- [Foreword]
In 1972, Chairman Mao’s daughter Li Min gave birth to a healthy baby girl. This is her second child. This little baby looks very much like her grandfather Mao Zedong. Especially on the chin, there is a mole similar to Chairman Mao.
Li Min was very surprised. Her daughter looked so much like her father. In her opinion, it was a great blessing and fate.
So she sent a photo of her daughter to Chairman Mao who was working in Zhongnanhai, hoping that her father could give the newborn granddaughter a good name.
At this time, Chairman Mao was already in his octogenarian years. He seemed very happy to receive the letter from his daughter. After learning that he had a granddaughter, he smiled from ear to ear. Naming is a big deal. After repeated thinking, Chairman Mao decided to name his little granddaughter after his favorite plum blossom, and also gave her the word "东" in his name.
Chairman Mao
was eventually named Kong Dongmei.
The economic situation in the 1970s was very bad. The child Kong Dongmei was originally unable to be born, but Chairman Mao’s words kept her. What did Chairman Mao say? Why is Li Min, the daughter of Chairman Mao, named "Li"? How is Kong Dongmei developing now when she grows up? Please listen to me tell you in detail.
- [Chairman's "doll", grew up in Moscow away from his father]
Li Min is the daughter of Chairman Mao and He Zizhen. She was born under extremely difficult conditions, so Li Min was thin and weak when she was born.
After delivering the baby to He Zizhen, Deng Yingchao, the wife of Premier Zhou Enlai, held the infant in her arms and said distressedly: " She is such a little girl. "
Chairman Mao was also very happy to have his beloved daughter. Hearing what Deng Yingchao said, He immediately thought about whether his daughter would grow up to be as graceful as "the moon between the bright clouds". In addition, "玚玚" and "Jiaojiao" have the same pronunciation, immediately decided to name his daughter "Jiaojiao". Thus, Li Min’s nickname Jiaojiao was decided.
Soon after, He Zizhen went to the Soviet Union for treatment and study, but did not take away Xiao Jiaojiao, who was still a baby.
In this way, she was fostered in the home of a fellow villager in Shaanxi. Shaanxi people are simple and honest. They raised Xiaojiaojiao little by little with goat's milk and Baijia rice. Later, Xiaojiaojiao was sent to the Los Angeles nursery in Yan'an and has been living there ever since.
He Zizhen, who traveled to the Soviet Union, was pregnant when she boarded the plane, and later gave birth to a baby boy in the Soviet Union. However, this poor boy was ruthlessly killed by pneumonia when he was 10 months old. After Chairman Mao, who was far away in China, learned of this, in order to ease He Zizhen's pain of losing her son, the Chairman decided to send Xiao Jiaojiao, who was only 4 years old, to Moscow to stay with her mother.
He Zizhen and daughter Li Min
He Zizhen was very excited that her daughter could come to her, and the pain of losing her son had also been relieved to some extent. She also felt the concern of the chairman who was far away in China. She concentrated on raising her daughter in Moscow, and later took care of the brothers Mao Anying and Mao Anying who were sent from China.
Xiao Jiaojiao and her elder brothers Mao Anying and Mao Anying are both studying in schools in Moscow. The corridors of the Soviet International Children's Hospital are filled with photos of leaders from various countries. During an event organized by the school, elder brother Mao Anying pointed at Mao on the wall. The photo of the chairman secretly told her: "This man is our father!"
's tone was full of pride.
Xiao Jiaojiao's face was full of disbelief. She had heard about Chairman Mao's deeds. School commentators and news often mentioned this great leader, who led the Chinese people to various victories. Such a great figure could actually Is it her father? She couldn't believe it, but she was really looking forward to it being true.
From then on, she often thought of her father who was far away in China.
Li Min was a child
But after growing up in Moscow for so many years, she no longer speaks Chinese fluently, and her father's appearance in her memory is also very vague. She often wonders:Has her father also forgotten her? How could Chairman
forget this daughter? He also misses this "foreign baby" living abroad. In 1947, Xiao Jiaojiao finally returned to China with her mother He Zizhen. On the eve of the founding of New China in 1949, Chairman Mao asked He Zizhen's sister to bring a message, hoping to bring their daughter Xiao Jiaojiao to Beijing to study.
Although He Zizhen was extremely reluctant to let her daughter return to her father, she had no objection and immediately agreed.
From then on, Jiaojiao began her life in Beijing.
Mao Zedong and Li Min
- [Named Li Min, his father witnessed his marriage]
On the day Xiao Jiaojiao returned to her father, the chairman excitedly pulled his daughter, whom he had not seen for nearly 10 years, to look around. I kept sighing that time flies so fast, and the little baby back then has grown so big.
