On June 25, 1959, Mao Zedong returned to his hometown of Shaoshan, where he had been away for 32 years, with nostalgia for his hometown and his parents who rested in peace. Seeing that things and people in his hometown had changed, he was filled with emotion and wrote the famous "Seven Rhymes of : Going to Shaoshan":
Farewell Dreams Faintly Curse Sichuan, Hometown Thirty-two years ago.
The red flag rolls up the serf's halberd, and the black hand hangs the overlord's whip.
Because of his ambition to make sacrifices, he dares to teach the sun and the moon to change the sky.
I am happy to see thousands of waves of rice, and heroes everywhere are setting off the sunset smoke.
"Qilu·To Shaoshan"
At dawn the next day, Mao Zedong got up early and went to the tomb where his parents were buried together to perform a memorial sweep. He said affectionately to the staff around him: "My father She got typhoid fever, a lump on her neck, and a hole in her eye. The disease was not difficult to treat, but none of them would have died prematurely if it were now."
Mao Zedong then respectfully placed a wreath made of cypress branches on his parents' graves, and said affectionately: "Forefathers have worked hard. , future generations will be happy. Worry when the world is worried first, and rejoice when the world is happy later. "
On the way back, Mao Zedong said to Luo Ruiqing, who was accompanying him: "We Communists are complete materialists and do not believe in any ghosts and gods. However, my parents who gave birth to me and my party, comrades, and friends who taught me must still admit it. Next time I come back, I will go and see them both. "
Mao Zedong visited his parents' graves
For the young Mao Zedong, his father gave him an edge and masculinity, and his mother gave him humility and kindness, which laid an important foundation for him to achieve great achievements in the future. In 1993, when General Yang Chengwu visited Mao Zedong's former residence, he said deeply: "The great parents raised the great Mao Zedong!"
Today, Brother Di will tell the story of Mao Zedong and his parents.
Father Mao Shunsheng
In the autumn of 1936, when Mao Zedong was interviewed by reporter Snow in northern Shaanxi, he once talked about his father:
He was a strict supervisor and couldn't see me being idle; if there were no accounts to keep, he would ask me to do farm work. He had a bad temper and often beat me and my two younger brothers. He didn't give us a penny, and the food he gave us was the worst. He was especially kind to the employees on the fifteenth day of every month, giving them eggs for food, but there was never any meat. For me, he neither gave me eggs nor meat...
Mao Zedong and Snow
Later, after reading these words, many people thought that Mao Zedong’s father was hot-tempered, authoritarian, selfish and stingy, and a father who lacked paternal love for his children. Many books, movies, and TV shows now also express it this way.
But this is not the case. Although Mao Zedong's father was very strict with him, behind the harshness was deep love.
Mao Zedong's father Mao Shunsheng was born in 1870. At that time, his father Mao Enpu hoped that the family business would prosper in his son's hands, so he named him "Yichang". He also hoped that his child would grow up smoothly and everything goes well, so he named his son "Shunsheng".
Mao Enpu originally had 15 acres of farmland, but he borrowed more debt to purchase more farmland. The debts continued to increase, but the farmland did not increase at all, and the family became more and more difficult. Therefore, Mao Enpu hoped that his son could become the head of the family soon. When Mao Shunsheng was 10 years old, he married her to a child bride, Wen Qimei, who was 3 years older than him. When Mao Shunsheng was 15 years old, he and his wife officially "consummated their marriage." When he was 17 years old, Mao Enpu handed over all the family property to him and made him the owner of the family.
Mao Shunsheng and Wen Qimei
After Mao Shunsheng took charge of the family, he got up early and worked hard in the fields every day. In addition to cultivating the farmland, he also fed pigs and cattle, went up the mountain to cut firewood, and set up nets for fishing. But even though he worked hard every day, the situation at home still did not improve.
In 1893 and 1896, Wen Qimei gave birth to Mao Shunsheng's sons Mao Zedong and Mao Zemin. Mao Shunsheng felt that it could not continue like this. He saw that people who went out to serve as soldiers at home lived well after they came back. He also decided to join the army, so he sent his wife and children back to his parents' home, and went out to join the Hunan Army.
