Mao's Ancestral Hall
Chairman Mao's granddaughter Kong Dongmei mentioned such a thing in her own writings, saying that when she went through the fifteenth volume of the "Shaoshan Mao Clan Genealogy and Genealogy Table" (Zhuxi Branch), she found the most authoritative record of the Mao clan genealogy of her grandfather's first marriage:
"Originally with Luo Shi, qing guangxu fifteen years of his own ugly september twenty-six ugly time, Xuan unification two years of Gengshu first month of the second yin time, buried shaoshan south bank land chong nan bamboo, youshan 卯 direction."
From this record, it can be seen that Roche was Chairman Mao's original match. Luo Shi, full name Luo Yixiu, was born in 1889 and died on the second day of the first lunar month in 1910, at the age of 21. In addition, the genealogy lists Yang Kaihui as a "stepmother" and He Zizhen as a "remarriage". So, how did Luo Yixiu marry Chairman Mao? What is Chairman Mao's attitude toward Luo Yixiu?
For a long time, the world has not known about Chairman Mao's original match, and this article will give you a detailed introduction to the untold story of Luo Yixiu. In fact, Chairman Mao was not satisfied with his first marriage, and he was unwilling to admit it, because it was arranged by his father, Mao Yichang. In a word, Chairman Mao and Luo Yixiu have the name of husband and wife, but they do not have the reality of husband and wife.
Chairman Mao and the American journalist Snow
In July 1936, the American journalist Edgar Snow came to northern Shaanxi to conduct interviews, during which he talked to Chairman Mao several times. Chairman Mao knew all about Snow, and he reviewed in detail his childhood, adolescence, and youth experiences. Nowadays, everyone can always hear the beautiful legend of Shaoshan Chong, but when Chairman Mao was born, the situation here was the same as in the isolated countryside of old China, and it was no different.
Because of the isolation, the villagers in Shaoshan Chong at that time lived by farming the land, and they had to go out to beg in the famine year. Chairman Mao's grandfather, Mao Yichen, was an honest and generous cropper, and because of his family's poverty, he had no choice but to pawn out some of his only field products. As the only boy in the family, Mao Yichang began to share the housework for his parents from the age of 17.
Because life was really difficult, Mao Yichang was forced to leave home and become a soldier in the Xiang Army for several years, gaining a lot of insight and accumulating some money. After returning to his hometown, Mao Yichang first redeemed the land property that his father pawned out, and soon bought some more. In the rural areas of old China, the vast majority of peasants who relied on self-struggle to get out of poverty were quite shrewd, and the same was true of Mao Yichang.
There were more fields in his family, and Mao Yichang transported the surplus grain to the rice market in Xiangtan to sell. Later, Mao Yichang concentrated on the business of rice and pigs and cattle, and even issued a stock called "Mao Yishuntang" to collect the surplus money of the neighbors in order to increase in value, which turned out to be very popular in the local area.
Chairman Mao's father, Mao Yichang
Chairman Mao described snow to the family situation in which he was born:
"I was born in 1893 in Shaoshanchong, Xiangtan County, Hunan Province. My father's name was Mao Shunsheng (毛贻昌, literally Shunsheng), and my mother's name in her mother's house was Wen Qimei. My father was a poor peasant, and when he was young, he had to go to the army because he was in too much debt. He was a soldier for many years. Later, he returned to the village where I was born, did small business and other livelihoods, worked hard, saved a little money, and bought his land. At this time, my family had fifteen acres of land, and became a middle peasant, and by this means they could harvest sixty quintals of grain every year. A family of five eats a total of thirty-five cartons a year—about seven cartons per person—so that twenty-five cartons remain each year. My father used this surplus to save a little more capital, and later bought seven acres of land, so that my family would have the status of 'rich' peasants. At that time, my family could collect eighty-four quintals of grain a year. When I was ten years old, my family had only fifteen acres of land, and the family of five was: my father, mother, grandfather, brother, and I. After we bought another seven acres of land, my grandfather died, but we added a younger brother. But we still have forty-nine quintals left over each year, and my father grew richer by doing so. ”
It can be seen from this that after Chairman Mao was born, his family was still quite wealthy. However, Mao Yichang tried to train his son according to his own experience, so he began to do farm work from the age of 6, such as pulling grass in the fields, herding cattle, collecting manure, and cutting firewood. Mao Yichang's idea is very simple, do not ask his son to be rich and noble, as long as he can manage his own family business well.
After becoming literate, Chairman Mao had one more task every day, helping his father keep accounts. Chairman Mao recalled: "As soon as I read a few words, my father asked me to start keeping accounts for my family. He wanted me to learn abacus. Since my father insisted, I kept the account in the evening. He was a strict overseer who could not see me idle; if there was no account to be recorded, he told me to do farm work. He was hot-tempered and used to beat me and my two younger brothers. He didn't give us any money, and he gave us the worst food. ”
Young Chairman Mao
From the beginning of literacy, Chairman Mao was obsessed with reading, which caused a conflict between father and son. Chairman Mao changed several private schools to study, and from the age of 13 to 15, he directly took a break from school at home and read in his room as soon as he had time, which made Mao Yichang very dissatisfied. One day in 1906, the contradiction between Chairman Mao and his father was completely intensified.
