Tian Jiaying
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Tian Jiaying ( zh, c=田家英; January 4, 1922 – May 23, 1966) was
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
's personal secretary for 18 years. He committed suicide at the beginning of the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
.


Early life

Tian was born on January 4, 1922, in
Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...
,
Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...
,
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
. He lost his father at age 3, and his mother at age 9, and dropped out of school due to poverty. When he was 11, Tian became an apprentice in his brother's pharmacy in Chengdu. In 1935, 13-year-old Tian Jiaying became a local "prodigy" for his work in poetry and writing and began to publish his poetry and newspaper articles in Sichuan. While in middle school, Tian participated in the Anti-Japanese Salvation Movement, during which time he became affiliated with the
Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...
(CCP) and began to publish articles under the pseudonym "Tian Jiaying". He also participated in the anti-Japanese national salvation group "Haiyan Society" led by CCP members and was expelled from the school.


Secretary of Mao Zedong

In 1938, he went to Yan'an to study in Northern Shaanxi Public School. After graduating in the same year, he served as secretary and history instructor of the CCP's Northern Shaanxi Public School and joined the Chinese Communist Party. The following year, he entered the Yan'an Marxist College to study. After graduating in 1939, he stayed at the Institute of Chinese Studies at the Marxism-Leninism College. In 1941, Tian was selected into the Political Research Office of the
Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the Central committee, highest organ when the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, national congress is not ...
, and then transferred to the Propaganda Department of the CCP Central Committee, responsible for compiling textbooks for primary schools. In 1946, Tian was favored by Mao Zedong and was hired as tutor of his son
Mao Anying Mao Anying (; 24 October 1922 – 25 November 1950) was a Chinese military officer. He was the eldest son of Mao Zedong and Yang Kaihui. Educated in Moscow and a veteran of multiple wars, Mao was killed in action by an air strike during the ...
. In 1948, Tian became the secretary of Mao Zedong on the recommendation of
Hu Qiaomu Hu Qiaomu (4 June 1912 – 28 September 1992) was a Chinese sociologist, Marxist philosopher and politician. Hu Qiaomu is a controversial figure for opposing the reform and opening up era of economic reform that followed the death of Mao Zedon ...
. In 1954 he was appointed Deputy Director of the General Office of the CCP Central Committee, responsible for the work of the Secretary's Office. Tian participated in the editing of the first to fourth volumes of Selected Works of Mao Zedong, and was mainly responsible for writing the annotations. He also participated in the writing of the
Constitution of the People's Republic of China The Constitution of the People's Republic of China is the supreme law of the People's Republic of China (PRC). In September 1949, the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference adopted the Common Progr ...
, Mao's poems, and drafted the opening speech of Mao at the
8th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party The 8th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held in two sessions, the first 15–27 September 1956 and the second 5–23 May 1958 in Beijing. It was the first Congress of the Chinese Communist Party since the start of it taking ...
. In the early 1960s, Mao sent Tian to organize an investigation team to investigate in Hunan to understand the situation and problems in implementing the "Regulations on the Work of Rural People's Communes". Tian's report questioned the efficacy and logic behind the
Great Leap Forward The Great Leap Forward was an industrialization campaign within China from 1958 to 1962, led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Party Chairman Mao Zedong launched the campaign to transform the country from an agrarian society into an indu ...
. In May 1966, Tian was purged from the CCP; on 23 May he committed suicide. The cause of his death has been disputed.香港《动向》杂志(2002年2月号)《毛泽东涉暗杀田家英案》 In 1980, the CCP Central Committee politically rehabilitated Tian, and held memorial service in his honor.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tian, Jiaying 1922 births 1966 deaths Writers from Chengdu Suicides during the Cultural Revolution Secretaries to Mao Zedong