Chang Ya-juo

{{Short description|Mistress of Chiang Ching-Kuo (died 1942)}}

{{family name hatnote|Chang|lang=Chinese}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Chang Ya-juo

| image = Chang Ya-juo 1942.jpg

| alt =

| caption =

| native_name = {{zh|t=章亞若|labels=no}}

| native_name_lang = zh

| birth_name = Chang Mao-li ({{lang|zh-hant|章懋李}})

| birth_date = {{Birth date text|1913}}

| birth_place = Jiujiang, Republic of China

| death_date = {{Death year and age|1942|1913}}

| death_place = Guilin, Guangxi, Republic of China

| death_cause =

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| education =

| alma_mater =

| occupation =

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| known_for = Being the mother of Chiang Ching-kuo's illegitimate twin sons

| spouse =

| partner = Chiang Ching-kuo

| children = {{ubl

| John Chiang ({{lang|zh|蔣孝嚴}})

| Winston Chiang ({{lang|zh|蔣孝慈}})

}}

| relatives =

}}

Chang Ya-juo{{efn|{{zh|t=章亞若|s=章亚若|p=Zhāng Yāruò|w=Ch'ang Ya-jo|first=t}}}} (died 1942) was the mistress of Chiang Ching-kuo and bore twin sons for him, John Chiang and Winston Chang. She was born in Jiujiang and met Chiang when she was working at a training camp for enlistees in the fight against Japan while he was serving as the head of Gannan Prefecture.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jun-20-fg-grandson20-story.html |title=A Scion's Story Full of Twists |author=Demick, Barbara |date=20 June 2003 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=28 March 2015 |url-access=subscription|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402205950/http://articles.latimes.com/2003/jun/20/world/fg-grandson20 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/11/international/asia/11FPRO.html |title=Taiwan Lawmaker's Skill May Be Hereditary |last1=Bradsher |first1=Keith |date=11 January 2003 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=28 March 2015 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219040107/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/11/world/the-saturday-profile-taiwan-lawmaker-s-skill-may-be-hereditary.html |archive-date=19 December 2013 |url-status=live}}

The twins took their mother's surname. Chang Ya-juo died under mysterious circumstances; after dining at a friend's house, she came home complaining of stomach cramps. She was admitted to the hospital in Guilin and died the next day.

After their mother's death, the twins were raised by Chang's brother and sister-in-law, Chang Hau-juo ({{zh |t=章浩若 |p=Zhāng Hàoruò |labels=no}}) and Chi Chen ({{zh |t=季琛 |p=Jì Chēn |labels=no}}), respectively, who were officially listed as their parents.{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2002/12/14/0000187128 |title=John Chang gets new identity |last1=Hsu |first1=Crystal |date=14 December 2002 |newspaper=Taipei Times |access-date=28 March 2015}} They escaped to Taiwan with their uncle and aunt in 1949 and settled near Hsinchu.

After a legal process{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2002/07/13/0000148080 |title=Legislator will have to clear hurdles in bid to alter ID card |author=Tsai, Ting-I |date=13 July 2002 |newspaper=Taipei Times |access-date=28 March 2015 }} that included obtaining written declarations from Chi's sons, documents attesting to the father-sons relationship between Chiang Ching-kuo and the twins from retired general Wang Sheng ({{zh |t=王昇 |p=Wáng Shēng |labels=no}}), the birth certificate listing Chang Ya-juo as his mother and DNA testing to prove that Chi was not his birth mother, John Chiang was able to obtain a new ID card listing Chiang Ching-kuo and Chang Ya-juo as his biological parents in December 2002. John Chiang officially changed his surname to Chiang in March 2005.{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2005/03/08/2003245367 |title=Chang has become Chiang |agency=CNA |date=8 March 2005 |newspaper=Taipei Times |access-date=28 March 2015 }}

In 2006, Chiang stated he knew the identity of his mother's murderer, to be revealed as one of Chiang Ching-kuo's aides in his forthcoming memoirs, but that Chiang Ching-kuo had not ordered the murder and was not aware it was to take place.{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2006/01/27/2003290901 |title=John Chiang says he has solved mother's murde |date=27 Jan 2006 |newspaper=Taipei Times |access-date=28 March 2015 |quote=She died in a hospital in Guilin, China, in 1942, shortly after giving birth to John and his twin brother Winston}}{{cite book |script-title=zh:蔣家門外的孩子 : 蔣孝嚴逆流而上 |trans-title=The Chiang family's outside children : John Chiang's upstream journey |author1=蔣孝嚴 |author2=Chiang, John |publisher=天下遠見出版股份有限公司 |location=Taipei |date=2006 |isbn=9789864176816 |oclc=70663153 |language=zh}}