In 1942, Chairman Mao, who was in Yan'an, received a special letter.
Chairman Mao wrote at his desk
The letter was written by a woman. The content of the letter was very simple, which was to ask Chairman Mao to allow himself to marry Wang Yingqiao.
At that time, Yan'an advocated freedom of marriage. Generally speaking, marriage did not require special approval from Chairman Mao. So who is this woman? Why did he write a letter to ask Chairman Mao to approve his marriage?
It turns out that the woman who wrote the letter was Zhou Wennan, who was the widow of martyr Mao Zetan, so she was also Chairman Mao’s sister-in-law.
Zhou Wennan
Mao Zetan is Chairman Mao’s third brother, whose courtesy name is Runju.
In 1926, Mao Zetan and Zhou Wennan got married in Guangzhou.
1927, the two gave birth to their son Mao Chuxiong.
In March 1928, Zhou Wennan and Mao Chuxiong were arrested and imprisoned due to the betrayal of the traitor. Fortunately, under the rescue of relatives and friends, Mao Chuxiong was released, while Zhou Wennan was kept in prison and nowhere was found.
At this time, Mao Zetan was also very concerned about his wife Zhou Wennan. He inquired from many sources, but he could not find out Zhou Wennan's whereabouts. Later, Mao Zetan was deeply saddened when he heard that Zhou Wennan had died.
Mao Zetan
In fact, Zhou Wennan has been secretly detained in prison. It was not until July 1930 that Zhou Wennan was rescued after the Red Third Army conquered Changsha.
, and Mao Zetan had no way of knowing all this. After all, in that era, there was a chaotic war and information exchange was very unsmooth.
1929, Mao Zetan was injured in a battle, and the organization sent He Zizhen's sister to take care of him.
At the beginning, Mao Zeqian had no children with He Yi because he had a wife in his heart. But later, I heard that Zhou Wennan had died, and He Yi's meticulous care was taken care of. Gradually, the two of them became more and more in love with each other.
It was in this situation that on July 20, 1931, Mao Zetan and He Yi became husband and wife and officially became revolutionary partners.
Therefore, He Yi is not only Chairman Mao’s sister-in-law and Chairman Mao’s sister-in-law.
He Yi
Later, Mao Zetan felt very guilty after learning that Zhou Wennan had not sacrificed and felt sorry for Zhou Wennan. But the road has been completed, and in the war era, we can only accept this result.
In 1935, Mao Zetan led his team to fight guerrillas in Jiangxi. In a battle, he died to cover his teammates' retreat. After the news came, Zhou Wennan cried loudly, and she still cared about Mao Zeqian.
In 1936, Zhou Wennan was also captured by the enemy during guerrilla warfare, but fortunately he was rescued by his nephew.
1939, Chairman Mao's cousin Mao Zelian and his clan were instructed by the party organization to receive Zhou Chenxuan, Zhou Ziyu, Zhou Wennan and Mao Chuxiong to Shaoshan and move into Mao Zedong's home. Zhou Wennan was arranged to teach in the Mao Family Ancestral Hall and engage in underground work.
1940, for the sake of Zhou Wennan's safety, Chairman Mao wrote to Zhou Wennan, asking her to work in Yan'an. Zhou Wennan finally went to Yan'an and was arranged to be a teacher at the Central Nursing Hospital.
It was also during his work at the Central Nursing Hospital that Zhou Wennan met Wang Yingqiao, the director of the Central Nursing Hospital. The two gradually felt good about each other and got together.
1942, after two years of getting along, the two had the idea of getting married. In order to respect Chairman Mao’s opinions, Zhou Wennan wrote a special letter to Chairman Mao, which briefly explained his situation and Wang Yingqiao and asked about Chairman Mao’s opinions.
Chairman Mao was also very supportive of her decision, so he replied, " It's free marriage. If you remarry, I won't interfere. Remember Runju (Mao Zetan) sacrificed for the revolution. His spirit is immortal and worthy of our living people's longing."
was recognized by Chairman Mao, and Zhou Wennan and Wang Yingqiao officially became husband and wife, and Chairman Mao also expressed his congratulations.
In 1946, Mao Chuxiong was escorting Zhang Wenjin and Wu Zuyi to Xi'an to negotiate with the Kuomintang. He passed through Jiangkou, Ningshan County and was killed by the Kuomintang Hu Zongnan. He was only 19 years old at the time.When Zhou Wennan learned about it, he was extremely sad.
When he was a teenager, Mao Chuxiong
1950, Zhou Wennan was preparing to take his mother Zhou Chenxuan to live in the Northeast. With the help of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Provincial Government, Zhou Wennan returned to Shaoshan to meet his mother who had not seen for more than 10 years. Then, he visited his cousin Mao Weisheng's sixth lady, his cousin Mao Ziju and others, as well as his cousin and sister-in-law from the Wen family, and then took his mother back to his hometown in Pengfang, Linchuan, Jiangxi to visit his fellow villagers and lived there for a while. Since
1952, Zhou Wennan has lived in Northeast China for a long time and served as the president of the Civil Trial Division of the Heilongjiang Higher People's Court.
In 1980, Zhou Wennan, who was 70 years old, applied for retirement due to her age and illness.
In 1992, Zhou Wennan died of illness in Harbin at the age of 82.
Chairman Mao’s family is full of loyal and martyrs. Starting from Mao Zetan, Mao Zemin, Mao Chuxiong, Mao Anying and others are all martyrs. They have all dedicated their lives to the growth of New China, and we will always miss them!
