# The Soong Sisters (宋家皇朝)
**The Soong Sisters** (宋家皇朝, also romanized *Song jia huang chao*) is a 1997 Hong Kong historical epic directed by Mabel Cheung that dramatizes the lives of Soong Ai-ling, Soong Ching-ling, and Soong May-ling, the three sisters who married, respectively, the banker H.H. Kung, [Sun Yat-sen](https://www.edgepedia.org/sun-yat-sen), and [Chiang Kai-shek](https://www.edgepedia.org/chiang-kai-shek) and stood at the center of twentieth-century Chinese politics.[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/pe-event-2020-1-1-2.html) • [2](https://time.com/5710461/jung-chang-china-history-big-sister-book/) Produced by Golden Harvest with a screenplay by Alex Law, the film stars [Maggie Cheung](https://www.edgepedia.org/maggie-cheung), Michelle Yeoh, and Vivian Wu as the sisters, and runs 145 minutes in Mandarin.[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/pe-event-2020-1-1-2.html) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120164)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting; screenplay by Alex Law Kai-Yui[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/pe-event-2020-1-1-2.html) |
| Release | May 1, 1997 (Hong Kong); 145 minutes, Mandarin, color[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120164) |
| Principal cast | Maggie Cheung (Soong Ching-ling), Michelle Yeoh (Soong Ai-ling), Vivian Wu (Soong May-ling), Winston Chao (Sun Yat-sen), Jiang Wen (Charlie Soong), Wu Hsing-kuo (Chiang Kai-shek)[4](https://cinegraph.org/movies/the-soong-sisters-1997) |
| Production scale | Five years from preparation to release; a shooting schedule of over three months across Beijing, Shanghai, Northeast China, Japan, and the Soviet Union[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/pe-event-2020-1-1-2.html) |
| Historical span | Roughly 1905 to 1981, about 76 years of Chinese history[5](https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/landing/article.kci?arti_id=ART001984430) |
| Major awards | Golden Horse Awards 1997 for art direction, original score, visual effects, and sound; Golden Rooster Best Co-Produced Feature 1997; Hong Kong Film Awards 1998 for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120164/awards/) |
| Mainland censorship | Release held for a year; the Xi'an kidnapping scene, the entire last reel, and almost forty additional cuts removed[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120164) |
## Spoilers
### Subject and story
The film follows the three daughters of Charlie Soong (宋查理), a supporter of the 1911 Revolution, from their childhood in Shanghai through the upheavals of late Qing and republican China. The sisters' lives intersect the major events of the era: the Xinhai Revolution, the [Chen Jiongming](https://www.edgepedia.org/chen-jiongming) rebellion, Sun Yat-sen's death during the [Northern Expedition](https://www.edgepedia.org/northern-expedition), Chiang Kai-shek's party purge, the [Xi'an Incident](https://www.edgepedia.org/xian-incident), and the War of Resistance against Japan.[7](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%8B%E5%AE%B6%E7%9A%87%E6%9C%9D/16946) A framing device opens with the aged and dying Soong Ching-ling in 1981 wishing to see her sister May-ling again, and the story unfolds through flashbacks.[8](https://escholarship.org/content/qt4h13x81f/qt4h13x81f_noSplash_4bb42ced09f240fa402318ca9e4eb401.pdf)
The sisters' political divergence drives the drama. After Sun Yat-sen's death, Chiang Kai-shek takes command of the Northern Expedition and later purges party members of differing views; Ching-ling opposes him, which strains her relationship with May-ling. Ai-ling follows her husband to Hong Kong during the Japanese invasion, and after the war, as Chiang retreats to Taiwan, Ching-ling remains in China; the three sisters never meet again.[9](https://tv.apple.com/tw/movie/%E5%AE%8B%E5%AE%B6%E7%9A%87%E6%9C%9D/umc.cmc.4t2a18b3wqhmr22ipqlnpr7kq)
Cheung stated that her focus was not history itself but the sisters' feelings for one another: "My focus is not on history; history is only a backdrop. When I filmed it I concentrated on the feelings of the three sisters; that feeling is what interested me most."[10](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/50495/) The Hong Kong Film Archive notes that the film reconstructs Shanghai, where the sisters grew up, and centers on their mutual affection and their emotional lives with their husbands; the qipao dresses each sister wears are used to express her distinct personality and state of mind.[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/pe-event-2020-1-1-2.html)
