In 1947, Li Min and his mother He Zizhen returned from the Soviet Union to their motherland they had been thinking about day and night. This year, she was already an 11-year-old girl. Because she spent seven years in the Soviet Union, her mother tongue had been forgotten and she had to learn Chinese again.
One night, He Zizhen called her daughter to her and said to her seriously: "Jiaojiao, is it okay for mom to find you a new father?"
Li Min frowned and said angrily: "I only have one father, don't... don't want a new father..."
He Zizhen looked at her daughter helplessly, and a burst of pain arose in her heart.
Shortly after He Zizhen and her daughter returned to their motherland, her sister He Yi rushed to their residence after hearing the news. The sisters started a conversation that lasted for hours. The final result of this conversation was that at He Yi's suggestion, Li Min wrote a letter to his father Chairman Mao. This letter was written in Russian . Chairman Mao could not understand Russian. He asked the staff to translate it before he understood the content of his daughter's letter:
"...I haven't seen you in the Soviet Union...Are you my dear father? Am I your dear daughter? Please write to me quickly, so that I can get back to you."
pic | Chairman Mao and Li Min
After reading the letter, Chairman Mao immediately started writing a reply...
So, how did Chairman Mao reply to Li Min?
What is his attitude towards Li Min?
What kind of childhood experience did Li Min have?
Please read it one by one.
1. I was fostered only 4 months old
1936, in a dilapidated cave in Zhidan County, northern Shaanxi, He Zizhen had just lying on a wet earth pit, and a loud cry came from the cave.
Chairman Mao, who was walking back and forth outside the door, finally relaxed his nervous face. He strides across the threshold and walks towards He Zizhen. The staff who was connected to the docking school joked: "It's so fast! It's like laying eggs by chickens!"
His joke not only relieves He Zizhen's pain, but also comforts her heart.
The next day, Deng Yingchao, Kang Keqing and others who learned the good news came from a distance to congratulate Chairman Mao and He Zizhen. When they saw Chairman Mao who was welcoming guests outside the door, they asked with concern: "Did Zizhen give birth? What did you give birth?"
Chairman Mao took them into the house and said to them with a smile: "I gave birth, I gave birth, I gave birth, I gave birth, I gave birth to a big egg. Hahaha!"
Everyone laughed with Chairman Mao. Since He Zizhen became pregnant, she has been following the Party Central Committee and has never eaten anything oily and watery, so the child was as thin as a little monkey when she was born.
Deng Yingchao walked forward with pity, picked up the child skillfully, and said, "Zizhen followed us and never ate any good things, and the child was not thin enough. What a pitiful little Jiaojiao!"
Everyone present followed Deng Yingchao and called the child "Little Jiaojiao". Chairman Mao, who was standing aside, thought to himself after listening: "Jiaojiao? It's a good name. There is a passage in " Xijing Miscellaneous Notes " that says "Wenjun Jiaohao". From then on, the child's nickname will be 'Jiaojiao'."
Because the word "jiao" is not commonly used, everyone later became accustomed to calling Li Min "Jiaojiao".
It can be seen that Chairman Mao loved Li Min very much. However, He Zizhen was eager to study, and she proposed to Chairman Mao to study at Anti-Da . As the leader of the Party Central Committee, Chairman Mao naturally had no time to take care of his children. He could only send Li Min, who was only 4 months old, to his fellow villager in northern Shaanxi with He Zizhen.
Later, Li Min grew up to the age of kindergarten, and she was sent to a kindergarten in Yan'an . She stayed in kindergarten for three years and has been living a "fatherless" and "motherless" life.
Picture | Chairman Mao and He Zizhen
In September 1937, He Zizhen, who was injured on the battlefield and had not received treatment, decided to go to Shanghai for surgery through Yan'an. Later, despite Chairman Mao's efforts to keep her, she resolutely left her husband and daughter to go to the Soviet Union.
After He Zizhen left China, in order to make up for her debts to her daughter, Chairman Mao sent someone to take Li Min to her side and take him with her.
