Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong married four times in his life, first at the age of 13 to Luo Yixiu. A staunch adversary of arranged marriage, he refused to recognize her as his wife. He then married Yang Kaihui, who bore him three children.

After the death of Yang Kaihui, Zedong tied the knot with He Zizhen who bore him six children. When she died, Zedong went into the wedlock with Jiang Qing till his death. She bore him a daughter.

Suffering from bad health for about several years which further declined in the beginning of 1976, Zedong suffered from a severe heart attack and a worsened lung infection. He breathed his last on September 9, 1976.

Mao Zedong was born on December 26, 1893, in Hunan Proviince of China, to Mao Yichang and Wen Qimei. He was one of the four children born to the couple. His father was one of the wealthiest farmers of the region and Mao Zedong had quite a comfortable childhood.

Young Zedong received his preliminary education at Shaoshan Primary School. However, he resented and rebuffed the classical Chinese texts preaching Confucian morals and was instead more interested in popular novels.

At the age of 11, Zedong attempted to flee away from home to distance himself from Confucian upbringing but in vain. His father soon brought him back. Two years henceforth, Zedong completed his primary education.

Meanwhile, Zedong worked full time in the field along with his father. To satiate his restless and ambitious mind, Zedong read voraciously. It was during this time that he developed a political consciousness after reading a booklet by Zheng Guanying. His political standing was further propelled by the nationalistic spirit of George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte.

Zedong moved to Changsha in 1911 to gain secondary education. The city was the breeding ground for revolutionary activities of which Zedong became a part of. Same year, the Xinhai Revolution started which aimed at overthrowing the monarchy and setting up republicanism with an elected presidency.

With the victory of Xinhai Revolution, Zedong returned to studies but soon moved out of Changsha School as it was rooted to Confucianism. He then took it upon himself to gain education and spent much of his time at the public library, reading core works of classical liberalism.

With an aim to become a teacher, Zedong enrolled himself at the teacher training college, the Fourth Normal School of Changsha. It was during his stint at the college that he started reading the radical newspaper, New Youth. The newspaper urged to adopt western practices of democracy and science to cleanse China of its autocracy and superstition.

Zedong’s first write-up featured in New Youth. Titled ‘A Study of Physical Culture’, the article urged people to enhance their physical strength to be actively involved in the revolution.

Zedong actively participated in the revolutionary events in the school. He served as the secretary of the Students Society as well as the students' volunteer army, which was set up to defend the school from marauding warlord soldiers. Zedong graduated from the same in June 1919.

Zedong moved to the capital city, Beijing, in search for a job. Despite being a certified teacher, he was unable to find himself an employment. With the help of his mentor, Yang Changji, Zedong secured the job of a library assistant at the Beijing University.

With the death of KMT leader Sun Yat-sen, the situation became tricky as the successor, Chiang Kai-shek, was extremely rightist in his views and looked to marginalize the leftist school of thought..

Zedong was supportive of Chiang initially but with the passage of time, the alliance could not work together due to the ideological rift caused between the peasants and the senior KMT figures and generals.

Chiang, who had successfully overthrown warlords in the northern expedition, now aimed at attacking the Communist supporters. He began a violent purge against Communist attacking many, which eventually led to the loss of about 25,000 Communist Party members.

Zedong accepted defeat and led his survivors east to the Jinggang Mountains of Jiangxi. Despite the loss, Zedong had not lost in spirit. He united five villages of the state and formed a troop of about 1800 people.

Zedong successfully helped establish the Soviet Republic of China in the mountainous area of Jiangxi and was elected chairman of the small republic. He developed a small but strong army of guerilla fighters, and directed the torture and execution of any dissidents who defied party law.