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He Zizhen

He Zizhen
He Zizhen.jpg
He Zizhen, 1947
Born 1910
Yunshan, Jiangxi, Qing Empire
Died 1984 (aged 73–74)
Shanghai, People's Republic of China
Political party Communist Party of China
Spouse(s) Mao Zedong
Children Yang Yuehua (b. 1929)
Fourth son (b. 1930)
Mao Anhong (b. 1932)
Second daughter (b. 1935)
Li Min (b. 1936)
Sixth son (b. 1938)
He Zizhen
Traditional Chinese 賀子珍
Simplified Chinese 贺子珍

He Zizhen (Ho Tzu-chen, Ho Tzu-ch'en; Chinese: 贺子珍; September 1909 – April 19, 1984) was the third wife of Mao Zedong from May 1930 to 1937.

He Zizhen was born in Yunshan (云山, now Yongxin County), Jiangxi, during Qing Dynasty China and joined the Communist Youth League in 1925. She graduated from the Yongxin Girls' School and joined the Communist Party of China in 1926.

He Zizhen was introduced to Mao Zedong at Jinggangshan by Yuan Wencai, a classmate of her elder brother, in the spring of 1928. An expert in guerrilla warfare and a capable fighter, He Zizhen was also an excellent shooter who earned the nickname of "Two-Gunned Girl General." When they married, Mao did not divorce his second wife Yang Kaihui and Yang was not arrested yet.

He Zizhen had three daughters and three sons with Mao Zedong, but except for their daughter, Li Min, all of them either died young or were separated from the family. Their eldest daughter, who was left to a local family in Fujian, was found and recognized by He Zizhen's brother in 1973, but never had the chance to meet Mao or He.

Two English researchers who retraced the entire Long March in 2002–2003 located a woman whom they believe might be a missing child left in the care of others by Mao and He in 1935. Ed Jocelyn and Andrew McEwen are waiting for a response from family for DNA samples.

In 1937, she traveled to the Soviet Union to treat a wound sustained earlier in battle, later attending the Moscow East University.

While He Zizhen was in Russia, Mao met and married his fourth wife, Jiang Qing. Upon her return to China in 1947, she found she could not hope to fulfill any sort of political role in Beijing. She later became the chair of Zhejiang Province Women's Union. In 1984, He Zizhen died alone in Shanghai.


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