In 2009, when a reporter from "Global People" magazine asked about Li Min's situation, Li Min's daughter Kong Dongmei said:
"My mother was very difficult back then, she was sandwiched between her grandmother and grandfather, and her personality was not very pungent, she had to be open-minded for her grandmother, and she had to take care of her grandfather a lot...... Mom was very simple, and I never saw her wear a piece of jewelry. ”
As the daughter of a great man, she is undoubtedly qualified, but as the daughter of Mao Zedong, there are too many unspeakable ups and downs in her life, and she has experienced too many things in her life that are difficult for ordinary people to accept, even her father is seriously ill, she is only allowed to visit three times, and when we approach her life, we will find grief and tenderness beyond the halo.
The name Li Min entrusts the great man's most sincere teachings to his children, "A gentleman is a man of his word, and he is sensitive to action", Chairman Mao hopes that his children will not speak big words and have the courage to practice.
As Mao Zedong's eldest daughter, many people think that Li Min grew up next to her father, but in fact, Li Min couldn't feel the existence of the word father's love before the age of 14.
For her, Mao Zedong is just a poster hanging on the wall, just a large photo in the auditorium, the leader of the Communist Party of China, a great man of a generation...... It's a lot of great and glorious aura, but it's not a father.
The reason for this starts with Li Min's birth.
On July 11, 1936, the party, government and military of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China were evacuated from Wayaobao to Yan'an, Chairman Mao and his wife He Zizhen lived in a very dilapidated cave, where He Zizhen gave birth to a child, an unusually thin baby girl.
At that time, the conditions were difficult, there were no nutritional supplies at all, even for the chairman's child, there was no additional subsidy, plus He Zizhen was busy with work, his body was weak, and he had no extra milk to feed the child.
In those difficult and difficult revolutionary years, many times a child's growth could only be resigned to fate.
After Li Min was born, Zhou Enlai's wife Deng Yingchao loved her very much, held the child with pity, and said very distressed and gentle: "What a poor little Jiaojiao!"
Jiaojiao became the child's nickname, as for what name to choose to become the child's name, Chairman Mao couldn't make up his mind for a while, and then felt that everyone was called Jiaojiao, so it would be better to call Jiaojiao!
He remembered a sentence in "Xijing Miscellaneous": "Wen Junjiao is good, his eyebrows are like looking at distant mountains, and his face is often like a hibiscus." This is an excellent poem used to praise the appearance of his daughter's family, so he simply named his daughter "Mao Jiaojiao".
The daily work of the revolution was so arduous that Mao Zedong and He Zizhen had no time to take care of a young child, so they decided to foster the child at their home in their hometown in northern Shaanxi and wait until the victory of the revolution to pick up the child.
Later, due to his busy work, he sent his child to a Los Angeles kindergarten in Yan'an.
After a few rounds, the words father and mother gradually became unfamiliar to Li Min, but fortunately she met the kindest group of people, and the simple villagers tried their best to protect the children of this revolutionary, so she was able to survive healthily.
One day in September 1937, He Zizhen ran away "in anger" and went to the Soviet Union, no one knew what kind of quarrel there was between the chairman and his wife, but from that day on, the chairman kept silent and did not mention He Zizhen, who was once such a loving revolutionary partner, came to an end, which is also a kind of sadness, probably because He Zizhen, who is ambitious, is unwilling to be an unknown woman behind the scenes!
However, He Zizhen's life in the Soviet Union was not easy, she was pregnant when she left, and gave birth in May 1938, but unfortunately, the child did not withstand the harsh climate of the Soviet Union, and suffered from pneumonia in the extremely cold weather, and died soon after.
The death of her child was a blow to her, and then she heard the news of Mao Zedong's remarriage in Yan'an, which almost destroyed the woman who had once crossed the flames of war, and she fell into a collapse and almost committed suicide.
