The foundation of the world is in the country, and the foundation of the country is in the home.
Family style is a fashion and style passed down from generation to generation in a family. It not only affects one person's gains and losses, and the honor and disgrace of the family, but also the party style, political style and people's style. The Chinese nation has always attached great importance to the construction of family style. In the long-term revolution, construction and reform process, the Communist Party of China has always placed family style construction in an important position and closely linked it with the construction of the Party’s work style.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has always attached great importance to the construction of family, family education and family style. He pointed out, "The family is the basic cell of society and the first school in life. No matter how much the times change, no matter how much the life pattern changes, we must pay attention to family construction, pay attention to family, pay attention to family education, and pay attention to family style." In June 2022, he pointed out during his inspection in Sichuan that party members and cadres, especially leading cadres, must be honest, do their families diligently and thrifty, do things cleanly, and engage in politics with integrity, manage themselves and their families well, and cultivate the good family style of Communists in the new era.
How to cultivate a good family tradition? The history of the Chinese revolution is the best nourishment. The older generation of proletarian revolutionaries such as Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Ren Bishi, Deng Xiaoping, and Chen Yun have set a role model for us in family style. Their fine family tradition of passing on family through virtue, building a family through learning, managing a family through frugality, managing a family through strictness, and maintaining a family through integrity has inspired generations to consciously be inheritors, leaders and guardians of "good family tradition". Starting from now on, the Shanghai Archives Bureau (Paper) and Liberation Daily·Shangguan News jointly launched a special series of reports on "Protecting the Original Aspiration and Cultivating Family Style - The Family Style Story of the Older Generation Revolutionaries". Using the red archives treasured by the archives and cultural departments such as the Central Archives of and the Shanghai Archives as clues, it tells the family style story of the older generation of revolutionaries for readers.
"Love relatives and do not favor personal gains, nostalgia for old people, do not seek profits for old people, and help relatives without support for their relatives." This is Mao Zedong's "Three Principles of Family Style". Mao Zedong's strict family tradition has always been praised by people. The three principles he set set an example for the whole party.
Mao Zedong is a great man and an ordinary person. He is full of respect and nostalgia for his deceased parents; he is like many fathers in the world, with tolerance and love in strictness. This respect, strictness and love are all melted into home books and video materials. From these archival materials, we see a kind and respectable father, a family with a good family style as spring breeze and rain, and a more flesh-and-blooded people's leader.
"Presents worked hard, future generations were happy"
When he was a teenager, Mao Zedong felt deeply harshly about his father Mao Yichang. He recalled: "He was a strict supervisor... His strict attitude probably benefited me too. This made me very diligent in working." When Mao Zedong was 16 years old, he successfully made his father give up the plan to let him be an apprentice in a rice shop in Xiangtan , and instead went to a Xiangxiang Dongshan Primary School where he taught his new learning. As a result, Mao Zedong took the first step in the turning point in his life.
Mao Zedong in youth
Compared with his father, mother had a greater impact on Mao Zedong in youth. In the spring of 1919, Mao Zedong, who was busy helping fellow villagers go to France to work and study, learned that his mother was seriously ill and immediately returned to Changsha to "super the decoctions and medicines personally, but never left the family." Shortly after his mother passed away, Mao Zedong wrote to his classmate Zou Yunzhen and said that there are three types of people in the world who harm others and those who benefit themselves, those who benefit themselves without harming others can harm themselves and others. His mother belongs to the third type of people.
After my mother passed away, on the day when my father was extremely sad, Mao Zedong asked his uncle Mao Fusheng to accompany him, took his father to Changsha, and lived by his side for a while. On the occasion of his father's 50th birthday, Mao Zedong prepared a sumptuous banquet and invited several close friends to celebrate his father's birthday. On that day, he and his younger brother Mao Zetan accompanied their father and uncle to take a photo at the photo studio, which was also the only photo left by the father and son.
1919 On November 13, 1919, Mao Zedong (first from right) took a photo with his father Mao Yichang (second from left), uncle Mao Fusheng (third from left), and brother Mao Zetan (first from left) in Changsha (collection of the Central Archives)
1959, Mao Zedong returned to his hometown where he had been away for 32 years.He stared in front of his parents' photos and stood for a long time. The next morning, Mao Zedong silently climbed onto a small hill called Nanzhutuo opposite his former residence, came to the tomb of his parents' joint burial, presented a bunch of pine branches picked from the roadside, bowed deeply three times, and said softly: "He worked hard for the predecessors, but the future generations were happy." His words were filled with infinite longing and emotion. The local cadre asked if he wanted to repair the grave, and he said, "No, just add some soil."