On this day, Mao Yichang invited several friends in the business field at home and asked the 13-year-old Chairman Mao to help entertain, but he was fascinated by reading in his room and forgot to come out. Father and son quarreled in front of everyone, and Chairman Mao rushed out of the house and ran to a pond, threatening Mao Yichang to jump if he forced him to do something he did not like.
The result of this incident was that Chairman Mao prostrated his head to his father and confessed his mistake, and Mao Yichang agreed not to beat and scold his son in the future. After experiencing this incident, Mao Yichang realized that if he could arrange a family affair for his son, he might be able to change his mind and maybe tie his son's heart. In this context, Luo Yixiu entered Mao Yichang's vision.
Luo Yixiu was born on October 20, 1889 in front of the furnace gate of Chiwei Village, Yanglin Township, Xiangtan County. The Luo family and the Mao family are quite related, Luo Yixiu's grandmother is the eldest daughter of Mao Yongtang, and she is a cousin of Chairman Mao's grandfather Mao Yichen. Not only that, but Mao Yichang was also very closely related to Mao Yongtang's four sons (Mao Enyun, Mao Enyao, Mao Enchen, and Mao Enxian).
Luo Yixiu's father, Luo Helou, was a peasant with a good knowledge of literature and ink and a wealthy family. Luo Yixiu is the eldest daughter, also known as "Daxiu", influenced by her father, she is a girl who is good at running the family. Mao Yichang was very satisfied with Luo Yixiu, and after consultation between the two families, he decided on this family affair.
Seventh sister Wen and her three sons took a group photo
On an auspicious day in 1907, 18-year-old Luo Yixiu and 14-year-old Chairman Mao were officially married. However, Chairman Mao was very dissatisfied with this, and he believed that the marriage was imposed on him by his father, and he did not respect his ideas at all. Chairman Mao also mentioned this to Snow, saying:
"When I was fourteen, my parents married me to a twenty-year-old woman (supposedly 18, probably misrepresented), but I never had a baby with her—and neither did I. I didn't think she was my wife, and I didn't think of her at this time. ”
After Luo Yixiu married into Chairman Mao's family, she was indeed an expert in running the family, she was meek and kind by nature, and she was filial to her in-laws. Mother-in-law Wen Qimei was not in good health, and Luo Yixiu helped keep the house in order. All this was seen by Chairman Mao, but he really could not accept the fact that he was married in his heart, and locked himself in his room and read all day, and the two did not live together.
In the eyes of outsiders, Luo Yixiu is Mao's parents- and daughter-in-law, not to mention that the Mao family is still a rich peasant family in Shaoshanchong. This invisible pressure made Luo Yixiu feel quite uncomfortable inside, but she couldn't change anything, which was caused by the feudal etiquette of the old society. As more books were read, Chairman Mao became more and more eager to leave the isolated Shaoshan Chong.
Chairman Mao's attitude toward Luo Yixiu was seen by Mao Yichang, but he could not force his son to do anything. At the dawn of the second day of the Chinese New Year in 1910, Luo Yixiu died of illness at the age of 21. After marrying into the Mao family for 3 years, he died of illness, which gave Chairman Mao a great stimulus.
Arranged marriage scene during the Republic of China period
In fact, Chairman Mao did not hate Luo Yixiu and sympathized with her, hating the arranged marriage of her parents and hating the feudal ritual of "cannibalism" at that time. For example, on November 14, 1919, Zhao Wuzhen was dissatisfied with his parents' arranged marriage in Changsha, and as a result, he chose to commit suicide before marriage. Chairman Mao was very angry, and successively published articles in newspapers and periodicals such as the Ta Kung Pao and the Women's Circle Bell, profoundly analyzing the social reasons for Zhao Wuzhen's suicide, exposing the dark feudal patriarchal system, the old etiquette of cannibalism, and the old morality, which once aroused strong repercussions in society.
Although Luo Yixiu died of illness, Chairman Mao did not forget her, and what happened later also reflected this, and his friendship with his father-in-law's family lasted for decades. In the spring of 1911, Chairman Mao was preparing to go to Changsha to study, and it was the planting season, so he went to his father-in-law's house to help.
During the Spring Festival in 1925, Chairman Mao returned to his hometown, and while recuperating from illness, he carried out a peasant movement, during which he came to Luo's house many times and ate several meals. From this point, it can be seen that Chairman Mao regarded his father-in-law's family as a relative, and did not become estranged from his father-in-law's family because Luo Yixiu was no longer there.
In January 1950, Chairman Mao unexpectedly received a letter signed by Huang Puchen, who was working in the liuzhou railway department in Guangxi. Judging from the relationship between the two, Huang Puchen wanted to call Chairman Mao "brother-in-law." It turned out that Luo Yixiu had a sister who was married to Huang Puchen, but this sister also died young.
