73004
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In English and Chinese
Physical Description:
63 manuscript boxes, 5 oversize boxes, 2 envelopes, 3 album boxes, 1 oversize folder, 2 microfilm reels, memorabilia
(34.5 Linear Feet)
Abstract: 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.
Creator:
Soong, T. V. (Tzu-wen), 1894-1971
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Microfilm use only except for Boxes 66-68, photograph albums and envelopes, and map case material. 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.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1973, with increments received in 2004 and 2006.
[Identification of item], T. V. (Tzu-wen) Soong papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Also available on microfilm (80 reels). Digital copies of select records also available at
https://digitalcollections.hoover.org.
List of Folders Containing Declassified Documents Refiled in January 2005
- CORRESPONDENCE
- Box 4, folders 14 and 23
- Box 5, folder 2
- Box 6, folder 38
- Box 7, folders 1 and 10
- Box 9, folder 27
- Box 10, folder 14
- OFFICE FILE
- Box 12, folder 2
- Box 16, folder 4
- Box 18, folder 6
- Box 19, folder 7
- SUBJECT FILE
- Box 20, folder 12
- Box 21, folder 4
- Box 22, folder 3
- Box 24, folders 2 and 3
- Box 26, folder 7
- Box 27, folders 2, 4, 7 and 13
- Box 28, folders 13 and 14
- Box 29, folder 6, 8 and 14
- Box 30, folder 3
- Box 31, folders 1, 10 and 13
- Box 34, folders 2 and 3
- FORMERLY CLOSED MATERIAL
- Boxes 36 to 39
- INCREMENTAL MATERIALS
- Box 61, folder 14
- Box 62, folder 3
- Box 62, folder 4
- Box 62, folder 5
- Box 62, folder 6
- Box 62, folder 8
- Box 62, folder 11
- Box 62, folder 16
- Box 62, folder 17
- Box 62, folder 22
- Box 63, folder 1
- Box 63, folder 24
- Box 63, folder 31
- Box 64, folder 1
- Box 64, folder 2
- Box 64, folder 3
- Box 64, folder 5
- Box 64, folder 8
- Box 64, folder 14
- Box 64, folder 15
- Box 64, folder 24
| 1894 December 4 | Born, Shanghai, China |
| 1915 | B.A., Harvard University. T.V. Soong 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 |
Scope and Content of Collection
The Hoover Institution acquired fifty-eight boxes of T. V. Soong 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.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
China -- History -- Republic, 1912-1949
World War, 1939-1945 -- Diplomatic history
World War, 1939-1945 -- China
China -- Economic conditions -- 1912-1949
China -- Foreign relations -- United States
United States -- Foreign relations -- China
China -- Politics and government -- 1912-1949
Reconstruction (1939-1951) -- China
China -- Foreign relations
Statesmen -- China
Chiang, Kai-shek, 1887-1975
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945