Since became seriously ill again in 1976, Chairman Mao has always hoped to return to his hometown Shaoshan to have another look. Unfortunately, this wish was not realized in the end.
At 10 am on September 9, 1976 , this great leader who led the Chinese people to a new life came to the end of his life.
In order to commemorate Chairman Mao's great contribution, so that future generations can always see Chairman Mao's true style. The Party Central Committee decided to keep Chairman Mao’s body forever. The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall was built under such circumstances.
Chairman Mao Memorial Hall
Nowadays, there are often many people queuing up at the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall located in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. People held up white chrysanthemums and waited to admire Chairman Mao's appearance. The old man lying in the crystal coffin is still the greatest leader in the hearts of generations of Chinese people.
The people who came to pay their respects stood far away, looking at the crystal coffin from a distance. Sometimes they were curious, how tall was Chairman Mao?
As more and more people become curious, various theories gradually spread. Even various voices have begun to appear on the Internet platform. Some say Chairman Mao 83, some say Chairman Mao 75, and some say Chairman Mao 80.
Amidst such chaotic sounds, Chairman Mao’s height became more and more a mystery. It was not until Chairman Mao's former bodyguard Li Jiaji came forward to speak out that the mystery was solved.
The statement that Chairman Mao is .72 meters originated from a photo of Chairman Mao and Chiang Kai-shek during their stay in Chongqing. In this widely circulated group photo, Chairman Mao is probably taller than Chiang Kai-shek.
Li Ao once introduced in "The Biography of Chiang Kai-shek" that Chiang Kai-shek's height measured at the Zhenwu School in Japan was .698 meters. According to the photo of Chairman Mao and Chiang Kai-shek, Chairman Mao is slightly taller. Therefore, Chairman Mao's height should be around .72 meters .
But this statement cannot be established in the eyes of many people. After all, Chiang Kai-shek's son Chiang Ching-kuo has stated more than once that his father's height is 5 feet, 9 and a half inches . According to this size conversion, according to the Chiang family, Chiang Kai-shek's height should be around .765 meters .
Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Ching-kuo and his son
In addition, Chiang Kai-shek liked to wear leather shoes and Chairman Mao liked to wear cloth shoes. Leather shoes usually have heels, which will make the person look extra tall. Therefore, by using Chiang Kai-shek's height in the group photo to prove Chairman Mao's height, can actually not know Chairman Mao's specific height except that he can know that Chairman Mao is taller than Chiang Kai-shek.
The view that Chairman Mao’s height was around 1.75 meters was proposed by Zhang Lifan.
Zhang Lifan is the son of Mr. Zhang Naiqi, the pioneer of patriotism and democracy in our country.. Chairman Mao met Mr. Zhang Naiqi when he went to Chongqing to participate in negotiations. Zhang Naiqi had received flight training when he was young, and his eyes grasped the size very accurately. Although he did not meet Chairman Mao many times, he once roughly estimated Chairman Mao's height.
Zhang Naiqi
Later, Zhang Lifan, who had always wanted to write a memoir for his father, asked his father several times how tall Chairman Mao was. Zhang Naiqi recalled it several times, and he felt that based on the distance and height difference between him and Chairman Mao at that time, Chairman Mao should be about three centimeters taller than him.
When he was young, Zhang Naiqi was about .72 meters tall. Chairman Mao was three centimeters taller than him, exactly .75 meters tall.
In order to support this point of view, Zhang Lifan has repeatedly studied photos of Chairman Mao and others. From the more than 300 photos he could access, he filtered out photos in which the protagonists were too young or too old.Then we deleted the photos with non-standard postures or not standing on the same level. In the end, the only photos that could be compared were the photos of the U.S. Ambassador to China General Hurley and Chairman Mao.
The second from the left is Chairman Mao, and the third from the left is Hurley
This photo happened to be taken when 945 Chairman Mao flew to Chongqing.
In this photo, Hurley, who is .88 meters tall, is half a head taller than Chairman Mao. Chairman Mao, who stood up straight, only reached about Hurley's brow bone.
The distance from the top of a normal person's skull to the brow bone is about 10 to 12 centimeters. Therefore, Chairman Mao, who barely reached Hurley's brow bone position, should be 2 centimeters shorter than Hurley, who was 1.88 meters tall, or about 1.75 meters.
The second from the left is Hurley, and the third from the left is Chairman Mao
Although 1.75 meters is considered very tall for Chinese men in the early 20th century, Dr. Wang Hebin, a doctor of medicine who once served as Chairman Mao's health care doctor, is very concerned about this. He scoffed at the opinion. In his eyes, Chairman Mao's height must have exceeded 1.80 meters.
As someone who once lived with Chairman Mao day and night, Wang Hebin always believed that Chairman Mao was a very tall image. Wang Hebin's height is 1.70 meters, and in his impression, every time he and Chairman Mao meet, as long as Chairman Mao is standing, he needs to raise his head.
At the same time, in Wang Hebin's hand, there was also a photo of him and Chairman Mao. This photo was taken in . Although Chairman Mao was already 59 years old that year, it can still be seen from the photo that Chairman Mao, who did not stand up straight at that time, was a bit taller than Wang Hebin.
A photo of Chairman Mao and Wang Hebin
Whenever someone asked Wang Hebin about the height of Chairman Mao, he would always pull out this photo, hold it in his hand and explain to everyone: "I was only 1.70 meters back then, and Chairman Mao looked He is obviously a head taller than me. It is definitely possible that he is 10 centimeters taller than me! So Chairman Mao's height will definitely not be lower than 1.80."