## The historical sisters
The real [Soong sisters](https://www.edgepedia.org/soong-sisters) were born in Shanghai in the 1890s to Charlie Soong, a wealthy merchant and Methodist missionary, and all three were educated at Wesleyan College in [Macon, Georgia](https://www.edgepedia.org/macon-georgia), traveling to the United States without an accompanying guardian.[2](https://time.com/5710461/jung-chang-china-history-big-sister-book/) Ai-ling arrived at fourteen and received her A.B. in the Wesleyan class of 1909, returning promptly to Shanghai to take a post as secretary to Sun Yat-sen; Ching-ling and May-ling joined her in the fall of 1908, May-ling at age ten.[11](https://www.wesleyancollege.edu/about/history/soongsisters.cfm) Ai-ling married H.H. Kung, a banker who became China's finance minister; Ching-ling married Sun Yat-sen, the first [President of the Republic of China](https://www.edgepedia.org/president-of-the-republic-of-china), and later served as vice-chair under Mao; May-ling married Chiang Kai-shek and became first lady.[2](https://time.com/5710461/jung-chang-china-history-big-sister-book/) The last of the three sisters died in 2003.[11](https://www.wesleyancollege.edu/about/history/soongsisters.cfm)
## Production
The film took five years from preparation to release. Producer Ng See-yuen and director Mabel Cheung persuaded [Jiang Wen](https://www.edgepedia.org/jiang-wen), who had never played a supporting role, to take the part of the sisters' father Charlie Soong.[1](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/pe-event-2020-1-1-2.html) Cheung spent more than a year before filming gathering material in mainland China, Taiwan, and New York, interviewing people who had been close to the sisters, including their doctor, housekeeper, and secretary, and General Chiang Wei-kuo in Taiwan.[12](https://369printing.udngroup.com/ms-1997/assets/ms19970218.pdf)
Costumes were designed by Academy Award winner Emi Wada, whose credits include Kurosawa's *Ran*, and the original score was composed by Golden Globe winner Kitaro with Randy Miller.[11](https://www.wesleyancollege.edu/about/history/soongsisters.cfm) Arthur Wong was the director of photography.[4](https://cinegraph.org/movies/the-soong-sisters-1997) The production was a co-production involving Hong Kong, mainland China, and Japan; according to Cheung, the Beijing Film Studio in 1996 and 1997 could provide only crew and production support, no production funding.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120164) • [13](https://openbookshongkong.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/%E9%BB%83%E6%98%8F%E6%9C%AA%E6%99%9A_OA_13JAN2026.pdf) The Wesleyan College account describes it as one of the most expensive movies ever made in Hong Kong.[11](https://www.wesleyancollege.edu/about/history/soongsisters.cfm)
## Censorship and release
Although officials on the mainland gave the Hong Kong production firm permission to shoot the picture in China, they were displeased with how it turned out. Censors held up release for a year, insisting on the removal of the Xi'an kidnapping scene, the entire last reel, and the cutting of almost forty additional bits; a segment in which the sisters parachute into a camp was omitted as historically inaccurate.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120164) The film opened in Hong Kong on May 1, 1997, the year of the handover, followed by releases in Singapore and South Korea in May and June 1997, Japan in November 1998, the Philippines in November 1999, and the United States in September 2000.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120164) • [4](https://cinegraph.org/movies/the-soong-sisters-1997)
The U.S. premiere took place at the renovated Douglass Theatre in Macon, Georgia, on November 11, 1997, at the invitation of Golden Harvest, with Cheung attending two sold-out showings during Wesleyan's Herstory Week; the Macon audience saw a longer subtitled version with scenes not shown in Asia.[11](https://www.wesleyancollege.edu/about/history/soongsisters.cfm)