Mao Zedong went to his parents' tomb to offer pine and cypress , paying tribute (collection of the Central Archives)
Back to his residence, Mao Zedong was still immersed in his deep nostalgia for his parents. He told Luo Ruiqing, the Minister of Public Security, who accompanied him: "We Communists are thorough materialists and do not believe in ghosts and gods. But those who were born with me, those who taught me the party, comrades, teachers, and friends, and we have to admit it... I will go and see them next time I come." Mao Zedong's respect and nostalgia for his parents can be seen from this.
After the founding of New China, Mao Zedong always used his royalties to provide financial assistance to relatives and friends who had difficulties in life, never made any special contributions, and never caused trouble to the state and local governments. The picture shows Mao Zedong taking a photo with his relatives and friends in Zhongnanhai in 1957
"My opinions are only taken as suggestions"
Mao Zedong wrote a total of 28 letters from home to his children. The letters are full of love and the words are full of deep affection. These letters, from ideals, futures, careers, marriages, to physical condition, daily life, and interpersonal relationships, are everywhere the care and guidance given to the father to his children.
1927 revolution failed. When Mao Zedong led the Autumn Harvest Uprising, Yang Kaihui brought three children Mao Anying, Mao Anying, and Mao Anyong back to his hometown in Changsha, Hunan. After Yang Kaihui died in 1930, Mao Anying and three other brothers were secretly sent to Shanghai by the Hunan Party organization of the Communist Party of China. In 1936, Mao Anying and Mao Anying were sent to the Soviet Union to study. It was not until November 1937 that they resumed letter contact with their father in Yan'an . In addition to busy work, Mao Zedong often missed his son in the distance.
Yang Kaihui and his son Mao Anying (right), Mao Anying
Mao Anying learned some daily terms in Russian, English and French in Moscow, and also served as the captain of the Young Pioneers and the secretary of the Youth League branch of the Children's Court in the amateur reading group. Mao Anying's rapid progress was something Mao Zedong had never expected before. On January 31, 1941, he took the time to write a long letter to his two sons who attended middle school in Ivanov.
This letter is full of the concern and love of a father for his children he had not met for many years. At the beginning of the letter, Mao Zedong said to the failure to reply to the letters and photos he received several times, "I'm very sorry for you... You have grown up and are very happy. The English language is smooth, the writing is not bad, and the ambition is very good." He taught children to "learn more from natural science and talk less about politics when they are young. Politics is something to talk about, but at present, it is appropriate to devote themselves to natural science and supplement it with social science. In the future, it can be reversed, with social science as the main focus and natural science as the supplement. In short, pay attention to science, only science is real knowledge, and it will be of endless use in the future."
On January 31, 1941, Mao Zedong wrote a letter to Mao Anying and Mao Anying (Central Archives Collection)
Then, Mao Zedong talked about the principles of being a human being from learning. He knew that An Ying and An Qing had special identities and specifically warned them to prevent them, "There is one advantage for others to praise you, which is to encourage you to be motivated; but there is one disadvantage, which is to be complacent, be complacent, and be in danger of not being down-to-earth and seeking truth from facts."
There is another passage in the letter: "You have your future, whether good or bad, depending on yourself and your direct environment. I do not want to interfere with you. My opinions are only taken as suggestions and will be decided by you yourself." This passage is the tone of the letter. We cannot see the harsh commanding statement in the letter, but the tolerance and earnest expectations of a father, who communicates with his children like friends, and teaches his own experience of reading a lot of books. The love of licking a child is beyond words.
On October 8, 1947, Mao Zedong wrote to Mao Anying (Central Archives Collection)
As a revolutionary leader, Mao Zedong's demands for his children have always been closely linked to the cause of the Party and the people. On October 8, 1947, he wrote in a letter to Mao Anying: "No matter what a person learns or does, as long as he has enthusiasm and perseverance, he does not have the individualistic vanity that is incompatible with the interests of the people, he will always make progress." Mao Anying copied his father's words as his motto in his notebook, motivating himself at all times to live up to his father's expectations of him.
