Chairman Mao talked to the villagers in front of his former residence
1959 On the evening of June 25, 1959, Chairman Mao finally returned to his hometown Shaoshan Chong after 32 years. Born here, grown here, and loved here. Chairman Mao was full of deep feelings for his hometown. Dinner was the most authentic local dish, and the taste was the same as before. In addition, the scenery of his hometown was still the same, so Chairman Mao was in a good mood. That night, Chairman Mao wrote the famous poem " Seven-character · Go to Shaoshan ":
Farewell to dreams and vaguely curse the passing of the river, the hometown thirty-two years ago. The red flag rolled up the serf's halberd, and the black hand hung the overlord's whip.
is to sacrifice and dare to change the sun and the moon to a new sky. I am happy to see the waves of rice and beans, and the heroes everywhere smoke in the evening.
Shaoshan Chong, the starting point of Chairman Mao’s life is the place where he raised him. It is the mountains and rivers here that nourished him and made him successful. No matter where he went, even later served as the President of the New China and became a giant that influenced the world, Chairman Mao still retained the living customs of his hometown, and it did not change until his death.
The day after returning to Shaoshan Chong, Chairman Mao went straight to the former residence of Shangwufang after visiting his parents' graves. The former residence has long become a scenic spot with constant tourists. Chairman Mao walked into his parents' bedroom and stared at him for a long time when he saw the photos of his parents hanging on the wall. At that moment, Chairman Mao must have recalled every bit of life with his parents, who had passed away for 40 years.
Compared to the strictness of his father Mao Yichang, his mother Wen Qimei gave more love to her three sons and her adopted daughter Mao Zejian. However, it is tearful that three of the four children have sacrificed their lives for the revolution. Now that I see the photos of my parents again, Chairman Mao felt sad.
Chairman Mao’s parents’ bedroom
Chairman Mao said to the entourage: "My father had typhoid fever, and his mother gave birth to a bag on her neck and had an eye on her, just because at that time (lower medical level)... If it were now, they would not die." For a long time, people only knew that Wen Qimei was a great mother, but her life story was little known.
This article will introduce the story of Wen Qimei in detail to you. I believe that after reading it, you will understand how she affected Chairman Mao’s life. The story starts with Shaoshan Chong. In the late Qing Dynasty, it was a nearly closed mountain village, and it was nothing special compared to other rural areas in China.
Shaoshan Chong fields are very few. Once they encounter famine, many people can only escape and beg. However, such a geographical environment also has an advantage, it is relatively peaceful in a chaotic era. About 5 kilometers away from Chairman Mao’s former residence is the Drus Cave, which is the most beautiful place in Shaoshan Chong.
Dripping caves are surrounded by mountains, and the northwest foot is Wen Qimei’s hometown Tangjia Township (also known as Tangjiage). If you have seen the map, it seems that the two places are not far apart, but in that era of traffic jams, people had almost no communication, and the accents of the people in the two places were very different.
For a long time, girls from other places were reluctant to marry into Shaoshan Chong. One important reason was that they were too poor here. In contrast, the founding of Wen Qimei's family began with a man named Wen Zuolin, who was Chairman Mao's great-grandfather. Jiaqing thirteenth year (1808), 11-year-old Wen Zuolin married He, the daughter of He Luzhan in the same village.
wenqimei
However, Wen Zuolin died of illness 16 years after the marriage, and He was only 30 years old. After her husband passed away, He did not remarry. She devoted herself to cultivating her children and revitalizing her family business. Although He had not read many books, she worked very hard and practiced "filial piety and friendship to pass on family life. After farming and studying, she was in the same family as five generations and had been in the six dynasties."
After 40 or fifty years of hard work, the literary family had only entered a few stones a year when He first got married, and later it increased to hundreds of stones, becoming a big family in the Tang family. In 1882, He died at the age of 88. At this time, the Wen family was prosperous, and the clan members respected this ancestor very much. Everyone unanimously decided to bury her in a Feng Shui treasure land.