Before He Zizhen left China, she was pregnant and in 1938 when she arrived in the Soviet Union, she gave birth to Chairman Mao’s youngest son, and she gave the child a Russian name - Liao Wa.
Unfortunately, in early 1939, Liao Wa, who was only 10 months old, unfortunately died of premature death because he did not receive timely treatment. He Zizhen blamed himself, believing that his negligence caused his son's death, and once fell into endless loneliness and regret.
The Mao Zedong, who was in China, felt very sorry for He Zizhen after hearing about this incident. In January 1941, he decided to send 4-year-old Li Min to the Soviet Union to accompany He Zizhen. Li Min flew from Yan'an to Moscow, accompanied by Zhu De's daughter Zhu Min.
Li Min's arrival is like a heart-boosting agent for He Zizhen, who has just suffered the pain of losing her son, completely saving her lost heart. He Zizhen did her best to take care of her daughter, working hard and worrying for her daughter, and being happy and proud of her daughter's well-being and growing up day by day.
2. Li Min's life was hanging on the line. He Zizhen made every effort to save
. Soon, Nazi Germany burned the war to Moscow. The Communists of the world who remained in the Soviet Union were evacuated to Ivanovo City hundreds of kilometers away. Li Min, her mother, as well as Mao Anying and Mao Anying who studied in the Soviet Union were also among them.
The cruel war cut off the supply of daily necessities, and He Zizhen and his daughter lived a difficult life and death together with the Soviet people. He Zizhen and his daughter who survived tenaciously will also try their best to take care of An Ying and An Qing.
1943, the war situation reversed and the Soviet Red Army entered the stage of counterattacking Germany. The domestic economy of the Soviet Union began to normalize, and Li Min, who was already 8 years old, began to enter a five-year primary school.
Everything seems to be developing in a good direction, but disasters do not go singly. Due to the psychological and physiological damage caused by long-term war and hunger, Li Min got serious illness: high fever and constant convulsions. He Zizhen carried her into the hospital. After the doctor diagnosed Li Min with acute meningitis.
You should know that acute meningitis is known as the "child killer". Once the treatment is not done in time, it will be in danger of life. The doctor looked at Li Min who was dying and shook his head and said, "There is no help, push the morgue!"
How could He Zizhen, who had experienced the pain of losing her son four times, give up easily? She had only one idea in her mind, that is, she would save her daughter no matter what. She rushed to the medical staff and was not allowed to push her daughter into the morgue anyway. She carefully picked up her daughter and left the hospital.
The winter in the Soviet Union was very cold, and the bitter cold wind made the pedestrians tremble. Regardless of the cold, He Zizhen took off her cotton coat and wrapped her daughter's body. She was left with only one clothes and walked home in the wind and snow.
He Zizhen's home in Moscow is a cottage in the Office of the Communist International. The family was poor and there was nothing to supplement her daughter's nutrition. After thinking about it, she decided to exchange the potatoes she harvested before the New Year for half a cup of milk and a small bag of sugar with her neighbor.
After the milk was hot, she added a spoonful of sugar to it to improve the taste. However, Li Min, whose teeth were closed, couldn't eat anything at all. He Zizhen could only carefully pry open her daughter's mouth and feed the milk bit by bit with a spoon.
A few days later, Li Min's condition did not worsen, and her consciousness gradually recovered. He Zizhen was very happy. She continued to exchange the remaining potatoes for some milk and eggs to take good care of her daughter. Perhaps God did not want her to experience the pain of losing her daughter, Li Min miraculously escaped from the dangerous period and her body slowly recovered. He Zizhen looked at Chu Yu's daughter and showed a bright smile on her face.
In order to take good care of her daughter, He Zizhen was unable to complete the labor quota allocated to her and refused to let Jiaojiao return to the International Children's Courtyard. Because she couldn't understand Russian, she was emotionally excited when talking to the dean of the Children's Hospital and was sent to the mental hospital by the inhumane dean as a "crazy".
Li Min stayed away from her father and was isolated from her mother. She became an "orphan" who had both parents but could not see or control her. She was sent to the Ivanovo International Children's Hospital.
