The four major families generally refer to the four major families of Jiang, Song, Kong and Chen, which refer to the four families that controlled China’s political and economic lifeline in the first half of the 20th century, namely the Chiang Zhongzheng family, the Song Ziwen family, the Kong Xiangxi family and the Chen Guofu and Chen Lifu families.
Chiang, Song, and Kong were related by marriage. The Song family is related to the imperial family of two dynasties. Soong Ching Ling married Sun Yat-sen, Soong Meiling married Chiang Kai-shek, and Soong Ziwen used his Harvard diploma and economics major to serve as the "financial master" of the Kuomintang. The eldest sister of the Song family, Song Ailing, was the wife of Kong Xiangxi. Kong Xiangxi was born in a financial family in Taigu, Shanxi Province. After returning from overseas, he was good at business. Because of his wife, he was able to join the officialdom from businessmen and facilitated the marriage between Jiang and Song.
Chiang Kai-shek had close contact with the plutocrats of Jiangsu and Zhejiang through Song Ziwen and Kong Xiangxi. Externally, it was helpful to win the support of the British and American governments and foreign capital investment in China, thereby stabilizing the financial foundation and diplomatic position of the Nanjing government; while Kong and Song The family can easily gain political status through the political power controlled by Chiang Kai-shek, and obtain reliable political guarantee for the family to increase its wealth.
After Kong Xiangxi served as the President of the Central Bank and Minister of Finance for 33 years, he used the "state" as a guise to achieve full control over the Central Bank, the China Banking Corporation, the Communications Bank, and the Farmers Bank, and realized the four major families' control over China's financial industry. overall control of the industry. It was under the conditions of monopolizing finance and implementing the "legal currency" policy that the comprador bureaucratic bourgeoisie, headed by the four major families of Jiang, Song, Kong and Chen, accelerated the expansion of comprador feudal state monopoly capital.
The Kong family became the richest family in the country by taking advantage of public and private affairs, being both official and business, and taking advantage of convenience. The Chen brothers have a political relationship with Chiang. It has always been said that the Chiang family is under the Chen family. Since the rise of Chiang Kai-shek, brothers Chen Guofu and Chen Lifu have always been his confidants and right-hand men. Er Chen made suggestions for Chiang, controlled the party power, and planned the Central Bureau to eliminate opposition forces, eventually creating a situation where the Jiang family was under the Chen family's party.
Youdao is: the Jiang family’s world is the Chen family’s party, and the Song family’s sisters are the Kong family’s wealth. Chiang Kai-shek is the undoubted leader of the "Four Great Families". With Chiang Zhongzheng's talent and ambition, the once extremely illustrious "Four Great Families" - "Chiang, Song, Kong, Chen" came into existence. Chiang controlled politics, Chen controlled the party, and Song and Kong served as finance ministers successively, holding the country's financial power for a long time.
Extended information:
The glory of the four famous families of Chiang, Song, Kong, and Chen in modern Chinese history has long faded over the years. The descendants of the four major families are scattered all over the world. Most of the descendants of the four major families have not entered the political arena like their predecessors.
There are many reasons for this. The Chiang family is because Chiang Ching-kuo expressed that he does not want his descendants to enter politics again, and the three major families of Kong, Song, and Chen are because they have a bad reputation after the Kuomintang fled power, and their descendants also The foundation for politics was lost. In addition, the descendants of the four major families have witnessed the decline and decline of their own families in recent decades. They have seen the gloom of politics from the ups and downs of their elders, and have tasted the hardships of the world. I am afraid this is also the case. It’s an important reason why they don’t want to enter politics.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the bureaucratic capital of the four major families was confiscated and became an integral part of the socialist state-owned economy.
Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Four Major Families