Huang Puchen wrote to Chairman Mao at this time, holding the attitude of trying it out, hoping that the "brother-in-law" would help him transfer himself back to Hunan to work, so that he would be closer to the Shanshutang of Guanwang Village, Jinshi Town, Xiangxiang City. Chairman Mao believed that New China had just been founded and that Huang Puchen's current work was quite OK, but he did not agree.
Chairman Mao
Chairman Mao wrote in his reply: "I am very happy to receive the letter on January 24. It is very good to work only in the Guangxi Railway, and I hope that you will continue to work this work, and you do not have to go elsewhere or return to your hometown. Whether your wife is still the second daughter of Mr. Luo Helou, if so, please greet her on my behalf. ”
After writing this letter, Chairman Mao thought that his mother-in-law Xiang Zhenxi's old lady would soon celebrate her eightieth birthday, and he could not leave for a while, so he sent Mao Anying back to Changsha for a visit. In addition to wishing his grandmother a happy birthday and visiting his mother's grave, Mao Anying's return to Changsha this time also had the task of returning to Shaoshan to rush away relatives and friends to see the living conditions of his relatives.
Before Mao Anying set out, Chairman Mao specially called his son to the front and said to him: "Shore Ying, now the whole country is liberated, and our hometown is also liberated." You are now not only the son of my Mao Zedong, but also a cadre. You're still young and have no social experience. This time back to Hunan, we must be modest and cautious... The focus of your return to Hunan this time, go to your hometown of Shaoshan to see, and ask the villagers on my behalf. ”
At that time, from Xiangtan to Shaoshan Chong was still a small road, and the travel mainly relied on horseback riding. Chairman Mao demanded that Mao Anying get off his horse when he reached Yintian temple town and then walk back to Shaoshan Chong, which was the minimum respect for the villagers. Chairman Mao made meticulous arrangements for who Mao Anying would see, what gifts he would give, and what he would say after he returned to his hometown.
Chairman Mao also specifically told Mao Anying not to forget to visit Luo Shiquan's home, at this time Luo Helou had been dead for many years. So, who is Luo Shiquan? Luo Shiquan is Luo Yixiu's brother. When Chairman Mao returned to Shaoshan Chong to mobilize the villagers to participate in the revolution, Luo Shiquan also actively participated, and was later arrested and imprisoned by the reactionaries, and was not rescued from prison until 1941.
Chairman Mao and Mao Anying
When Luo Shiquan was released from prison, he was so destitute that Chairman Mao, who was far away in Yan'an, sent him a sum of money, which moved him to tears. After that, Luo Shiquan always expected Chairman Mao to return to his hometown to see, so as soon as Mao Anying returned to Shaoshan Chong, he took the initiative to come.
In the Mao Ancestral Hall, Mao Anying had a heated conversation with the villagers, while Luo Shiquan held his hand tightly. Mao Anying learned more about Luo Shiquan's situation and gave him a box of tea leaves and 5 million yuan in cash (equivalent to 500 yuan) in cash, which was a large sum of money at the time.
After Mao Anying returned to Beijing, Chairman Mao learned from him in detail about Luo Shiquan's situation, and as a result, he sent another 5 million yuan of old coins. After Luo Shiquan received the money, he wrote a letter to Chairman Mao in which he hoped to go to Beijing to see it. Chairman Mao has never been special, not even his relatives.
Chairman Mao resolutely opposed the nepotism of feudal society in which "one man gains power and the chicken and dog ascend to heaven." In the Memorial Hall of Chairman Mao in Shaoshan, a letter from 15 relatives of Chairman Mao's grandmother's family requesting to solve difficulties in work, study, and life is on display. At the header of the letter there is a sentence from Chairman Mao's instructions: "Many people introduce work, they can't do it, people will talk." ”
Chairman Mao talked to the villagers in front of his former residence
Chairman Mao once said to his secretary: "Anyone who asks to come to Beijing to see me is not allowed to come now." I don't see it when it comes. Anyone who asks to arrange work will be rejected, and I will not introduce, recommend, or speak here. "Now that Luo Yixiu's brother is coming to Beijing, how will Chairman Mao respond?"
At that moment, Chairman Mao must have remembered Luo Yixiu 40 years ago. Chairman Mao made an exception and agreed, and immediately replied to a letter: "Brother Shi Quan, I have received the letter, I miss you very much, thank you very much for your attention!" Not long after, Luo Shiquan went to Beijing, and Chairman Mao, like a relative, properly arranged his life in Beijing and accompanied him for a walk in Zhongnanhai.
It is not difficult to imagine that chairman Mao cared so much about the Luo family, in addition to their contribution to the revolution, an important reason was that luo Yixiu, who had never admitted it himself and was full of guilt.
Chairman Mao visited the graves of his parents
In June 1959, Chairman Mao returned to Shaoshan Chong after a 32-year absence. Due to its age and the destruction of the reactionaries in those years, Chairman Mao failed to find Luo Yixiu's grave when he visited the graves of his parents. However, Chairman Mao was so concerned about the Luo family that if Luo Yixiu knew about the Nine Springs, he could be blinded.