In 1936, in an interview with the American journalist Edgar ** in northern Shaanxi, he said: "When I was 14 years old, my parents married a 20-year-old woman for me, but I never lived with her, and I did not regard her as a wife.
When I was studying in Changsha, I almost never thought of her. Little is known about my wife, not even her surname, and I have never spoken to anyone about her life and surname.
It wasn't until this interview that she was briefly mentioned. Ms. Han Suying, a British writer, speculated in the book "The Torrent of the Morning - * and the Chinese Revolution" that because of this unsatisfactory marriage, the bride's family was gossiped and humiliated, and to this day, the people of Shaoshan still refuse to say what the bride's surname is.
All we know is that she is four or five years older than me and has a beautiful face. Salisbury, a famous American writer and journalist, also mentioned ***'s first marriage in his new book "The Secret Story of the Long March".
"When Mao was 15 years old, his father forced him to marry someone older than him," he said.
Four- and five-year-old women get married. Out of etiquette, he attended the wedding, but refused to make contact with her.
In "The Genealogy of the Shaoshan Mao Clan", we can find the name and experience of ***'s original wife. Her name is Luo, born in the 15th year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, when she was ugly on September 26, and died on the second day of the first month of the first month of the second year of Xuantong, and was buried in the land on the south bank of Shaoshan Mountain.
In the genealogy, the Luo family is listed as the original match of ***, while the "Yang family" is listed as the "successor match", and the "He family" is listed as the "remarriage", which shows that the status of the Luo family in the Mao family has been recognized by the clansmen.
According to genealogical calculations, Luo was born on October 20, 1889, 4 years, 2 months and 6 days older than ***. Her family lives in front of the building in Chiwei Village, Yanglin Township, Xiangtan County, about 8 kilometers away from ***'s family, and is a relatively wealthy family.
Luo's father, Luo Helou, had five sons and five daughters, but in the end there was only the first.
I. The fourth and fifth daughters grew up**, and the rest died young. As the daughter of the Luo family, Luo married into the Mao family at the age of 18.
The Mao and Luo families are world friends, and the last two generations are related. Luo's grandmother Mao is the cousin of Mao's grandfather, so according to the generation, Luo's grandmother Mao should be called her aunt and grandmother.
And Luo's father Luo Helou and ***'s father Mao Shunsheng have similar personalities and have some business dealings, so the two families have a close relationship. In the old society, people were Xi to marry cousins and sisters, which was called "kissing and kissing".
The young man's *** is handsome and handsome, tall and burly, and his eyes are bright. Mao Shunsheng often took him with him when he talked about business with the Luo family. ** Humble and polite, every time they meet, they will call Luo Helou's wife "aunt" and Luo Helou "uncle".
The Luo family and his wife are very fond of ***, and intend to marry their daughter Luo to 14-year-old *** Luo is docile and kind, only 18 years old, plump, and is a good hand at housework.
Mao Shunsheng also likes this cousin and niece very much, in his opinion, "Plant trees early, grow shade early, marry a daughter-in-law early, and hug grandchildren early." Therefore, he proposed to the Luo family his wish to marry his sons and daughters.
Of course, there is another reason why Mao Shunsheng proposed to marry the Luo family. The Luo family lives in Yanglin, the family is wealthy, has land, and there is no shortage of people in the family who are studying, and they are quite famous in the local area.
Mao Shunsheng is shrewd and capable, diligent and thrifty, and has a good family background, which can be said to be a good match. In addition, at that time, ***'s mother, Wen, was 40 years old and very hardworking.
The Mao family had a large population at that time, including Mao Yichen, 14-year-old Mao Zetan, and long-term and short-term workers in the family. In order to sustain their lives and take care of the needs of these people, Wen took on a lot of work, including preparing food and taking the children to the fields.
In this case, the Mao family urgently needs to solve the labor problem, so Mao Shunsheng hopes that he can get married as soon as possible. The Luo family agreed with Mao Shunsheng's proposal and believed that *** was an excellent candidate.
In order to prepare for the wedding, Mao Shunsheng began to prepare busily. He amassed funds by feeding pigs, selling rice and pigs, and redeemed the land that Mao Yichen had pawned.
The Mao family has 15 acres of self-cultivated land and can harvest 60 quintals of grain every year. A family of 6 people needs to eat 35 quintals of grain every year, and the remaining 25 quintals can be used for ** or reserves.
The Mao family was quite wealthy farmers in Shaoshan at that time. On the wedding day, the Mao family held a lively ceremony, including a palanquin, a wine banquet, and traditional Xi such as wearing red and green.