Wen's family learned early that there are many Feng Shui treasure lands in Shaoshan Chong on the other side of the mountain, but the villagers of Shaoshan Chong never easily agree to be buried by foreigners.What should I do? In fact, the Wen family had held meetings to study it many times as early as when He was alive. Everyone thought of a way to marry a girl from the family to Chong, Shaoshan, so that it would be natural.
1880, Wen Zhiyi married her youngest daughter Wen Qimei to Mao Yichang, the son of Mao Enpu, in Shaoshan, in an arranged marriage. This year, Wen Qimei was 13 years old and Mao Yichang was 10 years old. However, the two did not officially become husband and wife until five years later. Mao Yichang is an ordinary and extraordinary farmer, and a strong-willed and capable father.
Mao Yichang was born from a poor family. His father Mao Enpu was not good at managing his family after he split up, and he owed a lot of foreign debts. Against this background, Mao Yichang only studied in a private school for two years and dropped out of school and followed his father to farm. Seeing that the family was in debt, Mao Yichang had no choice but to go to Changsha to join the army.
Chairman Mao’s former residence
Fate fate is sometimes difficult to understand. Mao Yichang’s years of joining the army not only broadened his horizons, but also saved money. After Mao Yichang returned to his hometown, he paid off his debts and purchased some land. Chairman Mao's family flourished little by little, and gradually became a relatively wealthy farmer in Shaoshan Chong.
Regarding his family background, Chairman Mao later introduced to American journalist Edgar Snow . In June 1936, Snow came to Baoan County, northern Shaanxi, and during this period, he had a long talk with Chairman Mao in the cave for many times. Nowadays, everyone knows about Chairman Mao’s life in Shaoshan Chong, and most of them come from Snow’s interview.
Regarding my family background when I was young and my father Mao Yichang's early experience, Chairman Mao introduced to Snow:
"My father was a poor peasant. When he was young, he had to join the army because of his excessive debt. He worked as a soldier for many years. Later, he returned to the village where I was born, did small businesses and other business, worked hard and thrifty, saved some money, and bought his land. At this time, my family had fifteen acres of land, and became a middle-aged peasant, and could collect sixty dans of grain every year. A family of five dans of food a year - that is, about seven dans of each person - so every There were still twenty-five dans left in the year. My father used these surpluses to save some capital, and later bought seven acres of land, so that my family would have the status of a "rich" farmer. At that time, my family could collect eighty-four dans of grain every year. When my family was ten years old, there were only fifteen acres of land in the family, the family of five were: my father, mother, grandfather, younger brother and me. After we bought seven acres of land, our grandfather passed away, but we added another younger brother. But we still had forty-nine dans of grain every year, and my father gradually became richer by this. "
1893 on December 26, 1893, Chairman Mao was born in Shaoshan Chong. Before Chairman Mao was born, Wen Qimei had given birth to two children, but both died prematurely. Superstition was prevalent at that time, and Wen Qimei discussed with her husband and decided to send Chairman Mao to her grandmother's house to live for a while.
teen Chairman Mao
Before returning to his parents' home, Wen Qimei took her son to a Guanyin Temple to pray for her son, and also regarded a huge rock as her son's godmother. From then on, Chairman Mao had a well-known nickname, "Shi Sanyazi". Wen Qimei hopes that her son can grow up healthily with the "blessing" from many sources.
Chairman Mao lived in his grandmother's house until he was 8 years old. Wen Zhengying was Wen Qimei's second brother. He ranks eighth in the clan, so Chairman Mao called his eighth uncle. Wen Zhengying founded a private school at home to teach children from the clan to study. When Chairman Mao first knew how to walk, he often played in private school classes. When he was a little older, he started to study under the influence of Wen Zhengying.