Here, Jiaojiao is the same as her brother Mao Anying, Mao Anying, etc.: Half a slice of bread every day and a small bowl of corn porridge; at noon and at night, there are 1 slice of bread and a few potatoes dipped in salt...
Li Min lived in the Soviet Union for 7 years. When she was in Yan'an, she was only 4 years old and had never seen her father a few times. In addition, He Zizhen rarely mentioned her father to her, so in her impression, she had no father.
Once, my brother Mao Anying came to the children's yard to find her, and the brother and sister sat in the empty auditorium chatting. Suddenly, Mao Anying pointed to the huge statue of Mao Zedong hanging on the wall and asked Li Min: "Sister, do you know who the person in the portrait is?"
Li Min answered without hesitation: "It's Mao Zedong, the leader of the Communist Party of China!"
"Yes, at the same time, he is also our father!"
"You are lying to people, I have never seen my father."
"I didn't lie to you, he is indeed our father. For our safety, he sent us to the Soviet Union."
Li Min looked at his brother with his big watery eyes, and said skeptical: "You are not saying anything." Forget it, I'll know when I go and ask my mother."
Li Min found He Zizhen and asked her: "Brother An Qing, said that my father is Mao Zedong, the leader of the Communist Party of China. Is this true? Mom!"
He Zizhen said frankly: "Brother An Qing is right, your father is indeed Mao Zedong."
After that, Li Min would go to the auditorium of the children's courtyard to see the portrait of her father whenever she had time. She would proudly say to other Chinese children: "Look, that person is my father! Awesome!"
In the envious eyes of other children, Li Min's self-esteem was greatly satisfied.
However, Li Min was very disappointed if she couldn't see her father in reality. She had been waiting, and one day her father would come to the Soviet Union to pick her up.
1947, Li Min's wish was finally realized. At that time, Wang Jiaxiang, who was in the Soviet Union, finally found the whereabouts of He Zizhen and Li Min after inquiring from many sources.
pic | Li Min
When Li Min returned to He Zizhen again, she hugged her daughter and vowed that she would never let her leave her again. Seeing such a touching scene, Wang Jiaxiang on the side couldn't help but shed tears.
Wang Jiaxiang reported the situation of He Zizhen and his daughter to Chairman Mao through telegram and asked them to send them back to China. Chairman Mao replied: "Admission to return to China!"
In the winter of that year, He Zizhen and his daughter returned to their motherland that had been away for many years.
3. Write a letter to my father in Russian
Li Min returned to Harbin is already an 11-year-old girl. Because she spent 7 years in the Soviet Union, like her brother Mao Anying, she had completely forgotten her mother tongue and had to ask the teacher to learn Chinese again.
At that time, He Zizhen had just celebrated her 40th birthday and her charm was still there. She repeatedly stated that her relationship with Mao Zedong had ended and she wanted to start a new life. There are indeed colleagues showing her goodwill to the unit where she works. She also thought about starting a new marriage.
One night, she found her daughter and wanted to talk to her about this: "Jiaojiao, mom tells you something, don't be angry."
"What's the matter?"
"How about mom finding you a new dad?"
"No, no, I just want my old dad, don't have new ones."
He Zizhen didn't expect that her daughter's reaction would be so big, and from then on she never dared to mention this matter in front of her daughter.
Shortly after He Zizhen and her daughter returned to Harbin, He Yi learned that her sister had returned to China and made a special trip to Harbin to meet her sister. At this time, the two sisters had been separated for more than 10 years. When the sisters met, they talked a lot, and they talked about letting Li Min recognize her relatives.
He Yi said: "Jiaojiao is his daughter after all, and you have to find time for her to meet her biological father."
He Zizhen said in embarrassment: "It's not that I don't want to. Now you don't know the relationship with him."
"Then let Jiaojiao write him a letter and see what his attitude is."
At the suggestion of my aunt, Li Min began to write letters to her father in Russian, and after writing, He Zizhen helped her sign in Chinese and sent it out the same day.