Seeing that his daughter was about to go to school, the chairman wanted to give Jiaojiao a good name. After much deliberation, I decided to take it from the word "sensitivity" in the sentence "A gentleman is slow in words but quick in deeds" in "The Analects". hopes that his daughter will be quick in thinking and quick in learning, and will not be ashamed to ask questions, so she wanted her daughter to be quick in thinking and quick in learning. Jiaojiao was named Li Min.
Although Xiao Jiaojiao has been living in Moscow, she also knows that Chinese children all have the same surname as their father, so she asked in unskilled Chinese: "Why is your surname Mao, and my surname is Li?" After hearing this, Chairman
laughed and said that he didn’t expect that his little Jiaojiao knew quite a lot about Chinese customs! Then he explained the reason to her. It turned out that Chairman Mao did not let Li Min take his surname Mao because he hoped that she could live as an ordinary student in school and not be special. Chairman
himself has always practiced the purpose of serving the people and lives a very simple life. In addition, during the revolution, Chairman once used the name Li Desheng (homonym for Sheng). He liked this name very much, so he gave his daughter the surname Li.
After hearing this, Li Min suddenly understood and was very moved by his father's good intentions. He happily accepted the name Li Min.
Li Min followed his father's teachings at school and did not publicize his identity or act special. He sat in an ordinary classroom like other students and ate ordinary meals in the cafeteria.
From 1949 to 1959, Li Min grew up happily beside his father. Li Min's company also gave Chairman Mao great comfort and brought him a lot of laughter.
Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, Li Min is about to graduate from high school. She received a letter that day. After reading it, her face turned red, and then she shyly told her father that she was in love.
Chairman Mao has always been very democratic when it comes to the love affairs of his children. He once told his daughter that as long as she really likes it, he will support it, regardless of whether the other party is a farmer or a worker. just looked at her daughter, who was getting more and more graceful, and felt that time passed so fast. At the same time, she felt deeply reluctant that her daughter was going to get married.
Chairman Mao put down what he was doing and asked about the other party's situation in detail. His daughter told him that the other person's name was Kong Linghua. She was preparing for the exam to enter university recently, and it was Kong Linghua who helped tutor her.
Li Min and Kong Linghua
Li Min also said: "Xiao Kong cannot enter Zhongnanhai without a pass, but it is inconvenient for him to come and go to make up classes for me. Can you please tell the security guard to make a special case?"
After hearing this, the chairman immediately made a decision and said: "What's so difficult about this? Just let him live here."
After hearing this, Li Min turned red with embarrassment. Later, Chairman Mao told his daughter that she should also inform her mother He Zizhen when they were in love. Li Min agreed with a smile.
After that, Li Min took Kong Linghua to Nanchang, Jiangxi to meet He Zizhen. He Zizhen looked at Kong Linghua, just as the mother-in-law looked at her son-in-law. The more she looked at him, the more satisfied she became. She knew that Xiao Kong was a good person, so she had no objection to her daughter's love. However, she asked her daughter to postpone the wedding until they both go to college before settling down.
He Zizhen carefully considered her mother's suggestion, and after returning home, she discussed with Chairman Mao to postpone the wedding for one year.
In 1959, Li Min and Kong Linghua, who had been in love for a long time, held a wedding . Chairman Mao personally witnessed the marriage of the two. After the marriage, Kong Linghua accompanied Li Min and continued to live in Zhongnanhai.
In September 1959, Li Min and Kong Linghua’s wedding
A year later, their first child was born.
Li Min’s parents-in-law wrote a letter saying that they hoped Chairman Mao could help name their newborn grandson.
Chairman Mao saw that his daughter’s parents-in-law had asked for it, so naturally they were very happy to help him name his little grandson. He thought that his daughter had grown up in the Soviet Union, and the first generation leader of the Soviet Union was Lenin. The word "Ning" also means tranquility and tranquility in China, and Chairman Mao also hoped that his little grandson would continue to work for the proletariat when he grew up. After fighting for the great revolutionary cause all his life, named his grandson: Kong Jining.
After Li Min and his wife heard this name, they repeatedly praised Chairman Mao for his great achievements. It not only had a profound meaning, but also sounded very nice. When Li Min wrote a letter to inform his father-in-law and mother-in-law about the name Chairman Mao had given to his grandson, Kong Linghua's parents were also very happy and wrote a special letter to thank Chairman Mao.
On December 26, 1963, Chairman Mao, Li Min and her husband Kong Linghua lived in Zhongnanhai.
Shortly after Kong Jining was born, Li Min and his wife moved out of Zhongnanhai and lived in a small house in Bingmasi Hutong, Beijing.