1901, Mao Yichang took his son back to Shaoshan Chong and immediately arranged to study in Nan'an Private School. Chairman Mao soon discovered that the courses in private schools were too simple. Many of them had studied in his eighth uncle's private schools, especially the enlightenment textbooks "Three Character Classic", " Hundred Family Names ", " Thousand Character Text ", etc., which he had already read several times.
Zou Chunpei was Chairman Mao’s first teacher to officially enter a private school. His teaching style was strict and old-fashioned, strict management of students, and often physically punished students, which aroused Chairman Mao’s dissatisfaction.However, Zou Chunpei knew very well that his knowledge could no longer teach this student, nor could he satisfy his strong desire for knowledge.
Zou Chunpei said to Mao Yichang: "The son will one day become famous as a high school student, and will shine his family and his future is limitless. ." Mao Yichang never hopes that his son will make a fortune. His biggest expectation is that his son can inherit his family business in the future. However, Mao Yichang did not expect that his son had lofty ideals and the conflict between the father and son was about to break out.
Mao Yichang
When Chairman Mao first learned to read, his father asked him to keep accounts every night. When he had no accounts to keep, he was asked to do farm work. This is a memorable memory of Chairman Mao. He also mentioned this to Snow. He said:
"I just realized a few words, and my father asked me to start keeping accounts for the family. He asked me to learn abacus . Since my father insisted, I would remember the accounts at night. He is a strict supervisor and cannot bear to see me idle. If there is no account to be recorded, I will ask me to do farm work. He is irritable and often beat me and two younger brothers. He doesn't give us a penny, and he gives us the worst food. He is very kind to the hired workers every fifteen months, laying eggs and eating, but there is never meat. For me, he doesn't give eggs or meat."
Compared to his father's strictness, his mother gives his son more tolerance. Wen Qimei, who believes in Buddhism, is kind-hearted and willing to help others. She never leaves empty-handed whenever someone comes to beg for her. My mother's style of dealing with things profoundly influenced Chairman Mao, and he also admitted this. Chairman Mao said to Snow:
" My mother is a kind-hearted woman, generous and kind-hearted, and willing to help others at any time. She feels sorry for the poor. When they come to beg for food before the desolate New Year, she often gives them food. However, if my father is present, she can't do this. My father does not agree with giving. My family has quarrels many times over this matter. "
Founding of the People's Republic of China In the early days, whenever outsiders came to Shaoshan Chong, locals gave me thumbs up when they mentioned Wen Qimei. They said, "Don't look at Wen's words but low-key people are kind-hearted! They are filial to their parents, love their children, and have a harmonious relationship. Among the wives in our village, they are also good wives who are hard to find with lanterns!"
Young Chairman Mao
There is such a mother, Chairman Mao is happy, but the conflict between father and son is still difficult to reconcile. In 1910, seeing his son obsessed with studying all day long, Mao Yichang became increasingly dissatisfied. He decided to send his son to a rice shop in Xiangtan as an apprentice. Mao Yichang's intention is very simple. If you let your son learn to manage his talents, you can have someone to succeed him.
But Chairman Mao firmly opposed it. At that time, he was already influenced by his cousin Wen Yunchang and was eager to study at Dongshan Primary School in Xiangxiang. Among the many cousins in the Wen family, Chairman Mao had the best relationship with Wen Yunchang, but Wen Yunchang knew that his uncle was stubborn and would not easily agree to his cousin to study.
So, Wen Yunchang mobilized his father, uncle, aunt's cousin Wang Jifan and others to persuade him. At this time, Wen Qimei also tried hard to persuade him, and in the end Mao Yichang reluctantly agreed. In the autumn of that year, Chairman Mao left the closed Shaoshan Chong and came to Xiangxiang Dongshan Higher Primary School to study, which was a new school.
The night before departure, Wen Qimei prepared her son's luggage with the faint kerosene light, and Chairman Mao sat at the table and wrote a poem, which was sandwiched in the account book that his father must read every day. This poem was later widely circulated and was called "Seven-character quatrains: Change of Poems to Father":
The child is determined to leave his hometown and will not return until he becomes famous.