After receiving the letter, Chairman Mao recognized at a glance that the Chinese handwriting on the envelope was written by He Zizhen. He carefully opened the envelope and found that it was full of crooked content written in Russian. He couldn't understand Russian, so he had to ask the Russian staff to help translate. After learning the contents of the letter, he laughed and immediately started writing to write a reply to his daughter. The general meaning of the reply from
is: "Jiaojiao, I am your real father, you are my real daughter. I have been missing for a few years, and my dad misses you very much. Come back to my dad quickly! Your aunt He Yi will take you home in Harbin in a few days."
After Chairman Mao finished writing the reply, he originally planned to hand it over to the secretary to send it. But thinking that the mailing was too slow and he was eager to see his daughter, he changed his mind and decided to ask the secretary to send it to Harbin by an expedited telegram.
After receiving the reply, Li Min specially begged her mother for help in translating because she couldn't understand Chinese. Although He Zizhen can't speak Russian, she still knows how to use it in Russian. She helped her daughter translate it into Chinese word by word.
Get the manuscript translated by her mother, and Li Min jumped up happily: "My dear father wrote, I said he didn't forget me!"
He Zizhen was not as happy as her daughter. She reluctantly told her daughter: "I've gone to my father, and I must listen to him and don't make him angry..."
In 1949, Li Min left her mother who had been dependent on each other for 6 or 7 years and followed her aunt to Beijing. Before leaving, she turned around and looked at her mother's distant figure many times and shouted loudly: "Mom, you are waiting here. When I see my father, I will ask him to pick you up."
pic | He Zizhen and He Yi
At that time, Chairman Mao had moved to Shuangqing Villa in Xiangshan, Beijing. When he learned of his daughter's arrival, he finished his work in advance, walked out of the villa, and greeted He Yi and Li Min who came from afar.
He Yi held Li Min's little hand, walked to Chairman Mao, and said to the Chairman, "Jiaojiao has received it, the task you assigned to me has been completed."
Then, she turned back to Li Min and said, "Your biological father is right in front of you, why don't you call me?"
Maybe it's too long since I saw you, and the timid defeated my longing, which made Li Min hesitate. She failed to call out the word "Dad".
Chairman Mao said, "I haven't seen you for many years, so it's normal not to call me."
At this time, Li Min, who knew it later, suddenly hugged the Chairman's waist and shouted excitedly in unskilled Chinese: "Dad!"
Chairman Mao hesitated for a while, then picked up his daughter high, and repeated it in his mouth: "My Jiaojiao, I miss my father to death..."
4. The origin of the name Li Min
In fact, before returning to Chairman Mao, Li Min did not have a formal name, and He Zizhen only called her nickname "Jiaojiao". (The above is "Li Min" used for convenience, please forgive me)
On a sunny evening, Jiaojiao and Chairman Mao who had supper were resting in the yard. Suddenly, the chairman asked Jiaojiao with interest: "Didn't Mom give Jiaojiao a name?"
"Dad, I have a name, my name is Mao Jiaojiao. Why do you still need your mother to choose?"
"Jiaojiao, it was the nickname that my father gave you when he was in Yan'an. Now you are in your teens and it's time to have a big name, and it's convenient to go to school in the future."
"Then, Dad give me a big name!"
"The Analects of Confucius says, "Zi said, a gentleman wants to be slow in words and is quick in actions." I think the word Min is very suitable for you. Your name can be "Min", but you don't have to be Mao'. You can be the same as your sister Li Ne, with the surname Li."
Jiaojiao asked in confusion: "Why can brothers An Ying and An Qing be named Mao, why can't I be named Mao?"
Chairman Mao gently patted Jiaojiao's head and said: "Dad has had many names before, such as Mao Runzhi, Zhao Dong, Li Desheng, etc. Among them, Dad likes the name Li Desheng the most, so your surname is Li, and in fact he also has the surname of Dad."
"So that's it! Then Dad, tell me the origin of the name 'Li Desheng'!"