In October 1950, after the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made the decision to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea, Mao Zedong resolutely sent his son Mao Anying to the Korean battlefield. The picture shows Mao Zedong and Mao Anying taking a photo in Xiangshan
"Do you mean to be friends?"
"Tell you, Yongshou is back and has arrived in Harbin. I have agreed to go to middle school to learn Chinese. This child has not seen him for a long time and I really want to see him." Mao Zedong wrote this in the beginning of his letter to Mao Anying on October 8, 1947. So, whose arrival made Mao Zedong so excited?
is Mao Anying.
Mao Anying, also known as Mao Yongshou, separated from his father at the age of 4 and lost his mother at the age of 7. Later, he followed his brother Mao Anying to the Soviet Union from Shanghai to the Soviet Union, and only contacted his father again at the age of 14. He had been injured on the head and his health was not very good, so Mao Zedong loved him even more. Therefore, when Mao Anying returned to China after healing himself in the Soviet Union, Mao Zedong, who had not met his son in the past 20 years, was particularly excited.
Mao Anying has always liked Shao Hua, but he never dared to reveal his true feelings because he was in poor health. In 1960, after learning that An Qing had been communicating with Shao Hua, Mao Zedong wrote a letter to his son, saying that his sister-in-law Liu Siqi and sister Shaohua (Shao Hua's original name Zhang Shaohua) were very concerned about his condition and came to visit him, hoping that An Qing would receive him well.
Mao Zedong asked with concern in the letter: "I heard that you have communicated many letters with Shao Hua, right? Do you mean to be friends? Shao Hua is a good child, you can talk to her." At this moment, like all fathers in the world, Mao Zedong was eager to pay attention to his son's life events, and tried every means to create opportunities to let them communicate more and bring them closer together.
In 1960, Mao Zedong wrote a letter to Mao Anying (Central Archives Collection)
Not only that, Mao Zedong also reflected his meticulous care for his son as a father. In a letter to Mao Anying, he wrote: "To the comrades of the Dalian Municipal Party Committee and the medical organization who helped you, you must express your gratitude. They are very caring and doing their best." It is worth mentioning that he also specifically instructed: "Let them take a look at this letter, and I will express my sincere gratitude to them." No matter how high the status he is, or how much sacrifice he has made for the Chinese revolution, Mao Zedong never forgot to teach his children to pay attention to the help of others, remember the care given by others, and have a grateful heart.
In July 1949, Mao Zedong and his daughter Li Min took a photo in Xiangshan
June 8, 1951, Mao Zedong and Li Na walked in Zhongnanhai
["Protecting the original intention and cultivating the family style - the family style story of the older generation of revolutionaries" special series was jointly launched by the Shanghai Archives Bureau (Kuan) and Liberation Daily·Shangguan News. This is the first special series of reports]
Support: Central Archives
Picture: Unmarked source pictures, selected from the picture album "The Inheritance of the Original Intention - The Family Style of the Chinese Communists" (edited by Shanghai Archives)
Part of the information: Shaoshan Comrade Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, "Early Manuscripts of the First Congress of the Communist Party of China Representatives of the First Congress of the Communist Party of China" album (edited by Shanghai Archives)
Part of the information: Shaoshan Comrade Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, "Early Manuscripts of the First Congress of the Communist Party of China Representatives of the First Congress of the Communist Party of China" Selected from the picture album (edited by Shanghai Archives)
Part of the information: Shaoshan Comrade Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, "Early Manuscripts of the First Congress of the Communist Party of China Representatives of the First Congress of the Communist Party of China" Selected from the picture album "Inheritance of the Original Intention - The Family Style of the Chinese Communists" (edited by Shanghai Archives)
Partial information: Shaoshan Comrade Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, "Early Manuscripts of the First Congress of the Communist Party of China Representatives of the First Congress of the Communist Party of China" Selected from the Picture Album of "Inheritance of the Original Intention - The Family Style 1917.11-1923.7 (edited by the Memorial Hall of the First Congress of the Communist Party of China), "Red Family Letters" ( Party Building Readings Publishing House ), "Selected Family Letters of the Old Generation Revolutionaries" ( Edited by the Literature Research Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China)