Chairman Mao was also very shocked when he heard the news that He Zizhen had a nervous breakdown due to the death of his young son, and the chairman was also in pain, the child who died was also his own flesh and blood, but since the matter has happened, it is useless to immerse himself in sadness, and the urgent thing at the moment is how to appease He Zizhen's emotions.
Although they can no longer be husband and wife, but the husband and wife love for many years is still there, Mao Zedong decided to send his daughter to her side to take care of, hoping to let her comfort a mother's loneliness and anxiety.
In 1940, Xiao Jiaojiao had just turned four years old, and she didn't know how to understand the grief of her father and mother, and she didn't even know why she suddenly left a familiar place, but she knew that she was going to meet someone very important to her - her mother.
Although she didn't know what her mother looked like, she still went to a foreign country under the care of Zhu De's daughter Zhu Min, and she was still young and shouldered an important task to heal the pain in her mother's heart.
When a little girl who was just four years old, pink and tender, appeared in front of He Zizhen, He Zizhen's cold and broken heart suddenly warmed, she looked at the little girl in front of her with a gentle and loving eye, and asked her gently: "Little girl, what are you doing here?"
A crisp voice replied, "I'm here to find my mother, my mother's name is He Zizhen." ”
He Zizhen thought of the child she gave birth to in Yan'an, and had mixed feelings, she deliberately teased this lovely girl and asked, "Then what did you bring to your mother?" ”
The little girl tilted her head and thought for a while, then said in a milky voice, "I have brought Jiaojiao to my mother!" ”
In this way, this child became He Zizhen's only comfort and tenderness in the second half of his life, and in this way, Mao Jiaojiao stayed by He Zizhen's side.
This stay is several years, the child is forgetful, as time goes by, she has long forgotten what her father looks like, although she often sees her father's name on the radio and in the newspaper, but she forgets that her father is Mao Zedong.
In 1941, the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union began, He Zizhen and his children lived a very unpeaceful life in the Soviet Union, which can be called hunger and cold, and even in order to protect the children, He Zizhen was framed as mentally ill by the director of the nursery school, and was once imprisoned in a mental hospital.
It wasn't until 1947 that she finally met her mother, and was tortured in the Soviet Union, and neither mother nor son wanted to stay in the Soviet Union anymore, so they immediately set off to the motherland that they thought about day and night.
After Jiaojiao returned to China, Mao Anqing, who was sent to the Soviet Union to study, and the Mao Anying brothers also returned to the embrace of the motherland, Chairman Mao sent the two brothers to He Zizhen's side, He Zizhen also liked these two children very much, and has been taking care of them as their own, and the relationship between the three children is very close and harmonious.
Although Jiaojiao returned to China at this time, she didn't know that her father was Chairman Mao and the great revolutionary leader. Once, the second brother Mao Anqing, who was in school, pointed to a large pictorial hanging on the wall of the classroom and said, "Jiaojiao, do you know who he is?" ”
"Of course I know, he is Chairman Mao, the great leader of the Communist Party of China." Her voice was loud and affirmative, and after she finished speaking, she glanced at the second brother with strange eyes, because the second brother never asked such an inexplicable question.
The second brother nodded, and then said to Mao Jiaojiao in a very firm and serious tone, with pride in and out of his words, "You are right, but he is still our father." ”
"No, I don't have a father, don't talk nonsense." For Li Min, the word dad is a completely unfamiliar word, and her mother and the people around her have never mentioned this word, so she has always been skeptical of her brother's words, but looking at her brother's firm and serious face, she was silent again.
Later, she asked many people she knew to confirm this fact, although she did not know how to write Chinese characters at that time, she still couldn't wait to write a letter to her father in Russian, which was written like this:
"Chairman Mao:
Everyone says that you are my biological father, and I am your biological daughter, but I have not seen you in the Soviet Union, and I don't know what is going on. Am I your biological daughter? Please write to me quickly so that I can return to you. ”
This is a letter full of innocence, after Chairman Mao received the letter, he immediately replied to his daughter, he has not seen his child for a long time, the thoughts in his heart have converged into words full of love, he can't wait to write a letter, and can't wait to see this daughter.
