Yang Kaihui
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Yang Kaihui | |
---|---|
Republic of China | |
Cause of death | Execution by firing squad |
Political party | Chinese Communist Party |
Spouse | |
Children | Mao Anying (1922–1950) Mao Anqing (1923–2007) Mao Anlong (1927–1931) |
Yáng Kāihuì (simplified Chinese: 杨开慧; traditional Chinese: 楊開慧; courtesy name: Yúnjǐn (simplified Chinese: 云锦; traditional Chinese: 雲錦); 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 was Yang Changji, the head of the Hunan First Normal School and one of Mao's favorite teachers.
Early life
Yang Kaihui was born in the small village of
Yang Changji gained a professorship at Peking University and had moved his family to the city[5] when Mao came to Peking in September 1918 with several like-minded friends from Hunan.[6] Upon arrival, they stayed in the Yangs' small house in the north of the city.[1] Here, Mao met Kaihui again, and the two discovered a mutual attraction.[7][8] A friend who knew Kaihui at the time described her as "small in stature and round-faced, with deep-set eyes and pale white skin", and her appearance impressed both Mao and his friends.[9][1] Kaihui later related that she had "fallen madly in love with him already when I heard about his numerous accomplishments" but did not make her feelings immediately known. She kept "hoping and dreaming" that he shared her feelings and decided that she would never marry anyone but him.[8]
Their relationship did not develop swiftly, as Mao was shy and lacked sufficient funds to court her, living in cramped rented accommodation with other Hunanese students in Peking's Three-Eyed Well district.[10] Changji secured Mao a job at the university library as assistant to the librarian Li Dazhao, an early Chinese communist.[7]
In January 1920, Yang Changji died. Mao was in Peking ostensibly on business,
Mao had gone from Peking to Shanghai, where he worked in a laundry and joined a Communist group for the first time.[14] Following the overthrow of Hunanese warlord Zhang Jingyao by generals favourable to Mao, he returned to Changsha in July 1920.[14] Mao opened a bookstore and publishing house.[14] Now possessing social status and financial security, Mao was able to marry Kaihui.[15][9]
Revolutionary experience
Yang joined the
By the 1920s, the Communist movement in China used a labor and peasant organizing strategy that combined workplace advocacy with women's rights advocacy.[16] The Communists would lead union organizing efforts among male workers while simultaneously working in nearby peasant communities on women's rights issues, including literacy for women.[16] Yang and Mao were among the most effective Communist political organizers using this method, using it in the Anyuan mines and nearby peasant communities.[16]
In April 1923, Mao went to the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in Shanghai to work as the Organization Department Minister. In the following year, Yang, together with her two children, Mao Anying and Mao Anqing, joined her husband in Shanghai and organized an evening school at a cotton mill. In 1925, accompanied by Mao, Yang Kaihui went to Shaoshan to organize peasant movements, while caring for her husband and educating their children. At the same time, she continued to teach peasant evening schools and contracted with other comrades. In the beginning of 1927, Mao inspected the peasant movement in Hunan. Yang Kaihui sorted through the large amount of investigation materials and neatly copied them down. Mao's Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan including Yang's contributions, was published in March of that year. During this period Yang organized many movements among peasants, labor, women, and students.[citation needed]
After the National Revolution failed, Yang returned alone to Bancang to organize underground revolutions and lead fights against the
In early 1928, Mao began a relationship with He Zizhen without ending his marriage with Yang Kaihui.[citation needed]
Death
In October 1930, the local KMT warlord He Jian captured Yang Kaihui and her son Mao Anying. Her captors wanted her to publicly renounce Mao Zedong and the CCP, but she refused to do so. Even under torture, she is reputed to have told her captors, "You could kill me as you like, you would never get anything from my mouth ... Chopping off the head is like the passing of wind, death could frighten cowards, rather than our Communists ... Even if the seas run dry and the rocks crumble, I would never break off relations with Mao Zedong ... I prefer to die for the success of Mao's revolutionary career."[citation needed]
