附錄一
宋美齡大事年表
時間 事件
1897 年 宋美齡出生於上海
1907 年
搭乘「滿洲號」由上海赴美，先在皮得蒙學校念書，後轉 到衛斯理安學院。
1913 年 秋天進入韋斯理學院就讀，1917 年畢業。
1917 年
夏天回到上海，出任全國電影審查會審查員、童工委員會 婦女委員。
1922 年 12 月
初識蔣介石。
1927 年
12 月 01 日 宋美齡與蔣介石結婚。
1936 年
12 月 12 日 西安事變，宋美齡親赴西安平反。
1937 年 8 月
抗日戰爭開始，宋美齡組「中國婦女慰勞自衛抗戰將士總 會」，自任總會主任委員。
1940 年 在重慶透過ＮＢＣ向全美做越洋廣播。
1942 年
以治病名義重返美國，住進哥倫比亞大學長老會醫學中心 長達十一周，並受羅斯福總統夫人邀請，前往羅斯福老家 紐約海德公園休息。
1943 年 宋美齡自海德公園搭乘火車抵達華府聯合車站，羅斯福總
統夫婦親自迎接。
1943 年 2 月 18 日
宋美齡獲邀前往參眾兩院進行演講，隨後並進行夫人外 交，同年 7 月 11 日返抵重慶。
1943 年
11 月 22 日 陪同蔣介石參加開羅會議。
1950 年 1 月 13 日
自美抵台，成立婦聯會。
1975 年
9 月 16 日 蔣介石逝世後，宋美齡搭乘中美號專機離台赴美。
1986 年 回台主持蔣介石百歲冥誕，陸續發表「我將再起」等文章。
1988 年 國民黨十三全大會，反對李登輝出任党主席未果。
1991 年 再度離台赴美。
1995 年 二次大戰五十周年紀念，再度赴美國國會發表簡短演說。
2003 年
10 月 24 日 病逝於紐約寓所。
附錄二
英文演說全文取自美國國會記錄，1943 年,頁 1080-1081。
Mr. President, Members of the Senate of the United States, ladies, and gentleman:
I am overwhelmed by the warmth and spontaneity of the welcome of the American people, of whom you are the representatives. I did not know that I was to speak to you today at the Senate except to say, “How do you do, I am so very g lad to see you” and to bring the greetings of my people to the people of America. However, just before coming here, the Vice President told me that he would like to have me say a few words to you.
I am not a very good extemporaneous speaker; in fact, I am no speaker at all; but I am not so very much discouraged, because a few days ago I was at Hyde Park, and went to the President’s library. Something I saw there encouraged me, and made me feel that perhaps you will not expect overmuch of me in speaking t o you extemporaneously. What do you think I saw there I saw many things, but t he one thing which interested me most of all was that in a glass case there was the first draft of one of the President’s speeches, a second draft, and on and on up to the sixth draft. Yesterday I happened to mention this fact to the President, and told him that I was extremely glad that he had to write so many drafts when he is such a well-known and acknowledgedly fine speaker. His reply to me was that sometimes he writes 12 drafts of a speech. So, my remarks her e today, being extemporaneous, I am sure you will make allowances for me.
The traditional friendship between your country and mine has a history of 160 years. I feel--and I believe that I am not the only one who feels this way--that there are a great many similarities between your people and mine, and that these similarities are the basis of our friendship.
I should like to tell you a little story which will illustrate this belief.
When General Doolittle and his men went to bomb Tokyo, on their return some of y our boys had to bail out in the interior of China. One of them later told me t hat he had to bail out of his ship. and that when he landed on Chinese soil an d saw the populace running toward him, he just waved his arm and shouted the only Chinese word he knew, “Mei-kuo, Mei-kuo,” which means “America.” Literally translated from the Chinese it means “Beautiful country.” This boy said that our people laughed and almost hugged him, and greeted him like a long lost brother. He further told me that he thought that he had come home when he saw our people;
and that was the first time he had ever been to China.
I came to your country as a little girl. I know your people. I have lived with them. I spent the formative years of my life amongst your people. I speak you r language, not only the language of your hearts, but also your tongue. So coming here today I feel that I am also coming home.
I believe, however, that it is not only I who am coming home, I feel that if t he Chinese people could speak to you in your own tongue, or if you could under stand our tongue, they would tell you that basically and fundamentally we are fighting for the same cause; that we have identity of ideals ; that the “four freedoms,” which your President proclaimed to the
of freedom of the United Nations, and the death knell of the aggressors.
I assure you that our people are willing and eager to cooperate with you in the realization of these ideals, because we want to see to it that they do not echo as empty phrases, but become realities for ourselves, for our children, for our children’s children, and for all mankind.
How are we going to realize these ideals I think I shall tell you a little story which just came to my mind. As you know. China is a very old nation. We have a history of 5,000 years. When we were obliged to evacuate Hankow and go into the hinterland to carry on and continue our resistance against aggression, t he Generalissimo and I passed one of our fronts, the Changsha front. One day w e went into the Heng-yang Mountains, where there are traces of a famous pavilion called
“Rub-the-mirror” pavilion, which was built over 2,000 years ago. It will perhaps interest you to hear the story of that pavilion.
Two thousand years ago near that spot was an old Buddhist temple.
One of the young monks went there, and all day long he sat cross legged, with his hands clasped before him in an attitude of prayer, and murmured
“Amita-Buddha! Amita-Buddha! Amita-Buddha!” He murmured and chanted day after day, because he hoped that he would acquire grace.
The Father Prior of that temple took a piece of brick and rubbed it against a stone hour after hour, day after day, and week after week. The little acolyte, being very young, sometimes cast his eyes around to see what the old Father Prior was doing. The old Father Prior just kept on his work of rubbing the brick against the stone. So one day the young acolyte said to him. “Father Prior, what are you doing day after day rubbing this
out of this brick.” The young acolyte said, “But it is impossible to make a mirror out of a brick, Father Prior .”“Yes,” said the Father Prior, “and it is just as impossible for you yo acquire grace by doing nothing except murmur.” “Amita-Buddha’’ all day long, day in and day out.”
So, my friends, I feel that it is necessary for us not only to have ideals and to proclaim that we have them, it is necessary that we act to implement them. And so to you, gentlemen of the Senate, and to you ladies and gentlemen in the galleries, I say that without the active help of all of us our leader cannot implement these ideals. It is up to you and to me to take to heart the lesson of “Rub-the-mirror” pavilion.
I thank you.
