Ring

This is possibly a five-piece jewelry set (without the necklace and bracelets) [1998.1-.3] originally made in Shanghai in 1933 and was gifted to Ji Ing Soong (胡其瑛) by her parents on the occasion of her marriage to T. A. Soong (宋子安) in San Francisco on Dec 20, 1941.

The four big families—Chiang, Soong, Kung, and Chen—heavily influenced modern China’s politics, economy, and history during the Republic period. Charlie Soong (宋嘉澍) was educated in the U.S. and had three sons and three daughters. The first daughter Ai-ling (宋靄齡) married H. H. Kung (孔祥熙), the wealthiest Chinese banker of the time and a descendant of Confucius. The second daughter Ching-ling (宋慶齡) married Sun Yat-sen (孫中山), the founder of the Republic of China, and the third daughter Mei-ling (宋美齡) married Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), the de-facto ruler of China for decades.

Of Charlie’s three sons, the oldest son T. V. Soong (宋子文) and the second son T. L. Soong (宋子良) became prominent businessmen and politicians. T. A. Soong was the youngest children of the family and he was helping his brothers in raising wartime funds in the U.S. during the 1940s. From a wealthy banker family in Shanghai, Yun Chong Woo (胡筠莊) and E. Ching Shen (沈依清) brought Ji Ing to California in 1940 and settled in the Bay Area since then. An active local philanthropist, Ji Ing established the T. A. and Ji Ing Soong Gallery at the Asian Art Museum in 1970.