Why do you need to bury your bones? Life is full of green mountains everywhere.
We don’t know how Mao Yichang felt when he saw his son’s poem, but Wen Qimei felt more reluctant.On the morning of Chairman Mao's departure from Shaoshan Chong, Wen Qimei insisted on sending her son to the entrance of the village. After some advice, the two waved goodbye. Looking at her son's figure leaving, she burst into tears...
Dongshan School
However, Dongshan Primary School was still too small. After half a year of study, Chairman Mao got an opportunity to study at the Hunan Provincial Middle School. When Chairman Mao told his parents the good news, Wen Qimei still raised her hands to agree. Although Mao Yichang was reluctant, he also knew that his son had grown up and had his own ideas.
In the spring of 1911, the 18-year-old Chairman Mao brought his luggage again. This time he will go to a place that completely changed his destiny, the provincial capital of Changsha. From this moment on, Chairman Mao returned to Shaoshan Chong at a handful of times. In the spring of 1913, Chairman Mao, who was studying for himself at the Hunan Provincial Library, heard that the Provincial Fourth Normal School recruited free teacher students.
Chairman Mao thought this was an opportunity, so he went to register and was admitted with a full score in the composition. The following year, the Fourth Normal School was incorporated into the Provincial First Normal School, and Chairman Mao was incorporated into the eighth class of the First Normal School, undergraduate. During his studies in Changsha, my mother, who was far away in her hometown, was not in good health. Chairman Mao would go home to visit her whenever she had time. Sometimes, she would write frequently when she was busy with her studies.
For example, on June 24, 1916, Chairman Mao wrote in a letter to his friend: "After saying goodbye, he was stuck in the rain, and he was uneasy and wars were everywhere, so he dared not take risks?... However, his sick mother was in the house and was working hard for her. What's the heart of a wandering son? How can he not be sad?... He lived a day and hated his elders, but now he was like a moment, and the scene of silent experience is miserable."
In June 1918, Chairman Mao graduated from Hunan No. 1 Normal School, and then received a letter from his mentor Yang Changji, who was already teaching at Peking University . Yang Changji informed Chairman Mao and others that Cai Yuanpei and others were organizing young people to go to France to work and study. Chairman Mao discussed with Cai Hesen and decided to organize Xinmin Society members to Beijing.
Hunan Provincial First Normal School
At this moment, Chairman Mao received the news that his mother was seriously ill and he immediately rushed to his hometown. After learning that my mother had been taken home by her uncles and eighth uncles, she hurried to her grandmother's house. Seeing that his mother looked haggard, Chairman Mao burst into tears. Wen Qimei found that her son was already a handsome talent and was very pleased.
After returning to Changsha, Chairman Mao wrote a letter of thanks to his two uncles:
"Seven and eighty-two uncles under the seat: I bid farewell to the mansion before, and I was in the province for a few days. I was scheduled to sail to Beijing on the seventh day of the lunar month, and there were twelve or three people with me. This trip was specifically for the purpose of traveling, not for other purposes. My mother lived in the mansion for a long time and inherited the I am grateful for taking care of the disease. There are few good doctors in the township, and I am afraid that the long-term illness will be difficult to treat, so I have a discussion with the province before. Now I specially asked someone to give me a prescription to diagnose and treat it according to the law. I wish I could conquer my merits. If it is not cured, after the autumn harvest, I plan to escort him to the province. I hope the two adults will help him to complete the journey. "
The mother is worried, and Wen Qimei on the hospital bed misses her son far away in Beijing. After Chairman Mao arrived in Beijing, he came to work at Peking University Library with the help of Yang Changji. His position is a library assistant and his monthly salary is 8 yuan. Regarding this experience, Chairman Mao recalled:
"My position is so low that people don't want to interact with me. One of my jobs is to register the names of people who come to the library to read newspapers, but most of them don't take me seriously. Among these names, I recognize a few of them are famous leaders of the New Culture Movement , and they are people I admire very much. I really want to discuss politics and culture with them, but they are extremely busy people and have no time to listen to what a library manager with a southern accent said."