Around 1901, Mao Shunsheng, who had been serving as a soldier for many years, returned to Shaoshan to go to , and then brought back his wife and children who had been fostered in his parents' home. The few years he spent abroad not only broadened his horizons, but also tempered his bravery. He also relied on the money he saved as a soldier to pay off his family's debts and redeem his property.
By about 1904, Mao Shunsheng already owned 15 acres of land and could harvest 60 dans of grain every year. In addition to the 35 dans consumed at home, there was an extra 25 dans. He ground the remaining rice into white rice, and then sold it at the market.
After the business started, Mao Shunsheng also began to issue his own stock "Mao Shunyitang", collecting the remaining money from neighbors and villagers in order to increase the value; the stocks were given to employees for use as wages, which could temporarily replace silver; they were given to business colleagues and became deposits, or value.
Mao Shunsheng
As the family business grew, Mao Shunsheng often had to hire long-term or part-time workers, but he did not let his son be idle. Mao Zedong once recalled that he was asked to work in the fields when he was 6 years old. But the young Mao Zedong liked reading very much. Mao Shunsheng felt that his reading would affect his work, and the father and son often had conflicts because of this.
One day Mao Zedong did not go back for lunch. Mao Shunsheng went out to look for him and found him reading next to an ancient tomb. He was very angry and said to his son: "Are you really obsessed with this shabby book? Are you really obsessed with this broken book? Put your father's Are the words just falling on deaf ears? "
But Mao Zedong said that he had already picked 15 tons of fertilizer and read after finishing the work. Mao Shunsheng went to the field to look and found that it was true, so he stopped talking about him.
When Mao Zedong was 9 years old, Mao Shunsheng finally decided to send him to a private school. It is said that he once had a dispute with someone over a piece of forest. He knew he was right, but he couldn't tell it. The other party read a lot of books and quoted scriptures. As a result, he turned the unreasonable into reasonable. As a result, the forest was eventually awarded to him. Therefore, after Mao Shunsheng's financial situation improved, he sent his son to school, hoping that he would be able to speak for himself in the future.
In 1904, Mao Shunsheng took advantage of his cousin Mao Jusheng's living difficulties and bought his family's 7 acres of paddy field at a low price. Wen Qimei and Mao Zedong strongly opposed it, but he said: "I use money to buy the land, and he sells it and I buy it. It is only natural. This has nothing to do with brothers." This made Mao Zedong very disgusted. He felt that his father only cared about making money and completely ignored brotherhood.
When Mao Zedong was 13 years old, a major conflict broke out between father and son again. One time, many guests came to Mao Shunsheng's house, but he scolded Mao Zedong for being lazy and useless in front of the guests. This made Mao Zedong very angry. He scolded his father and ran out of the house. Mao Shunsheng chased him and continued to scold him. Mao Zedong didn't listen at all and ran to the pond in anger.
Facing his aggressive father, Mao Zedong said that if he took one step closer, he would jump into the pond. This calmed Mao Shunsheng, but he insisted that Mao Zedong kowtow to admit his mistake. Mao Zedong said that if his father promised not to beat him, he could kneel on one leg and kowtow, and the war ended.
However, Mao Shunsheng continued to let Mao Zedong go to private school. Although it cost a lot of money, he still insisted. Although his starting point was different from Mao Zedong, as a father, this shows that he still loves his son deeply.
But as Mao Zedong grew older, he became more and more rebellious. Mao Shunsheng thought that it would be much better if his son got married early, so when Mao Zedong was 14 years old, Mao Shunsheng took the initiative to marry him Luo Shi as his wife. His intention was very clear, that is, to tie Mao Zedong's heart.
Luo Shi
But Mao Zedong later recalled: "I have never lived with her, and I never lived with her later. I didn't think she was my wife, and I almost didn't think about her at that time." After Luo Shi married into the Mao family, he died of illness at the age of 20.
Although it was wrong for Mao Shunsheng to disregard Mao Zedong's wishes and arrange a marriage for him, the father's good intentions in marrying a wife for his son and choosing a daughter-in-law who was well-matched, strong, and good at housework, in order to prosper the family business, increase the number of children, and enjoy family happiness are still commendable.