Wang Hebin also had his own opinion on Zhang Lifan's statement. When Zhang Naiqi met Chairman Mao in 1945, he had never really stood beside Chairman Mao. When two people are too far apart, there will definitely be problems with human eye estimation.
In addition, Zhang Lifan wrote a memoir for his father in the 1970s. It is normal for Zhang Naiqi's memory and estimation to deviate from the estimate made more than 20 years ago. Zhang Naiqi's estimate can only prove that Chairman Mao is taller than him, but not how much taller he is.
Chairman Mao, who was obviously taller in the crowd,
, and the photo taken at Yan'an Airport in 1945, in Wang Hebin's opinion, was not accurate. In this photo, the person on the left is shorter than the person on the right. The most direct evidence is Premier Zhou Enlai, who stands to the right of Hurley.
As we all know, Premier Zhou's height is .70 meters. But in this photo, the Zhou Enlai drove was the which was even higher than Chairman Mao. Therefore, the position of this photo definitely affects a person's height. Therefore, it is also inaccurate to use this photo to judge Chairman Mao's height.
In the eyes of people like Wang Hebin who have seen Chairman Mao with their own eyes and had long-term contact with him, Chairman Mao's height should be around 1.83 meters.
Miao Deyu, who was once hailed as the "child poet" of the liberated areas by Yan'an "Liberation Daily", Miao Deyu has the same view as Wang Hebin.
"Child Poet" Miao Deyu
As an outstanding representative of the literary and art circles, Miao Deyu was fortunate enough to meet Chairman Mao five times. Miao Deyu, who was born in Shandong, was 1.80 meters tall even when he was 50 years old. In his memory of meeting Chairman Mao five times, Chairman Mao was always a little taller than him.
Especially in 1955, 23-year-old Miao Deyu participated in the National Youth Activists Conference for Socialist Construction. Miao Deyu, who was standing in the first row, was honored to have the opportunity to shake hands with Chairman Mao. He clearly remembered that Chairman Mao had a pair of generous and soft hands. At the same time, he was very sure that Chairman Mao was taller than him. .
National Socialist Construction Youth Activists Conference
As for how much higher it is, Miao Deyu in his later years recalled: "It's not much higher. It's probably an exaggeration to say that Chairman Mao has 1.85, but he must have 1.83. Otherwise, it's not too high." Not higher than me.”
A reporter once asked Miao Deyu for confirmation on this issue. At that time, 77-year-old Miao Deyu asked his wife to measure his height on the spot. Under the witness of reporters, it can indeed be proved that even in old age, Miao Deyu, who has shortened a few centimeters, is still .78 meters tall.
Compared to these guesses based on photos or descriptions, Li Jiaji, who once served as Chairman Mao's bodyguard, has his own opinion. In his memory, Chairman Mao's height was .80 meters.
Miao Deyu, who is 1.80cm tall, stands with the people of average height.
Li Jiaji joined the Eighth Route Army when he was 13 years old. In 1949, he was transferred to Chairman Mao's side as his bodyguard. As for Chairman Mao's security guard position, Li Jiaji stayed there for 13 years.
In 1949, after the founding of New China, Chairman Mao decided to visit the Soviet Union. This was Chairman Mao's first visit to the Soviet Union, and Stalin expressed his great welcome.
When Chairman Mao visited the Soviet Union
At that time, due to work arrangements, Chairman Mao needed to stay in the Soviet Union for a long time. In order to make Chairman Mao's stay more comfortable, the Soviet Union decided to customize a bed for Chairman Mao.
In order to make this bed meet Chairman Mao's requirements and habits, Soviet staff said that they needed to know Chairman Mao's actual height. This task of measuring height fell on Li Jiaji, who had always been deeply loved by Chairman Mao.
Chairman Mao took a photo with Li Jiaji
Li Jiaji clearly remembered that that day the chief of guard suddenly called him over and handed him a tape measure: "Xiao Li, the chairman likes you the most. Now the Soviet Union needs Chairman Mao's height. You Go and measure the chairman."
Li Jiaji trotted all the way to the chairman's side and personally took off Chairman Mao's shoes and let the chairman stand barefoot on the ground. After Chairman Mao stood up straight without wearing shoes, Li Jiaji took a ruler and measured Chairman Mao's height bit by bit. The final measured height was 1.80 meters.
As a bodyguard who was deeply loved by Chairman Mao, Li Jiaji even accompanied Chairman Mao on his visit to the Soviet Union. Li Jiaji clearly remembers that even when faced with burly Soviet soldiers, Chairman Mao was never outdone by them when he stood among them.
Chairman Mao standing with Soviet soldiers
This data of Li Jiaji is the only one among the various versions circulating now that is actually measured with a ruler, so it naturally becomes the most credible height.
And this height is similar to the estimate of Chairman Mao's height by Miao Deyu and Wang Hebin who actually met and had contact with Chairman Mao.
Actually, whether it is 1.75 meters or 1.80 meters, or 1.83 meters. Chairman Mao's height has far exceeded the average height of Chinese men in the early 20th century. As a great man who led the Chinese nation to new life, Chairman Mao will always have a tall image in the minds of the people.
Chairman Mao at the Founding Ceremony
