Ni Guishu

Ni Guishu, a native of Shanghai in the late Qing dynasty, was the third daughter of Christian pastor Ni Yunshan and Xu Yaomin, a descendant of the Ming dynasty scholar-official Xu Guangqi.

She grew up in a household rich in both cultural and religious traditions and, together with her sisters Ni Guiqing and Ni Guizhen, was known as one of the 'Three Ni Sisters,' playing an important role in the family’s connections with modern Chinese history and East–West exchanges.

In 1880, after the Qing government terminated the Chinese Educational Mission in the United States, Wen Bingzhong, one of the returned students, came back to China. Shortly thereafter, Ni Guishu married Wen Bingzhong, a native of Taishan, Guangdong, and one of the second group of Qing-sponsored students sent to study in America.

The couple later adopted two children: a son, Wen Zeqing, and a daughter, Wen Jinmei, who later married Tang Xinghai.

Through this marriage, Ni Guishu’s family became closely linked with the group of U.S.-educated Chinese students as well as with the influential Soong family, thereby indirectly shaping modern China’s social and political landscape.