When Mao Zedong was 16 years old, Mao Shunsheng made an agreement with his brother Mao Huailin to let his son work as an apprentice in a rice store he opened in Xiangtan City, more than 70 miles away from Shaoshan. In Mao Shunsheng's view, this is a very promising career, because he himself made a fortune by doing business. He asked his son to go to Midian to learn business well, so that he can keep the family business when he comes back.
But Mao Zedong wanted to continue his studies. He asked his uncles Wen Yurui and Wen Yuqin, his cousin Wang Jifan, his teacher Mao Luzhong, and his mother Wen Qimei to help him speak. Mao Shunsheng became the "polished commander", and he had to agree to his son's request.
Wang Jifan
In 1910, Mao Zedong finally got his wish. He was leaving Shaoshan and went to Dongshan School in Xiangxiang . In order to express his ambition, he rewrote a poem by the Japanese reformist Xixiang Takasheng and gave it to his father:
The child is determined to leave his hometown, and he vows not to return it if he fails to learn.
Why do we need a burial place to bury our bones? There are green hills everywhere in life.
Before leaving, Mao Shunsheng brought his family to see Mao Zedong off. His mother Wen Qimei said to him: "Sanyaozi, have you brought the prepared spicy food? This is your first time traveling far away. Don't eat or drink cold food outside, and be careful to wear more clothes!"
Mao Shunsheng also said to his son: "Shi San, you have to have a good meal outside. When you run out of money, just write to me and I will deliver it."
Mao Zedong said movedly: "Father, mother, Mo Yuan sent it, and I left."
Mao Shunsheng in film and television works
After walking a few steps, Mao Zemin, who was helping Mao Zedong carry his luggage, tugged at the corner of his clothes and said to him: "Brother, daddy is crying!"
Mao Zedong turned around slowly and found that his father's face was dripping with tears and his eyes were wet. He ran back, knelt down in front of his father, and said again. He kowtowed three times and then said: "Dad, don't worry, I will do my best..."
From then on, Mao Zedong was away from home for a long time and rarely came home. Not only did he avoid conflicts with his father, he also missed his parents and his hometown. He often wrote letters to his father. When he first started working, he often sent money and medicine home.
On October 5, 1919, Mao Zedong’s mother Wen Qimei died of illness in Shaoshan at the age of 53. Mao Zedong was not with his mother when she died of illness. When he rushed home with his younger brother Mao Zetan, his mother had been in the coffin for two days.
The death of his wife had a great impact on Mao Shunsheng. He was much older, so Mao Zedong took his father to Changsha to live for a period of time. The originally tense relationship between father and son had long since dissipated and was relieved. Mao Shunsheng also lived a happy life.
Mao Zedong is pictured with his father (second from left), uncle, and younger brother
In December 1919, in order to expel the warlord Zhang Jingyao in Hunan, Mao Zedong led a petition group to Beijing. But not long after he left, Mao Shunsheng suffered from acute typhoid fever and died on January 23, 1920, at the age of 50.
Because Mao Zedong was engaged in revolutionary activities in Beijing, he was unable to go back to attend the funeral for his father. He did not return to Changsha until July, half a year after his father was buried. Mao Zedong paid homage to his father's shrine and felt deeply guilty for not being able to fulfill his filial piety.
Mao Zedong said to his brother Mao Zemin and his sister-in-law Wang Shulan: "You are responsible for the funeral affairs of your parents, especially when I was not at home when my father died.I later found out that the old man died of typhoid fever, and the coffin was borrowed from the Tang family. You have worked so hard to worry about it, but I have not fulfilled my filial piety! "
There is a "Shaolu Bridge" in Shaoshan. It was built in the first half of 1919. There is a stone cliff 1 meter long and 0 wide on the stone cliff at the mouth of Shaoshan. The .6-meter "Shaolu Bridge Monument" records the 7 collectives and 8 individuals who donated money to build the bridge at that time. Among them, Mao Shunsheng donated 4 pieces of silver, ranking third in the number of individual donations. This was already a large amount at the time, and Moreover, Mao Shunsheng also participated in the work of repairing the bridge. From him, we can see the virtue of self-denial and devotion to public service among the farmers in old China.