** Feeling very helpless about the marriage arranged by his parents, he didn't expect his parents to arrange the marriage for him so early. In order to take care of the face of his relatives and friends, he could only accept it silently.
The American writer Trill described this scene in "Biography", ** as if he was frozen, and he seemed very helpless. For some reason, ** politely accepted this blunt and terrible ritual, and he kowtowed to each guest in a proper manner.
The bride was stripped of her red hijab, as if the newly purchased goods had been inspected for the first time. However, ** firmly refused to live with a bride who was six years older than him and vowed never to touch her.
Luo Cheng came to the Mao family through Ming Media and became the eldest daughter-in-law of the Mao family, and her status has been recognized. Although *** was not happy with the matter, his parents were satisfied.
After his wife Luo got married, she helped her mother-in-law Wen Shi to be busy with everything else, and she was also very considerate of her husband, bringing him tea and food, and washing clothes. In the three years that Luo married into the Mao family, ** has always refused to live with her, and has never recognized this marriage, and his father Mao Shunsheng is helpless about it.
**Very unhappy with this, he thinks that his father's stinginess is also unacceptable.
Under the leadership of Mao Shunsheng and Mao Shunsheng's mother, Mrs. Wen, the Mao family had many quarrels over Mao Shunsheng's opposition to alms, and gradually formed two factions. Mao's opposition party is made up of Mao's children, mother, and hired workers.
Mao Shunsheng's cousin Mao Jusheng's family was poor, and Mao Shunsheng's mother and Mao Shunsheng were deeply sympathetic to this, and often sent rice and things to Mao Jusheng at the end of the year. However, Mao Shunsheng planned to buy the seven acres of paddy fields on which he relied to survive when Mao Jusheng was in difficulty, which was opposed by Mao Shunsheng's mother and Mao Shunsheng.
Mao Shunsheng insisted on his own idea, believing that only money could be used to buy land. Such a thing made a deep impression on the teenager ***. Later, when he talked with Mao Jusheng's adopted son and cousin Mao Zelian, he criticized the private ownership of the old society, believing that private ownership led to no affection between brothers, and only a complete transformation of society could solve such a problem.
Although *** has always been dissatisfied with his father's arranged marriage, he still works hard and Xi. Although he has never left Shaoshan, his heart has flown to the wider world.
After two years of farming at home, his father decided to let him go to a rice shop in Xiangtan City as an apprentice, hoping that he could become his own **person. I didn't object, but thought it might be an interesting experience.
However, when he learned that the Dongshan Academy near his grandmother's house had been converted into a new type of higher primary school, he really wanted to go there. However, this decision of his was opposed by his father.
After arguing with his father and persuading him by relatives and friends, he finally got his father's consent. In the autumn of 1910, ** left his hometown for the first time and went to study in Xiangxiang County Dongshan Higher Primary School.
Before leaving his hometown, he wrote a poem, which is the famous poem "The child is determined to go out of the country, and he vows not to return if he can't learn to be famous." Why bury bones, life is everywhere green mountains!
Just before he left Shaoshan in 1910 to study in Xiangxiang, one day after the Spring Festival, Luo Che died of bacillary dysentery at the age of 21.
Luo spent her short but full life in Mao's house, and she lay quietly on the Nanzhutuo hill covered by pine and green bamboo. After Luo's death, ** married Yang Kaihui in 1920, and they successively gave birth to three sons, Mao Anying, Mao Anqing, and Mao Anlong (the genealogical names are Mao Yuanren, Mao Yuanyi, and Mao Yuanzhi).
Many years later, the villagers revised the "Mao Family Tree", but they still did not forget the Luo family. Since the Luo clan had no children, they took Mao Anlong, the son born to Yang Kaihui, as the Luo clan's child.
The genealogy of the Mao family wrote: "Luo's son, the successor of the husband and the heir of the Yang family......."Yuanzhi, and the original Luo as the heir. ”
Although *** did not admit the marriage, he always remembered Luo's relatives. From February to August 1925, he and his wife Yang Kaihui returned to Shaoshan to recuperate and carry out agricultural activities, during which he visited his father-in-law Luo Helou's home many times, and established close ties with Luo Helou's nephew Luo Shiquan and others.
March 26, 1925, the third day of the third lunar month, is the traditional "Shangsi Festival" in the township, and there is a saying at that time "On the third day of March, the vegetables are boiled eggs". On this day, ** walked more than ten miles and came to Yang Linluo's house to visit his father-in-law.
Luo Helou was very happy to see ***, and immediately asked his stepwife Yin to bring out a bowl of steaming cabbage eggs to *** Hearing that he was coming, the Luo family came with many guests at once, and ** was also very happy to see them, and talked with them cordially.
