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After she turned fifty, Soong May-ling began to study painting.

Chiang Kai-shek watched Soong Mei-ling painting

In 1949, after Soong Mei-ling came to Taiwan with Chiang Kai-shek, painting became her biggest pastime. In the first few months of learning to paint, Soong Mei-ling would stay in her study to paint. The works of beginners were always crude, so Chiang Kai-shek teased her that she might not be able to learn painting well at this age.

In order to learn, she often went to the National Palace Museum in Taipei to look at paintings and copy them. The staff knew Song Meiling's preferences and took her to see the ancient paintings preserved in the library.

In the 1960s, Song Meiling's paintings had gradually matured. At this time, Song Meiling's paintings were hung everywhere in Chiang Kai-shek's office.

Although she started to learn painting in her later years, Song Meiling believed that painting was not a pastime, so she made rapid progress. During her painting studies, Song Meiling studied under three famous teachers: Zhang Daqian, Pu Xinyu, and Huang Junbi.

The Taiwanese painting community refers to Huang Junbi, Zhang Daqian, and Pu Xinyu as the "Three Masters Who Crossed the Sea"

It is rumored that Song Meiling wanted to invite Pu Xinyu to be her Chinese painting teacher. Pu Xinyu had a high status in the painting world of the Republic of China. He was known as "Southern Zhang and Northern Pu" together with Zhang Daqian. He was a descendant of the Qing Dynasty. Some people said that he "almost became the last emperor."

When he heard the news, he joked that the Qing Empire was overthrown by the Republic of China, and that if I taught Soong May-ling how to paint, I would be doing myself a disservice to my ancestors.

After arriving in Taiwan, Huang Junbi became her teacher. Huang Junbi was very proud of this student. He recalled that Soong May-ling's paintings were bold and individual, and the orchids she painted had flexible expressions.

Huang Junbi instructs Soong Mei-ling in painting

Soong Mei-ling was good at painting landscapes and flowers, especially landscapes as her favorite.

His landscape paintings are open and smooth, with a grand demeanor, aura in the clear and elegant parts, and a mellow and ancient charm in the deep and profound parts; his flower and bird paintings are mostly orchids and bamboos, with heavy but not turbid brushwork, old and smooth, pure and unworldly, and full of poetic flavor.

Compared with flower and bird paintings and landscape paintings, her attainments are higher. Her works reflect both the feminine and gentle side of women and the elegant and delicate characteristics of Lingnan painting style.

In 1966, Zhang Daqian wrote an inscription for Song Qingling's landscape painting: "The mountains and hills are thick and solid, and the vegetation is luxuriant; large but elegant, detailed but not slender, a master of sketching."

At one time, it was believed by the outside world that Soong May-ling's paintings were ghostwritten by Zheng Manqing. In order to change this view, Soong May-ling invited famous Taiwanese painters to have dinner at the Shilin official residence, and then Zheng Manqing proposed that everyone paint together.

Under the watchful eyes of the public, Soong Mei-ling calmly painted. From then on, no one doubted the authenticity of Soong Mei-ling's paintings.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Taiwan Post Office put Soong May-ling's landscape works on stamps three times, each set of four stamps, which were magnificent and spectacular.

Among them, the "Double Pines" stamp was selected as the best stamp in Taiwan's "Stamp Beauty Pageant" in 1975, which shows the high level of her painting skills.

Unfortunately, these three sets of stamps are not named "Landscape Paintings of Soong May-ling", but "Landscape Paintings of Madame Chiang".

Soong Mei-ling succeeded in bringing her own temperament into the painting, and just right.

Soong Mei-ling's love for painting was pure and simple. As she once said, "When I can't fall asleep at night, I paint."