Mother Wen Qimei
Mao Zedong commented on his mother in an interview with Snow:
"My mother is a kind-hearted woman, generous and kind, and always willing to help others. She pitied the poor, and she often gave them food when they came to beg for food before the famine. But she couldn't do that if my father was there. My father does not approve of charity. My family has had many quarrels over this matter. "
Mao Zedong's mother's name was Wen Qimei. This name was notated in English by Snow, and when it was translated into Chinese, it was translated into the nice "Wen Qimei".
In 1867, Wen Qimei was born in a well-off peasant family in Tangjiatuo (later changed to Tangjia Ge), the fourth capital of Xiangxiang County, more than 20 miles away from Shaoshan Chong. Her grandfather died very early. He left four children to be raised by his grandmother He. The He family raised their four children with great hardships and built a family business with them. By the time Wen Qimei grew up, the family already had 140 acres of land and a tiled house built with blue bricks.
In 1880, Mrs. He was 86 years old. She knew that her time was running out and wanted to choose a good cemetery. Everyone in the Wen family heard that the Feng Shui in Shaoshan Chong was very good. It is very suitable for a cemetery, but people in Shaoshan Chong will definitely not give up their land to people with other surnames, so the Wen family came up with a "marriage" method.
Shaoshan Chong
Wen Qimei's father, Wen Zhiyi, married 13-year-old Wen Qimei to Mao Shunsheng, the son of farmer Mao Enpu in Shaoshan Chong, in exchange for the He family's cemetery. Mao Shunsheng was only 10 years old at the time, so Wen Qimei married her and became a child bride first.
By the time of Mao Enpu's generation, the Mao family had fallen into decline. They not only pawned the family's fields, but also borrowed a lot of debt. When Wen Qimei was in her natal family, the old and young lived happily together, but after she came to her husband's family, she had to live a hard life. She was very uncomfortable with it. Every time Wen Zhiyi came to see her, she cried and clamored to go back to her natal family.
But slowly, Wen Qimei began to feel the warmth of the Mao family. Mao Shunsheng was an only child. Her parents felt they owed their daughter-in-law and loved her as their own daughter. Mao Shunsheng also relied on and trusted her because he had no brothers or sisters. Wen Qimei also adapted to the life of the Mao family. She tried her best to serve the elderly and take care of the housework, and no longer complained. When Wen Qimei was 18, she and Mao Shunsheng officially "consummated their marriage."
Wen Qimei
Wen Qimei gave birth to her first child when she was about 20 years old, but the child died soon after. The second child she gave birth to later had the same fate. This hit her hard and she became depressed.
On December 26, 1893, Wen Qimei gave birth to Mao Zedong. She was happy but also scared. She took the newborn Mao Zedong to the Shiguanyin Temple to worship the god, and gave him a nickname "Shitou", which means he will be raised well and grow long. Because Mao Zedong ranked third, his family called him "Shi San", and Wen Qimei called him "Shi Sanyaozi".
After Mao Zedong grew up a little, Wen Qimei asked him to recognize his seventh aunt as his godmother. Because the seventh aunt's family had many children, she hoped that Mao Zedong could marry him. Enough to be blessed by my seventh aunt and grow up healthily.
In 1896, Wen Qimei gave birth to her son Mao Zemin. After Mao Shunsheng went out to serve in the army, he sent his wife and two children to his parents' family for foster care. Mao Zedong spent several years of happiness in Wen's family. His grandmother also loved him very much, and everyone in the family loved each other. This good family atmosphere planted the seeds of truth, goodness, and beauty in his heart.
In the Wen family, Mao Zedong also wrote the first poem in his life:
The lion's eyes are bulging, cooking tofu with vegetables.
The wine should be heated to a higher temperature and the meat should be cooked until it becomes tender.