After the defeat of the Great Revolution, Luo Helou's family was searched and ** by the reactionaries, and they could only go to other places to make a living and live a life of exile. It was not until after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War that Luo Helou led the family back to their hometown.
In December 1943, Luo Helou died of illness in his hometown of Yang Lin at the age of 72. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, ** often wrote letters and sent money to relatives and friends in his hometown, and at the same time, he never forgot Mr. Luo Helou.
In the early days of liberation, ** personally wrote a letter and sent it to Yang Lin, signed "handed over to Mr. Luo Helou to receive", saying that if Mr. Luo is still in good health, he can go to Beijing for a walk and reminisce about the past.
It's a pity that Mr. Luo has long passed away, and there are no other relatives at home.
Among ***'s relatives, he has a particularly close relationship with Luo Shiquan. Luo Shiquan is the son of Luo Zhulou and a classmate of *** in the private school on the south bank of Shaoshan. Due to the poverty of the family, ** often divided meals for him.
Luo Shiquan has studied for several years, has some culture, and knows some knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine. Treat him as an "intellectual" and see him as your bosom friend. Under his tutelage, Luo Shiquan gradually embarked on the revolutionary road and joined the Communist Party of China in 1925.
Under his leadership, he actively participated in the peasant union movement. After the "Ma-Ri Incident" in Changsha in 1927, Luo Shiquan's family was forced to flee to Qihukou, Huarong County, on the shore of Dongting Lake, and made a living by teaching and practicing medicine.
In 1940, Luo Shiquan wrote a letter to ***, requesting to go to Yan'an to participate in the revolution, and ** personally replied, asking him to stay in the local area to carry out revolutionary activities in secret. He followed the instructions of *** and actively carried out secret activities, but was later discovered by local reactionary forces, arrested and imprisoned in early November 1940, and was not released on bail until February 1941.
After being released from prison, Luo Shiquan moved his family to Caowei, Yuanjiang, and lived a difficult life. **After learning about it, the trustee sent him some ocean and 200 catties of rice to help him get through the difficulties.
In 1943, when the Japanese army attacked Huarong and other places, Luo Shiquan moved back to his hometown Yanglin, and still taught for a living. In the early 50s, Luo Shiquan wrote to ***, saying that he was going to Beijing to catch up.
**readily agreed, and wrote back to him. In April 1950, ** sent his eldest son Mao Anying back to his hometown and province, and after Mao Anying arrived in Shaoshan, he specially sent someone to Yang Lin to ask his uncle Luo Shiquan to go to the Mao ancestral hall where he lived to reminisce about the past.
When Luo Shiquan came to Mao Anying's place, the two sides met very cordially. Mao Anying asked his uncle how many sons he had, and Luo Shiquan replied: "There are two, one is named Luo Xilan, who serves in the army;There is a man named Luo Zhengkai, who works as a farmer at home.
Then you send a son to go with me to Peking. Mao Anying said. Luo Shiquan agreed, but because Luo Xilan was serving abroad, it was difficult for Luo Zhengkai's family to get out of his wife and children, so he had to give up.
Mao Anying forwarded ***'s greetings to the Luo family, and then gave Luo Shiquan RMB 200,000 (old currency), as well as gifts such as deer antler velvet and tea. After Mao Anying returned to Beijing, he reported to his father the situation in his hometown and his maternal ancestor Luo's family, and when he learned that the Luo family was in difficulty, he was very worried, so he took out a few hundred yuan from his manuscript fee and sent it to the Luo family.
In 1956, Luo Shiquan died of illness in his hometown of Yanglin at the age of 68, ** was deeply saddened by the Luo family after learning the news, and specially instructed the local ** to solve the difficult problems of the Luo family's life.
In 1960, when the country was in a difficult period, ** learned that the Luo family was living in difficulty, and once again sent a letter to his sister-in-law Wang Shulan and cousin Mao Zelian, asking them to send rice, soybeans, dried tofu and other items to the Luo family to express their help and condolences and help them tide over the difficulties.
**, I'm barefoot to see you, I'm sorry!"It's okay, just whatever. * replied with a smile. Then *** asked someone to take out a pair of his leather shoes and give them to Maohua Village.
Although the Mauro family has a history of arranged marriage, the family relationship between the two families has not been diluted because of this. Even though the chairman denied the marriage, he still cared about the Luo family and gave him many helps.
Today, on a verdant hill in Shaoshan Mountain, Luo's grave is located near the joint grave of the chairman's parents, and she quietly accompanies her parents.