He Zizhen (; 20 September 1910 – 19 April 1984) was the third wife of Chairman

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...

from 1928 to 1937.

Early life and career

He Zizhen was born in Yunshan (云山, now

Yongxin County Yongxin County () is a county in the west of Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China, bordering Hunan province to the west. It is located within the Jinggang Mountains under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Ji'an. The county ...

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

, during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

and joined the

Communist Youth League of China The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), also known as the Young Communist League of China or simply the Communist Youth League (CYL), is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, run by the ...

in 1925. She attended a Protestant school in her youth. She later graduated from the Yongxin Girls' School and joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

in 1926.

Revolutionary life

He Zizhen was introduced to Mao Zedong at Jinggangshan by Yuan Wencai, a classmate of her elder brother, in the spring of 1928. An expert in

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run ta ...

and a capable fighter, He Zizhen was also an excellent shooter who earned the nickname of "Two-Gunned Girl General".Karl, 37 - 38 She and Mao married in 1928 and had six children together. When they married, Mao had not divorced his second wife

Yang Kaihui Yáng Kāihuì (; courtesy name: Yúnjǐn (); 6 November 1901 – 14 November 1930) was the second wife of Mao Zedong, whom he married in 1920. She had three children with Mao Zedong: Mao Anying, Mao Anqing, and Mao Anlong. Her father w ...

, whom he had wed in 1920. Yang was arrested and executed in 1930 by the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Ta ...

. He Zizhen had three daughters and three sons with

, but except for their daughter, Li Min, all of them either died young or were separated from the family. Their eldest daughter, who was left to a local family in

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its ...

, was found and recognized by He Zizhen's brother in 1973, but never had the chance to meet Mao or He. Two English researchers who retraced the entire Long March in 2002–2003 located a woman whom they believe might be a missing child left in the care of others by Mao and He in 1935. In 1937, He Zizhen traveled to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

for treatment of a wound suffered earlier in battle, later attending the Moscow East University. While He Zizhen was in Russia, Mao courted

Jiang Qing Jiang Qing (19 March 191414 May 1991), also known as Madame Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary, actress, and major political figure during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). She was the fourth wife of Mao Zedong, the Chairman of ...

, who would become his fourth wife. He Zizhen was reportedly "dispatched to a mental asylum in Moscow to make room for Jiang". Upon her return to China in 1947, she found she could not hope to fulfill any sort of political role in Beijing. She later became the chair of Zhejiang Province Women's Union. In 1984, He Zizhen died alone in Shanghai.

Legacy

In 2007, a memorial hall was opened in Yongxin for He Zizhen with her daughter, Li Min, present as a guest.

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * Karl, Rebecca. ''Mao Zedong and China in the Twentieth-Century World''. (2010). Durham: Duke UP. {{DEFAULTSORT:He, Zizhen 1910 births 1984 deaths Mao Zedong family People from Ji'an Wives of national leaders Women in war 1900–1945 Women in war in China Communist University of the Toilers of the East alumni Members of the 5th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference