Ni Kwei-tseng

"Katherine" Ni Kwei-tseng (; – ), also spelled as Ni Guizhen, was a Chinese Christian educator and philanthropist, who was the wife of Charlie Soong and the mother of Soong sisters.

Early life Born in Chuansha to a devout Christian family on 22 June 1869, she was the 17th-generation descendant of Xu Guangqi, the Ming Dynasty scholar and astronomer who played a pivotal role in introducing Western science and Catholicism to China. The Ni family, which had a Catholic tradition, was a predominant family in Yuyao, Zhejiang. Her grandmother adopted Protestantism in 1859, under the influences of British and American missionaries. Her father, Ni Yunshan was a devoted believer, who was educated in Shanghai and became a Protestant minister there. In 1887, Ni married Charlie Soong. Soong Ai-ling married H. H. Kung in 1914, after working for Sun Yat-sen. H. H. Kung was the richest person in China and later served as the governor of the Bank of China, finance minister and premier of the Republic of China. In June 1915, Soong Ching-ling returned to Shanghai to seek her parents' permission to marry Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Republic of China. Ni, as her mother, strongly opposed the idea, pointing out that Sun Yat-sen's son, Sun Fo, was even older than Ching-ling. Both Ni and Charlie Soong traveled to Japan to dissuade Ching-ling, but despite their efforts, Ni ultimately forgave Sun Yat-sen and accepted the marriage. On 19 July, Mei-ling returned to Shanghai.

Her coffin was placed in the courtyard for seven days, during which many people came to mourn her. The mourners included prominent party leaders, high-ranking officials, military officers in Qingdao, and notable businesspeople. When the coffin was transferred, it was carried by T. V. Soong, her eldest son, along with a team of 64 bearers. The Soong sisters and other family members followed in carriages at the end of the procession. Hu Ruoyu and Shen Honglie hosted two major public mourning ceremonies on Zhongshan Road, on behalf of the Municipal Government of Qingdao and the Northeast Fleet. Shen later accompanied the coffin back to Shanghai, where a burial ceremony was held on 18 August 1931 at the International Cemetery.