"It's a pleasure to hear from you. You are my biological daughter, I am your biological father, you have been to the Soviet Union for more than ten years, and you have never met each other, you must have grown taller, grown up, right? Dad misses you and likes you very much, I hope to come back to Dad soon, Dad asked Comrade He Yi to make a special trip to the Northeast to pick you up, and Dad welcomes you back. ”
Ten years have passed in a flash, my father is still the father of the year, for the country and the people, he has been working hard, for the cause of the revolution, for the permanent cause of the Communist Party, he has been busy, but the child is no longer the child of the year, she has grown up, a delicate child, and has grown into a slim girl.
In the summer vacation of 1949, Chairman Mao finally met with 13-year-old Jiaojiao, and the chairman was very happy to introduce his daughter to several central leaders at that time, he said: "Today I brought you a foreign baby, my foreign daughter. ”
Under Mao Zedong's introduction and encouragement, Jiaojiao greeted every elder present with a broken Chinese, although most of the Chinese at that time, she still couldn't understand, but every elder liked her very much, it was the happiest time in her life.
After that holiday, Jiaojiao also went to school, Chairman Mao didn't want his children to be treated differently because of his identity, so he wanted to give his daughter a name that no one else knows, so Mao Zedong named her Li Min, as for why Mao Zedong's daughter is surnamed Li?
It started a long time ago.
Chairman Mao had a pseudonym called Li Desheng when he was in Yan'an in his early years, and he felt that the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression would be victorious, and the revolution would definitely be victorious, so he took such a name and also named his two daughters with this surname.
But it seems that all families can't avoid this or that contradiction, although Li Min gets along with his father very happily, but the relationship with his stepmother is not so wonderful, all his life, Li Min has not called his stepmother Jiang Qing a word of mother, Li Min has never recognized Jiang Qing's identity, and has become a thorn in Jiang Qing's heart.
Li Min has always been reluctant to face the complicated family relationship, after getting married in 1959, she and her husband have been living in the most remote courtyard in Zhongnanhai, and they have less contact with Jiang Qing, but Jiang Qing will not give up, she has always disliked Li Min, but Chairman Mao is very important to Li Min and Li Min's husband, which makes Jiang Qing very unhappy, so she has been finding fault and sneering at their family.
In 1963, because he couldn't stand living with Jiang Qing, Li Min endured his father's reluctance and moved out of Zhongnanhai.
When Li Min and his father asked to move out, Chairman Mao sighed and did not stop him, he knew the reason, but he had no way to solve this contradiction, after all, it was difficult for Qing officials to cut off family affairs, the chairman sighed helplessly, and said silently: "The palms and backs of the hands are full of meat!" ”
But after leaving, it was more difficult to see his father, and Jiang Qing got in the way every time, resulting in when the chairman was seriously ill, Li Min, who was Mao Zedong's eldest daughter, only visited Chairman Mao three times when he was seriously ill, which was the father's pain and the daughter's helplessness.
As a daughter, especially as the daughter of a great man, she should have done her filial piety in front of her father's bed, even if she was unable to return to heaven, she should have watched her father leave this world without regrets, but Li Min couldn't, there were too many complicated political reasons, too much helplessness and sorrow, and she could only swallow these pains silently.
After Li Min and his wife moved out of Zhongnanhai, their documents for entering and leaving Zhongnanhai were withdrawn, and if Li Min wanted to see his father again, he must first contact at the door, and then be able to enter after being reported. ”
In Mao Zedong's later years, he was seriously ill, and most of the people around him were controlled by Jiang Qing, and many people could not easily see Chairman Mao, and Li Min only met him three times.