After Li Min moved out of Zhongnanhai, he had to obtain approvals at all levels if he wanted to see his father again, which was very difficult. According to Kong Jining's later recollection: "My mother had to ask for permission at all levels when she wanted to see her father in Zhongnanhai. It was very difficult. We usually could only do it every year. I reunited with my grandfather on his birthday on December 26th. ”
- [The chairman advised Li Min to keep the second child and name the child again]
After marriage, Li Min and Kong Linghua lived an ordinary life like most families in China. They There are no exceptions. They rely on their respective salaries to maintain family expenses.
Time flies to the 1970s. At this time, the economic situation across the country is very bad, but Li Min is pregnant with her second child at this time. This is a mixed news. There is one more person to eat in the family. After all, it is The burden has increased, and it is still a question whether the child can be fed.
Li Min couldn't make up her mind, so she wrote a letter to her father Mao Zedong, asking for his opinion. After Chairman Mao learned the news, he immediately asked someone to write back to Li Min and said: " We must keep this child, and the conditions will get better. "
Not only that, Chairman Mao also asked people to call Li Min many times. , asked her about her pregnancy and told her to take care of her baby with peace of mind.
With her father's advice, Li Min felt relieved and kept the child after discussing with her husband Kong Linghua. Pregnancy time flies by quickly, In 1972, a baby girl with a mole on her chin like Chairman Mao was born !
After some discussion, Li Min and his wife thought that the name Chairman Mao had chosen for their eldest son was so nice, so they thought of asking him to choose a name for their newborn daughter. So the two sent her daughter's photo to She gave it to Chairman Mao and asked him in the letter to name his daughter.
Chairman Mao was very happy when he received the letter and learned that his daughter gave birth to a child successfully. He also agreed when his daughter and son-in-law asked him to name his newborn granddaughter.
He thought of his favorite plum blossoms. Plum blossoms are not afraid of the severe cold. They bloom alone in Linghan, which represents strength. This female doll was born in this era, so the word "plum" couldn't be better.Then, the chairman thought for a moment and said to the staff: "Give her my '东' character too. I hope she can grow into a strong female doll."
Li Min and his wife looked at the reply from Chairman Mao. The name Kong Dongmei reminds me of a poem written by Chairman Mao in his early years - " Fortune Teller·Yong Mei", which says: Wind and rain send spring home, blizzard welcomes spring. There are already hundreds of feet of ice on the cliff, but there are still beautiful flowers and branches. Qiao doesn't fight for spring, she only reports that spring has come. When the mountain flowers were in full bloom, she smiled among the bushes.
They understood that Chairman Mao wanted this child to grow up strong, and Li Min and his wife were very satisfied with the name.
Kong Dongmei herself likes this name very much and is proud of it. When Kong Dongmei grew up, she would introduce her name to others by saying: " My grandpa named me Kong Dongmei. 'Mei' is his favorite plum blossom, and 'Dong' is taken from the word in his name. How about it, it's generous enough." ?”
Kong Dongmei in college
What lived up to expectations was that Kong Dongmei was very talented in learning and worked very hard. She had excellent grades since she was a child. In 1994, she was admitted to Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics with very excellent results. .
She continued to read various classics during college, including many works introducing her grandfather Mao Zedong, which made her full of admiration for this grandfather whom she had never met but was closely related by blood, and also had a deep interest in the red stories of that year. gain a deeper understanding.
Kong Dongmei
In 1999, Kong Dongmei got the opportunity to study at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States because of her outstanding performance. While studying abroad, she received a memoir from her mother Li Min - "My Father Mao Zedong" . This book details Introduced some details about Chairman Mao's life in his mother Li Min's memory.
Kong Dongmei couldn't put it down since she received this book. She read it overnight. She couldn't help but shed tears as soon as she read many of the details. After reading the whole book, she had many more concepts in her heart, so she made a bold decision: She would continue to interpret her grandfather Mao Zedong from the perspective of a woman in the new era, and use the red classics in a more novel way in the new era. The way continues to be passed down!
In Kong Dongmei, the Mao family tradition is vividly reflected. She is good at thinking and dares to innovate.
In 2001, Kong Dongmei established Beijing Dongrun Juxiang Bookstore Co., Ltd. . Later, she launched through this company, " opens my old photo album ", "Listen to Grandma Talk about the Past", "Mao Zedong's Proverbs", etc. Books , these books help modern people understand Mao Zedong from a new perspective, and also better inherit the red spirit of that generation.
Kong Dongmei at a book signing event
At a new book signing event, Kong Dongmei often sees old people with tears in their eyes because they miss Chairman Mao. Seeing these scenes, she feels more and more that the career she is doing is meaningful. , similarly, this meaning also brought her happiness.
