Mao Zedong's family style

Author: Kong Xiangtao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: The Wen family is also a farmer's family. Wen Qiwei's grandfather was a poor farmer who fell ill from overwork and died at the age of 27. The resilient grandmother endured hardships and raised three sons. The sons worked as long-term and short-term laborers for landowners. The four family members worked hard, saved money, and bought some land and a house. For this, they even never ate midnight snacks. The three brothers started their own families and developed a large household with over 20 people and 140 acres of land. The average land per person was 7 acres. Wen Qiwei's father was the second of the three brothers. He had three sons and three daughters, and Wen Qiwei was the youngest sister. This prosperous and large family, with many educated members, was not only Wen Qiwei's "home base" for support after marriage but also a warm and cherished place for Shi Sanya. Compared to the Wen family, the Mao family was smaller. When Wen Qiwei was 17, in the 10th year of the Guangxu reign (1884), her mother-in-law passed away, leaving only her grandfather, husband, a 14-year-old husband, two young sisters, and her at home. It was a cold and poor household. While growing up as a girl in the Wen family, Wen Qiwei was not a pampered wealthy lady but lived comfortably, doing only light household chores and never working in the fields. After marrying into the Mao family, she had to do all the farming and household chores, which was much harder. From being lively with siblings every day as a girl to being a wife who served her grandparents and in-laws, took care of younger siblings and children, and worked in the fields, she found it very difficult to adapt. The young Wen Qiwei often went back to her parents' house to complain and cry, complaining that the Mao family was small and lived in a mountain valley. She stayed at her parents' house for a long time. But as time passed, especially with the birth of Shi Sanya, the young mother gradually got used to her role and fate. She devoted all her love to her children and husband, and extended it to the people around her. On the 19th day of the 11th lunar month in the 19th year of the Guangxu reign (December 26, 1893), Mao Shunsheng and Wen Qiwei, aged 23 and 26 respectively, had their third child, Shi Sanya. The two previous boys had both died in infancy. The successive deaths of the two boys cast an unhappy shadow over this farming family, becoming a great sorrow for the young couple, who had been married for eight years. From that time on, Wen Qiwei became a devout Buddhist. She prayed to the Buddha every day to bless her with more children for the Mao family and to protect her children. Her sincerity seemed to move the gods, and she gave birth to Shi Sanya safely. The Mao family now had an heir. The upper courtyard was filled with three generations of grandparents, parents, and children. Mao Shunsheng, who desperately wanted a son, was overjoyed at Shi Sanya's birth. Despite never believing in the Buddha, Mao Shunsheng, following local customs, held a grand banquet for relatives and friends three days after the child's birth. The literati of the clan, according to the Mao clan's generation name system, named the newborn "Mao Zedong" and gave him the courtesy name "Runzhi." "Zedong" was the generation name for boys in his line. Decades later, this name was adopted by Shaanxi farmers and set to the tune of the folk song "Ode to the East," spreading across the East. After the child's full moon, Wen Qiwei took the infant back to her parents' house. With many sisters-in-law and younger sisters at her parents' house, she could help with childcare. Moreover, she had another consideration: the Mao family was not large, and Mao Shunsheng was the only son. After her marriage, her husband's grandfather and mother-in-law had passed away, and the two previous boys had died in infancy, while the Wen family had four generations living together, a large and prosperous family. She hoped to rely on their fortune and blessings to raise her son to adulthood.