The first time was after the death of Marshal Chen Yi, Chairman Mao attended the memorial service of Marshal Chen Yi. After the memorial service, Mao Zedong saw his daughter who he hadn't seen for a long time, and after seeing his daughter again, he hurriedly walked over and held his daughter's hand tightly: "Jiaojiao, you have to come to see me often, why don't you come to see me often?" ”
In addition to the aura of a great man, Chairman Mao at this moment is just an old man who is eager to enjoy the joy of family, he hopes that his daughter will often come to accompany him, and hopes that the children will often come to see her, which was originally a very ordinary wish, but it is so difficult to achieve, the eldest son has died, and the remaining children are scattered all over the place, at this time, Mao Zedong misses every child very much.
The grievances and pain in Li Min's heart were indescribable, she could only nod her head, promising her father that she would visit him often, what a simple thing, but it was so difficult to really realize, and when she turned around, she could only burst into tears.
She is destined to be unable to be filial to her parents like any ordinary child, and she has no way to take care of her seriously ill father, so she can only look at her father's haggard face and silently wipe away her tears.
Although he promised his father to visit him often, Li Min still couldn't enter Zhongnanhai, there was no way, Li Min could only let his thoughts go long, silently praying that his father would be well, praying that everything would develop in a good direction.
The chairman finally fell ill, as a daughter, Li Min knew that the news of her father's illness was actually through the phone, she suddenly received a call from Mao Yuanxin, her heart beat extremely fast, and she vaguely felt some unfortunate news, sure enough, Mao Yuanxin said on the phone that Mao Zedong was seriously ill, and hoped that she would go back to see it quickly.
Li Min hurriedly went to Zhongnanhai, this time, she was not hindered in any way, this did not seem to be good news for her, she could only stand in front of her father's hospital bed, looking at her father who was still sleeping, tears of distress, wanted to do something, but could not do anything.
She wanted to take care of her father, but Jiang Qing didn't want him to stay by her father's side, her stubbornness provoked Jiang Qing's eyes, Jiang Qing said to her very toughly: "You stay here, what is wrong with the chairman, can you take responsibility?" The chairman has been rescued, you go, hurry up! ”
Jiang Qing's words are very serious, even if Li Min is reluctant in every way, she can only leave, as a daughter, she can be responsible for her father, but, as an ordinary person, how can she be responsible for the life of the chairman? I could see my father's loneliness, but she couldn't do anything about it.
The third time Li Min saw his father was a few days before Mao Zedong's death.
That day, Li Min happened to see the news about Mao Zedong's illness in a document of the Central Committee, as a child, he could no longer bear to miss and care about his father.
She rushed to Zhongnanhai desperately, crying and begging to see her father, she seemed to have expected it in her grief, this was the last time she saw her father, no matter what happened, no matter who stopped him, he must see his father.
However, at this time, Chairman Mao's physical condition was already very dangerous, and he was often dazed, and when he heard his daughter's voice, he opened his eyes vigorously.
Before falling unconscious, the chairman held his daughter's hand tightly and said the last sentence: "Jiaojiao, why don't you come to see me?" ”
The tears that have been endured, this moment finally poured out uncontrollably, full of reluctance, resentment, grievance, remorse and insecurity grew into a towering tree about grief, the pouring rain outside is still falling, it seems to be the sorrow of a woman, but more of a sorrow for the death of a great man.
Because of the revolutionary cause, Chairman Mao lost six of his closest relatives in his life, his wife, his sister, his younger brother, and even his favorite eldest son.
Because of his busy work, he didn't even have time to stay with his children and enjoy the joy of family, and he also wanted to be an ordinary father.
Fate ruthlessly took too many things away from this great man, and countless people saw her aura and did not know the grief he endured.
However, he dedicated his life to the motherland, to the party, and to the great communist cause, and achieved the prosperity and prosperity of New China today.
As Mao Zedong's daughter, Li Min is bound to bear some things that ordinary people can't imagine, maybe all this was destined as early as the birth of this child, she is the "first daughter", she can't get her father's company, but she can be proud of her father for generations!