In August 1927, He Zizhen, known as the "Yongxin Yizhihua", came to Jinggangshan and became the first female Red Army soldier on Jinggangshan. More than two months later, Chairman Mao led the troops of the Qiuhu Uprising to Jinggangshan.

In August 1927, He Zizhen, known as the "Yongxin Yizhihua", came to Jinggangshan and became the first female Red Army soldier on Jinggangshan. More than two months later, Chairman Mao led the troops of the Autumn Harvest Uprising to Jinggangshan. After more than half a year of contact and understanding, Chairman Mao and He Zizhen became revolutionary partners. Later in the Central Soviet Area, Chairman Mao was excluded by Li De and lost command of the Red Army. Li De's blind command led the Red Army to suffer great losses in the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression".

Chairman Mao was anxious about this and made suggestions many times not to fight against the enemy, and to give full play to the mobile and flexible tactics of the Red Army, but neither Li De nor Bo Gu obeyed. During this period, Chairman Mao was very depressed. He Zizhen thought of many ways to comfort her husband and gave Chairman Mao a great support. After the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" failure, He Zizhen and Chairman Mao left Soviet area and started Long March . When the troops entered Yunnan, He Zizhen was injured by a bomb dropped by an enemy plane for treating the wounded, and blood flowed out.

After the hygienist bandaged him, He Zizhen said to everyone: "I am injured, please don't tell the Chairman for the time being. He is very busy commanding the battle on the front line, so don't distract him anymore. Please send me to the homes of the people nearby. If the revolution is victorious in the future, we will meet again." Because He Zizhen's injuries were very serious and everyone dared not hide it, Chairman Mao rushed over quickly and held his wife's hand with care to comfort and encourage her. He Zizhen said to her husband, "Runzhi, keep me, you can move forward!"

"Zizhen, don't think that way. Comrades and I will never leave you here alone." Chairman Mao said firmly. Soon after, the doctor came and performed surgery on He Zizhen. Due to limited medical conditions, only some larger shrapnel were removed, and 17 small shrapnel could not be removed. For some time afterwards, He Zizhen had to lie on a stretcher and march. After her injuries improved slightly, she stopped sitting on the stretcher. She gritted her teeth and insisted on moving forward with everyone. With her tenacious perseverance, she completed the Long March.

Shortly after the Long March arrived in northern Shaanxi, He Zizhen gave birth to a daughter Li Min. A year later, He Zizhen left Yan'an for the Soviet Union despite Chairman Mao's persuasion. Why did He Zizhen insist on leaving Yan'an at that time? Tao Zhu's lover Zeng Zhi gave this answer in his memoir: I always think about He Zizhen, but I dare not mention her rashly. Unexpectedly, one day, Chairman Mao took the initiative to talk about her. Chairman Mao sighed, "I still have feelings for He Zizhen. After all, I am a couple for ten years!" "Then why should I leave?" "It's not that I want to leave her, but that she wants to leave me. She has a bad temper and is suspicious, and often quarrels about small things."

"Once, a foreign female reporter interviewed me. Americans are open and unrestrained, and I like to joke. We talk and laugh, which angered He Zizhen. She not only scolded others, but also started fighting. I criticized her, and we both quarreled very hard. In a fit of anger, He Zizhen said she would go to Xi'an and then go to the Soviet Union to treat her illness. I hope she could come back, so she wrote a letter and sent a guard to Xi'an and picked her up. But He Zizhen did not reply, but brought back a white handkerchief with a farewell letter on it, and soon she went to the Soviet Union. This farewell letter is still kept in my iron box. "

From Zeng Zhi's memoir, it can be seen that He Zizhen left Yan'an at that time mainly because of a misunderstanding with Chairman Mao, and going to the Soviet Union to see a doctor and study is also the same. After He Zizhen arrived in the Soviet Union, the doctor told her after examining her that due to the long delay, the bullet has grown into the flesh. If it is forced to be removed, it is very risky and may damage the nerves. In this way, He Zizhen did not undergo surgery. These 17 shrapnel later accompanied her throughout her life.