In March 1919, Chairman Mao received news of his mother's serious illness again, and he resigned and returned to Changsha. Considering the lack of medical treatment and medicine in my hometown, Chairman Mao informed Mao Zemin and Mao Zetan to escort his mother to Changsha for treatment. This is the first time Wen Qimei has come to the provincial capital. After a doctor diagnosed her with lymphadenitis, she is unfortunately not very effective after seeing many doctors.
Wen Qimei and her three sons took the only photo
After living in Changsha for a while, Wen Qimei insisted on returning to her hometown. Perhaps knowing that my mother was not having much time, Chairman Mao took her mother and two younger brothers to the photo studio and took a group photo. This is the only photo of Wen Qimei and her three sons. She is sitting on a chair, and the three sons stand behind each side. Wen Qimei in the photo of
is dignified and generous, kind-hearted, and is a virtuous woman. However, Wen Qimei died of illness shortly after returning to Zhaochong, Shaoshan at the age of 52. When Chairman Mao rushed home, his mother had been in the coffin for two days. Mao Zemin told his mother that she kept shouting "Shi Sanyizi" when she was dying.
At that moment, Chairman Mao rushed to his mother's coffin and held it and cried bitterly. That night, Chairman Mao kept his soul guarding his mother all night and wrote the longest poem in his life - " Four-character Poem·Sacrifice to Mother ", which ends with it:
"Alas, my mother! My mother has not died. Although the body is gone, the spirit will last forever. One day of life, everyone will repay kindness. One day of life, everyone will accompany their relatives. Now it is long, but the time is short. Only take the big and put it in the shallow. At this time, the family is laid, and this cup will be filled. Later, there is a saying that it will grow with the day."
Chairman Mao believes that there are three main types of people in the world, "people who harm others and benefit themselves; those who benefit themselves but not others; those who can harm themselves and others, my mother belongs to the last one." After Wen Qimei died of illness, Mao Yichang's physical condition was not optimistic. Chairman Mao knew the value of family affection, so he asked his uncle Mao Fusheng to accompany his father to Changsha to live.
From left: Mao Zetan, Mao Yichang, Mao Fusheng and Chairman Mao
This was also the trip to Changsha, and Chairman Mao had a photo with his father. In the photo, Chairman Mao was wearing a black veil on his arm, and it was obvious that he was still mourning his mother. In January 1920, Mao Yichang died of illness in his hometown at the age of 50. His parents died of illness in less than half a year. Chairman Mao was extremely sad, but he was far away in Beijing at that time and could not go home to preside over the funeral.
Mao Zemin knew his elder brother’s feelings for his father, so he asked the tutor Mao Luzhong to write a couplet:
"I never expected that it would be one hundred years old, and I cried my kind mother and Yan Jun, and my blood and tears were withered. The most embarrassing thing is that the seven dynasties continued to the Chinese New Year, and I missed Ji Zi even more, and my son Cao Wei Ji was gone."
Information shows that Chairman Mao last returned to his hometown before the founding of the country in 1927. Later, Chairman Mao returned to his hometown 32 years later, so he saw the scene at the beginning of this article. When he left again, he insisted on taking away the photo with his mother. On September 9, 1976, Chairman Mao passed away in Beijing at the age of 83.
Chairman Mao swept his parents' graves
Chairman Mao was critically ill and wanted to return to Shaoshan Chong. He wanted to return to his roots, but unfortunately, due to various reasons, it was not realized in the end. From leaving Shaoshan Chong in the autumn of 1910 to his death in 1976, Chairman Mao struggled to the last moment of his life!
