Shao Hua (30 October 1938 – 24 June 2008), formerly known as Zhang Shaohua (), was a Chinese photographer and a major general in the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

. She was the wife of

Mao Anqing Mao Anqing (; 23 November 1924 – 23 March 2007) was the last surviving son of Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. He was the second son of Mao and his wife, Yang Kaihui. He had a mental illness, possibly schizophrenia. He ...

, the second son of

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 ...

Biography

She was born as Chen Anyun () in October 1938 in

Yan'an Yan'an; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi Province of China, province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several c ...

, Shaanxi, the headquarters of 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 ...

following the

Long March The Long March ( zh, s=长征, p=Chángzhēng, l=Long Expedition) was a military retreat by the Chinese Red Army and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from advancing Kuomintang forces during the Chinese Civil War, occurring between October 1934 and ...

. Her father was Chen Zhenhua, who was from Shimin, Hunan. Her mother was Zhang Wenqiu, who was from Jingshan County, Hubei. Shao began working as a photographer in the 1950s using a camera which had been brought to her from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

by Mao Zedong's eldest 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 ...

. She traveled extensively throughout China following the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

. The subjects of her photographs were often related to the government of the Communist movement, including factories and other

factors of production In economics, factors of production, resources, or inputs are what is used in the production process to produce output—that is, goods and services. The utilised amounts of the various inputs determine the quantity of output according to the rela ...

, army units, schools, and poor rural Chinese villages. She became the head of the China Photographers Association (CPA) in 2002 and served in that position until her death in 2008. Shao was a major general in the

. She served as the director of the military encyclopedia department of the PLA Academy of Military Sciences. Shao was a member of the National Committee of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s United front (China), united front system. Its members adv ...

(CPPCC) from 1988 to 2002, when she began displaying her photographs publicly. Shao married

, Mao Zedong's second son and a Russian

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

, in September 1960. The couple had one son,

Mao Xinyu Mao Xinyu (born 17 January 1970) is a grandson of Mao Zedong and a major general in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of the People's Republic of China. Early life and education Mao was born on 17 January 1970 at 301 Hospital, People's Libera ...

was born in 1970 at People's Liberation Army Hospital. Her husband had no active role in the Chinese government. Mao Anqing died on 23 March 2007, at the age of 84. Her son Mao Xinyu and his wife, Liu Bin, have one son Mao Dongdong who was born in 2003 at Peking Union Medical College Hospital and the only great-grandson of Mao Zedong. Shao Hua died in Beijing due to

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

on 24 June 2008, at the age of 69.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shao, Hua 1938 births 2008 deaths Family of Mao Zedong Chinese women photographers Members of the 7th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Members of the 8th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Members of the 9th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Members of the 10th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference People's Liberation Army generals from Shaanxi Politicians from Yan'an Artists from Shaanxi Chinese Communist Party politicians from Shaanxi People's Republic of China politicians from Shaanxi Peking University alumni Deaths from breast cancer Deaths from cancer in China 20th-century Chinese politicians 20th-century Chinese women politicians 20th-century Chinese photographers 20th-century women photographers