When he left Yan'an, He Zizhen was already pregnant. Shortly after arriving in the Soviet Union, she gave birth to a boy named Liu Wa. In a foreign country where you have no relatives, the birth of the child gave He Zizhen great spiritual comfort. But unfortunately, Xiao Liuwa died of illness when she was half a year old. He Zizhen was very sad when she lost her beloved son.In the autumn of 1939, Premier Zhou and his wife went to the Soviet Union for treatment. Chairman Mao entrusted them to bring a letter to He Zizhen, which said, "We will be comrades in the future."

Zhang Wentian's wife Liu Ying later recalled: "After receiving Chairman Mao's letter, He Zizhen was very mentally distressed. But she was very arrogant and refused to take the initiative to write to Chairman Mao. When I returned from the Soviet Union, I said I could help her bring the letter to Chairman Mao, but she said she would not take it." Although he and He Zizhen were no longer husband and wife, Chairman Mao was still very concerned about her. In order not to make her too lonely in a foreign land, Chairman Mao sent his daughter Li Min to the Soviet Union to be her company.

The arrival of his daughter brought a lot of happiness to He Zizhen, and her mood gradually became brighter. During this period, He Zizhen learned to dance and tried to dress herself up. After the change, He Zizhen was glorious and many people pursued her, but she refused them all. After the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, He Zizhen took Li Min from Moscow to Ivanov City hundreds of kilometers away. There was a very shortage of supplies here, and He Zizhen and his daughter suffered a lot. In August 1947, with the approval of Chairman Mao, He Zizhen returned to the Northeast with her children.

He Zizhen's granddaughter Kong Dongmei said: "According to her mother's recollection, grandmother had considered starting a new life at that time. She once told an old comrade-in-arms that she had two wishes: first, don't ban her just because she was the 'first lady'; second, she hopes to see her grandfather, say something, and shake hands."

Shortly after He Zizhen returned to China, the organization arranged work for her in the Northeast. At this time, Chairman Mao and Jiang Qing had been married for 9 years. He Zizhen knew that she and Chairman Mao could no longer return to the past. Under the persuasion of relatives and friends, she was ready to start her new life. She decided to ask her daughter for her opinion on this matter, so she asked, "Jiaojiao, can you find a father for you?" 12-year-old Li Min immediately shouted "No". He Zizhen hugged her daughter in her arms and cried, and since then she gave up on the idea of ​​remarrying.

This incident was written by Li Min's daughter Kong Dongmei into her book "Opening My Old Photo Collection: My Grandfather Mao Zedong in My Heart". He Zizhen's second wish after returning to China was to see Chairman Mao again. Due to various reasons, this wish was not realized until 12 years later. In 1959, Chairman Mao sent someone to take He Zizhen to Lushan. This was the first time that the two met after they had been separated from Yan'an for 22 years. He Zizhen was very excited and couldn't say a word, but just kept crying.

Seeing this, Chairman Mao advised her, "We met, you don't talk, you keep crying, you won't meet again, and you want to say it again." Only then did He Zizhen slowly calm down. Chairman Mao asked about her life and study in the Soviet Union, and He Zizhen answered one by one. Later, Chairman Mao asked again, "Why did you have to leave?" He Zizhen choked and said, "It's all my fault. I was too ignorant at that time." He Zizhen asked about Chairman Mao again, and neither of them mentioned Jiang Qing.

After the separation of Lushan this time, He Zizhen and Chairman Mao never met again. Later, his daughter Li Min became a bridge and link for communication between them, traveling between Shanghai and Beijing, conveying messages and gifts. In 1972, He Zizhen was hospitalized due to illness. After Chairman Mao learned about it, he deliberately took out 8,000 yuan from his royalties and sent someone to Shanghai to give it to her. On September 9, 1976, before Chairman Mao passed away, Li Min rushed to his father. At this time, Chairman Mao could no longer speak. He tried to compare Li Min with a gesture of longan . Li Min knew that his father was worried about his mother because He Zizhen's nickname was "longan". Although Chairman Mao and He Zizhen's separation was caused by misunderstandings and other reasons at that time, Chairman Mao had always been worried about He Zizhen and was still concerned about her when he died. Perhaps, in Chairman Mao's heart, he had already regarded He Zizhen as his closest person.