Jiang Ying Jiang Ying

Jiang Ying (simplified Chinese: 蒋英; traditional Chinese: 蔣英; pinyin: Jiǎng Yīng; August 11, 1919 – February 5, 2012) was a Chinese opera singer and music teacher.

Family

Jiang was of mixed Chinese and Japanese descent. She was the third daughter of Jiang Baili, a leading military strategist of Chiang Kai-shek, and his Japanese wife, Satō Yato (佐藤屋子). Jiang was a cousin of the novelist Jin Yong who also came from Haining.

In 1945 in Shanghai, Jiang married famous rocket scientist and engineer Qian Xuesen, who co-founded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the United States and later led the space program of the People's Republic of China.

Biography

In 1936 Jiang went to Europe with her father and studied music in Berlin. Jiang graduated from Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin in 1941. When World War II in Europe broke out, Jiang had to move and further studied opera in neutral Switzerland. Jiang graduated from Musikhochschule Luzern in 1944.

Jiang went back to China (at that time the Republic of China) and first performed in Shanghai May 31, 1947. Jiang moved to the United States later that year.

Jiang went to the People's Republic of China together with Qian in 1955 when he was deported by the U.S. government. Qian and Jiang entered China through Kowloon, Hong Kong. Jiang became a professor of music and opera, and head of the department of Western Vocal Music at the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing.

Jiang died on February 5, 2012, in Beijing.