Yang was executed in Changsha on 14 November 1930 at the age of 29.[17][18] Her children with Mao Zedong were effectively orphaned, and were rediscovered years later.[17] Mao Anying later died early in the Korean War, and Mao Anqing became a translator for the CCP Central Committee.[17]
Influence of Yang Kaihui's death on Mao
Although he would have relationships with other women, Mao mourned Kaihui for the rest of his life.[19] In summer 1937, he conversed with the American reporter Agnes Smedley, reciting to her a poem that he had written in memory of Kaihui.[20]
In spring 1957, Li Shuyi, a friend and comrade of Mao and Yang's, wrote a poem in memory of her own husband, Liu Chih-hsün, a member of the Red Army who had been killed in 1933. Sending her poem to Mao, he responded by composing his own poem commemorating both Liu and Kaihui, titled "The Immortals", which he would subsequently publish:[21]
Original Chinese | Pinyin | Schram's English Translation | Barnstone's English Translation |
---|---|---|---|
我失骄杨君失柳 |
Wǒ shī jiāo yáng jūn shī liǔ |
I lost my proud poplar, and you your willow, Wu Kang , asked what he has to offer,Presents them respectfully with cassia wine. The lonely goddess in the moon spreads her ample sleeves To dance for these faithful souls in the endless sky. Of a sudden comes word of the tiger's defeat on earth, And they break into tears of torrential rain.[22] |
I lost my proud poplar and you your willow. Chang E , spreads her vast sleevesand dances for these good souls in the unending sky. Down on earth a sudden report of the tiger's defeat. Tears fly down from a great upturned bowl of rain. |
The allusion to poplar trees is a reference to Yang, whose surname meant "poplar", while that to willows alludes to Liu's surname, which meant "willow".[22]
Poetry
Yang wrote poems to express her loneliness and her longing for Mao.[citation needed] One of them, "偶感 [Ǒu Gǎn]" ("Occasional Feeling"), was written in October 1928, two years before her death, and discovered when her former residence was being repaired about 50 years later:[citation needed]
Original Chinese | Pinyin | English Translation |
---|---|---|
天阴起溯风,浓寒入肌骨。 |
Tiān yīn qǐ sù fēng, nóng hán rù jī gǔ. |
It is cloudy and very windy; the severe coldness invades my body. |
Movie and television portrayals
2011
- Portrayed by Zhou Dongyu in the movie The Road Of Exploring.
- Portrayed by Li Qin in the movieThe Founding of a Party and on the TV series China in 1921.
- Portrayed by Zhang Meng on the TV series Epoch-Making.
2017
- Portrayed by Li Qin in the movie The Founding of an Army.
- Portrayed by Sarah Zhao on the TV series Autumn Harvest Uprising.
2021
2023
- Portrayed by Zhang Huiwen on the TV series Bloody Glory.
References
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f Pantsov & Levine 2012, p. 56.
- ^ Feigon 2002, p. 21.
- ^ Feigon 2002, p. 18.
- ^ Pantsov & Levine 2012, p. 39.
- ISBN 9781560723530. Archivedfrom the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- ISBN 9781612308692.
- ^ a b Schram 1966, p. 48.
- ^ a b Pantsov & Levine 2012, pp. 56–57.
- ^ a b Feigon 2002, p. 27.
- ^ Pantsov & Levine 2012, p. 57.
- ^ ISBN 9780191654039. Archivedfrom the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- ^ Schram 1966, p. 56.
- ^ ISBN 9781932716030. Archivedfrom the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- ^ ISBN 9780822527978. Archivedfrom the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- ^ Schram 1966, p. 57.
- ^ OCLC 503828045.
- ^ ISBN 9780307791399. Archivedfrom the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- ^ "1930: Yang Kaihui, Mao Zedong's wife". ExecutedToday.com. 14 November 2012. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- ^ Feigon 2002, p. 51.
- ^ Schram 1966, p. 208.
- ^ Schram 1966, pp. 208, 352.
- ^ a b Schram 1966, p. 352.
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-224-07126-0.
- ISBN 978-1-56663-458-8.
- ISBN 978-0224017602.
- Pantsov, Alexander V.; Levine, Steven I. (2012). Mao: The Real Story. New York, NY; London, England: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4516-5447-9.
- ISBN 978-0-06-014243-8.
- ISBN 978-0-14-020840-5.
- Snow, Edgar (1961) [1937]. Red Star Over China. New York, NY.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Verity Wilson, "Dressing for Leadership in China: Wives and Husbands in an Age of Revolutions (1911-1976)", Gender & History, vol. 14, no. 3 (November 2002), pp. 608–628.