David Kung Ling-kan

Kung Ling-kan (10 December 1916 – 1 August 1992) was the eldest son of H. H. Kung and Soong Ai-ling.[1] Kung was a 76th generation of Confucius, being given the generation name "ling".

David Kung Ling-kan
孔令侃
David Kung Ling-kan, 1936
Born(1916-12-10)10 December 1916
Died1 August 1992(1992-08-01) (aged 75)
New York City, United States
Burial placeFerncliff Cemetery
NationalityRepublic of China
Alma materSt. John's University
Harvard University
OccupationBusinessperson
Political partyKuomintang
Spouse白兰花
Parent(s)H. H. Kung
Soong Ai-ling

Life

In 1933, Kung Ling-kan studied at St. John's University in Shanghai. After graduating from college in 1936, he served as the Secret Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and then entered the newly established Central Trust. After the Japanese occupation of Shanghai in 1937, the Central Trust Bureau was withdrawn to Hong Kong, and Kung served as executive director and presided over the business.

In 1939, the British Hong Kong authorities seized the secret radio station and expelled it from Hong Kong. Subsequently, Kung Ling-kan went to Harvard University to study in the United States, and married Man Shengli's ex-wife on the way to Manila.

In 1943, Soong Mei-ling went to the United States to visit, and Kung Ling-kan served as secretary. After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Ku returned to Shanghai to establish Yangzi Jianye Co., Ltd.

In 1948, in the late period of the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party, China experienced severe hyperinflation. The government decided to release a new currency, the Gold yuan.

Chiang Ching-kuo went to Shanghai to supervise the economic control. The iron fist method was used to suppress the price.[2] As part of the campaign, David Kung and several employees of the Yangtze Development Corporation were arrested on allegations of holding foreign exchange.[3]:181 Soong Mei-ling called Chiang Kai-shek to complain and also called Chiang Ching-Kuo directly.[3]:182 David Kung was eventually freed after negotiations.

Kung had transferred funds overseas and had settled in the United States. After his aunt Soong Mei-ling came to the United States, she lived in an apartment that Kung bought for her in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. In 1992, Kung Ling-kan died in New York, at the age of 76. He had no children.

References

  1. 王丰著 (September 2010). 蒋介石父子1949危机档案. 北京:九州出版社. p. 111. ISBN 978-7-5108-0550-9.
  2. 杨熙越,石仁主编. 百年老照片 第2册. 北京:经济日报出版社. pp. 264. ISBN 7-80127-412-1.
  3. Coble, Parks M. (2023). The Collapse of Nationalist China: How Chiang Kai-shek Lost China's Civil War. Cambridge New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-009-29761-5.


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