## Reception and awards
At the 1997 Golden Horse Awards the film won Best Art Direction (Eddie Ma), Best Original Film Score (Kitaro and Randy Miller), Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound Effects (Kinson Tsang), with a cinematography nomination for Arthur Wong.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120164/awards/) It won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Co-Produced Feature in 1997, and at the 17th Hong Kong Film Awards in 1998 Maggie Cheung won Best Actress for her portrayal of Ching-ling and Jiang Wen won Best Supporting Actor, with nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress (Elaine Jin).[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120164/awards/) • [7](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%8B%E5%AE%B6%E7%9A%87%E6%9C%9D/16946) Baidu Baike records a total Hong Kong box office of HK$10.2947 million as of December 10, 2025.[7](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%8B%E5%AE%B6%E7%9A%87%E6%9C%9D/16946)
Critical commentary has focused on the film's treatment of history. The Hong Kong Film Archive's newsletter describes it as light on the depiction of reality and detailed in the portrayal of romance, telling a historic Shanghai tale in a depoliticized fashion, with the historical factor serving as romantic embellishment around a core of family turmoil.[14](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/OLD-6.-Research-and-Publication/06-03_newsletter/newsletter93_e.pdf) A Heidelberg University project on history in Chinese film notes that the film was produced in 1996 and released in 1997, the year of the handover, and follows mainly Ching-ling's (1893 to 1981) and May-ling's (1898 to 2003) lives until 1949.[15](https://project.zo.uni-heidelberg.de/representations/songjia/songjia.html) Scholarly work on Sinophone women's cinema reads the film as a feminist revision of modern Chinese history that negotiates official nationalist historical discourse through a female perspective on historical events.[16](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4h13x81f) A Douban reviewer argues the film's evident favoritism among the sisters makes it unsuited to serious historical narrative, while crediting May-ling's solo mediation at the Xi'an Incident as portrayed.[17](https://movie.douban.com/review/14741224/)
## References
1. [The Soong Sisters, Hong Kong Film Archive](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/pe-event-2020-1-1-2.html)
2. [The Forgotten Women Who Shaped China in the 20th Century, TIME (interview with Jung Chang)](https://time.com/5710461/jung-chang-china-history-big-sister-book/)
3. [The Soong Sisters (1997), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120164)
4. [The Soong Sisters, Cinegraph](https://cinegraph.org/movies/the-soong-sisters-1997)
5. [『송가황조(宋家皇朝)』를 보는 어떤 한 장의 지도 (下), 중국인문과학 no. 59 (2015), KCI](https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/landing/article.kci?arti_id=ART001984430)
6. [The Soong Sisters (1997) Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120164/awards/)
7. [宋家皇朝（1997年张婉婷执导的爱情电影）, 百度百科](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%8B%E5%AE%B6%E7%9A%87%E6%9C%9D/16946)
8. [Beyond New Waves: Gender and Sexuality in Sinophone Women's Cinema, eScholarship (UC)](https://escholarship.org/content/qt4h13x81f/qt4h13x81f_noSplash_4bb42ced09f240fa402318ca9e4eb401.pdf)
9. [宋家皇朝, Apple TV (Taiwan)](https://tv.apple.com/tw/movie/%E5%AE%8B%E5%AE%B6%E7%9A%87%E6%9C%9D/umc.cmc.4t2a18b3wqhmr22ipqlnpr7kq)
10. [宋家三姐妹 The Soong Sisters (1997), 1905电影网](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/50495/)
11. [Soong Sisters, Wesleyan College history page](https://www.wesleyancollege.edu/about/history/soongsisters.cfm)
12. [10 影視新聞 民生報 (February 18, 1997)](https://369printing.udngroup.com/ms-1997/assets/ms19970218.pdf)
13. [黃昳未晚, Open Books Hong Kong (on Cheung's account of the Beijing Film Studio co-production)](https://openbookshongkong.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/%E9%BB%83%E6%98%8F%E6%9C%AA%E6%99%9A_OA_13JAN2026.pdf)
14. [Hong Kong Film Archive Newsletter 93](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/OLD-6.-Research-and-Publication/06-03_newsletter/newsletter93_e.pdf)
15. [Representations of History in Chinese Film and Television, Heidelberg University](https://project.zo.uni-heidelberg.de/representations/songjia/songjia.html)
16. [Beyond New Waves: Gender and Sexuality in Sinophone Women's Cinema from the 1980s to the 2000s, eScholarship (UC)](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4h13x81f)
17. [举重若轻还是举轻若重？（宋家皇朝）影评, Douban](https://movie.douban.com/review/14741224/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 1990s › Drama films late 1990s › Released 1995 to 1998*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license