After Mao Shunsheng returned home from serving as a soldier, he took his wife and son back. Although his family was getting better and better, as he grew up, Mao Zedong began to have conflicts with his father. Fortunately, his mother Wen Qimei had been protecting and supporting Mao Zedong, so he had the confidence to argue and confront his father. Mao Zedong later joked: "There are 'two parties' in my family. One is my father, which is the 'ruling party.' The 'opposition party' is composed of me, my mother and younger brother, and sometimes even hired workers. No." However, within the ‘United Front’ of the ‘opposition parties’, opinions are not unanimous. Mother advocated a policy of indirect attack. She disapproved of any overt expression of emotion or open attempts to resist the 'ruling party'. She said this was not in line with Chinese principles. "
Wen Qimei's philanthropic character had a profound influence on Mao Zedong. When Mao Zedong was in private school, because he was far away from home, he always brought lunch to school. Once, Mao Zedong found that a classmate was hungry at noon because his family was poor, so he gave his meal to the classmate.
After returning home in the evening, Mao Zedong went straight to the kitchen and ate a lot more because he was not full at noon. Wen Qimei thought that the rice she brought was not enough, so she brought him a big bowl of rice the next day, but when he came back in the evening, he still ran to the kitchen to eat.
Wen Qimei then asked her son what was going on, and Mao Zedong told her the truth. Wen Qimei not only did not blame her son, but praised him for doing the right thing. From then on, Wen Qimei prepared two meals for Mao Zedong every day and asked him to take them to his classmates.
In 1910, the 17-year-old Mao Zedong finally left Shaoshan and went to Dongshan School in Xiangxiang. Before leaving, Mao Shunsheng and Wen Qimei brought their family to see him off.
Dongshan School
Wen Qimei was very reluctant to give up her son. She said with tears in her eyes: "Sanyao, have you brought the prepared spicy food? This is your first time traveling far away. Don't eat or drink cold food outside, and be careful to put on extra clothes!"
Mao Zedong asked his parents not to give him away, and Wen Qimei said affectionately: "I am Shi San. Yaozi is promising and will do great things in the future! "
In the autumn of 1918, Wen Qimei suffered from tuberculous lymphitis. At this time, Mao Zedong, who was away from home, asked someone to write a prescription and send it to his seventh uncle and eighth uncle, and asked them to follow this treatment for diagnosis and treatment. If they still couldn't get better, wait until after the autumn harvest, and ask his brother Mao Zemin to send his mother to the provincial capital to see a doctor.
In the spring of the next year, Mao Zedong, who worked as a librarian at Peking University , rushed home immediately after receiving a letter that his mother was seriously ill. He took his mother to Changsha for treatment and lived in the home of his friend Cai Hesen.
Mao Zedong and his two younger brothers also supported their old mother to take a group photo in the photo studio. This was Wen Qimei's first and last time taking a photo. But Wen Qimei only stayed for more than 20 days before she insisted on returning to Shaoshan, and Mao Zedong had no choice but to agree.
Mao Zedong takes a photo with his mother and younger brother
In October 1919, while Mao Zedong was busy organizing activities to expel the warlord Zhang Jingyao in Changsha, he received a letter from home that his mother was critically ill. When he rushed back to Shaoshan, his mother had been in the coffin for two days. Mao Zedong was so grief-stricken that he kept vigil for his mother all night, and reluctantly wrote the "Essay on Mother's Commemoration", describing his mother's noble character and deep love for her son:
My mother is noble, and I recommend fraternity above all else. Far and near, close and distant, everything is covered. Kai's compassion and kindness moved the common people. Love is as true as it gets.Do not lie, do not deceive...
"Mother Sacrifice Essay"
Mao Zedong also wrote an elegiac couplet specifically for his mother:
The grass still calls for infinite care. All the regrets must be made up for. Where to find a kind face
Horizontal comment: The spring breeze leaves Huiyuan on the south bank
Later, Mao Zedong wrote to his friend Zou Yunzhen The letter said: "There are three types of people in the world, those who benefit themselves at the expense of others, those who benefit themselves without harming others, and those who can harm themselves to benefit others. My mother belongs to the third type of people."
These are Mao Zedong's parents. Great parents raised the great Mao Zedong! About the author of
: Brother Di, an office worker born in the 1990s, has been writing full-time for 2 years and has published many articles with more than 100,000 hits on major self-media platforms. If you are interested in self-media, writing, and making money, and want to do side jobs or part-time jobs every month during your off-duty time, you can search and follow my public account " Emperor Brother's History " to discuss and make progress together.