Chairman Mao lit a cigarette and said in a leisurely manner: "In 1947, Chiang Kai-shek sent people to attack Yan'an on a large scale.The Party Central Committee, based on the overall situation, decided to take the initiative to give up Yan'an, adopt guerrilla warfare , and fight the enemy to the end. At that time, my pseudonym Li Desheng commanded the battle just to get a good omen. As a result, this prophecy really came true. After we left Yan'an, we traveled all over northern Shaanxi and defeated Chiang Kai-shek's army to lose its troops... This is the origin of the name of Dad Li Desheng. ”
Jiaojiao nodded sensibly and said, “I understand. Thank you dad for giving me the name, I like it very much. "
In fact, what Jiaojiao didn't know was that Chairman Mao gave her the name "Li Min" and there was another meaning. We know that Li Na's biological mother Jiang Qing's original name was Li Yunhe, and Chairman Mao asked Jiaojiao to be surnamed Li, but in fact he wanted to make her and her younger sister closer and help her integrate into her new family better. It can be seen that the chairman's good intentions.
Later, Li Min entered Beijing Normal University Affiliated High School . During the years she was in middle school, she became a "mouth tube" between her parents, often telling her mother's situation, and telling her father's situation.
graduating from high school, Li Min was admitted to Beijing Normal University .
Picture|Kong Linghua and his wife and Chairman Mao
When Li Min went to college, General of the Kuomintang uprising army, Kong Congzhou's son Kong Linghua, got into a relationship. Kong Congzhou learned about it, and was very surprised by this. He felt that he was a Kuomintang general before, and his son was not worthy of the daughter of the President, so he strictly prohibited his son from dating with Li Min.
Li Min noticed Kong Linghua's abnormality and sought help from his father. After listening to his daughter's statement, Chairman Mao decided to help his daughter.
One weekend, he invited Kong Congzhou's family to have a meal at home. During the meal, he said straight to the point: "It is popular to have free love now. Since Li Min and Kong Linghua truly love each other, we cannot stop it. You said, "Old Confucius?" "
Kong Congzhou said that Chairman Mao had made a statement when he saw Chairman Mao, and he could not say anything else. He said to Chairman Mao in person: "What the Chairman said is that I will not interfere with them in the future. "
" That's right! ”
1959-29, Li Min and Kong Linghua became husband and wife.
5. Li Min returned to Shaoshan to worship ancestors
On April 30, 2012, a silver-gray car drove into the quiet Shaoshan Chong . In the car was a 75-year-old man with short hair, glasses, and a green old suit. She was Li Min, the eldest daughter of the people's leader Mao Zedong, and her daughter Kong Dongmei, son-in-law Chen Dongsheng and grandson were accompanied. They returned to Shaoshan to worship their ancestors.
Li Min said to the entourage: "Shaoshan Chong is where my father was born and also where he cultivated his unique qualities. As his daughter, I will never forget this place, and today I am back to worship my ancestors. ”
At 9 a.m. that day, Li Min, accompanied by everyone, presented a flower basket to the bronze statue of Chairman Mao. She said affectionately: "Dad, Li Min is back to see you. "
10 o'clock, Li Min and her group left the bronze statue and went to Mao Zedong's former residence. At that time, there were many tourists in line in front of them, and they also stood consciously at the end of the line.
After entering the former residence, Li Min paused and looked up at the photos of her grandparents hanging on the wall, and asked the staff to help take photos. In her parents' bedroom, she gently stroked the bed where her parents slept with tears in her eyes, and said to her family and entourage: "My father taught me before he died, not to receive special treatment, be honest and be an ordinary person..."
pic | Li Min
11 o'clock, with the help of his family and staff, Li Min took a car to the ancestral grave to sweep the graves of grandparents. Li Min and his relatives stood solemnly with flowers in their hands, and took turns to drink on the graves on the graves according to the traditional customs of Shaoshan, bowing and bowing to express their nostalgia for their ancestors.
When having lunch at noon, Li Min stood up and toasted everyone, saying happily: "Thank you for your hospitality, I am here to wish my hometown a better and better on behalf of the whole family! ”
I would like to dedicate this article to the great leader Chairman Mao and his daughter Li Min.
Wish his descendants always good health and safety!
