{{Short description|Third wife of Mao Zedong}} {{family name hatnote|He|lang=Chinese}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = | image = He Zizhen.jpg | caption = He Zizhen, 1947 | native_name = 贺子珍 | other_names = Ven Iun, He Guiyuan | birth_date = {{birth date|1910|9|20|df=y}} | birth_place = Yunshan, Jiangxi, Qing Dynasty | death_date = {{death date and age|1984|4|19|1910|9|20|df=y}} | death_place = Shanghai, People's Republic of China | political_party = Chinese Communist Party | spouse = {{marriage|Mao Zedong|1928|1937|end=div}} | children = Yang Yuehua, Li Min, Xiao Liuwa and 3 more | module = {{Infobox Chinese |child=yes |s=贺子珍 |t=賀子珍 |p=Hè Zǐzhēn |w=He (Ho) Tzu-chen }} }}
'''He Zizhen''' ({{lang-zh|s=贺子珍|w='''Ho Tzu-chen'''|p=Hè Zizhēn}}; 20 September 1910 – 19 April 1984) was a Chinese soldier, revolutionary, and politician who was the third wife of Chairman Mao Zedong from 1928 to 1937 and participated in the Long March.
==Early life and career== thumb|left|240px|He Zizhen with Mao Zedong He Zizhen was born in Yunshan (云山, now Yongxin County), Jiangxi, in 1910, as He Guiyuan (贺桂圆), the second of four children.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Lily Xiao Hong |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315719313 |title=Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women, Volume II |last2=Wiles |first2=Sue |date=2015-01-28 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781315719313 |isbn=978-1-317-51562-3}}</ref> Her family were impoverished scholar-gentry that ran a tea house and sent He to a free Protestant missionary school in her youth.<ref>https://inf.news/en/history/ff5a04b7b592fe131aef70457ef9e995.html{{Dead link | date=February 2026 | fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> She joined the Communist Youth League of China in 1925 along with her siblings.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McGuire |first=Elizabeth |title=Red at heart : how Chinese communists fell in love with the Russian Revolution |date=2018 |isbn=978-0-19-064056-9 |location=New York, NY |oclc=976036406}}</ref> He Zizhen later graduated from the Yongxin Girls' School and became a full member of the Chinese Communist Party in 1926.
==Revolutionary life==
=== Early communist activities === As a party member He Zizhen was made head of the county's Women's Bureau and worked as a traveling propagandist. She fought in the Yongxin uprising of 1927 and began serve as a communist partisan.<ref name=":0" /> 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".<ref name="Karl37ff">Karl, 37 - 38</ref>
=== Relationship with Mao and the Long March === He Zizhen was introduced to Mao Zedong at Jinggangshan by Yuan Wencai, a classmate of her elder brother, in the spring of 1928. She and Mao married in 1928.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/232503.htm|title=Memorial opened to commemorate Mao's 2nd wife|date=20 November 2007|website=www.china.org.cn|access-date=7 October 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/19thcpcnationalcongress/2011-08/31/content_29714619.htm|title=Mao Zedong and He Zizhen on the road of the Long March|date=31 August 2011|website=www.chinadaily.com.cn|access-date=7 October 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Ni|first=Ching-ching|date=27 March 2007|title=Death illuminates niche of Mao life|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-mar-27-fg-mao27-story.html|url-status=live|work=Los Angeles Times|location=Beijing|publication-place=Los Angeles, California|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201011132708/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-mar-27-fg-mao27-story.html|archive-date=11 October 2020|access-date=7 October 2021}}</ref> When they married, Mao had not divorced his second wife Yang Kaihui, whom he had wed in 1920.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://v.ifeng.com/v/ykhmzd0423/#9816c9b6-e023-4c65-a7cf-cef57dae6737|title=1930年杨开慧遇害时毛泽东在干什么|publisher=V.ifeng.com|access-date=12 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/theory/2011-06/28/c_121594458.htm|title=听闻杨开慧就义毛泽东难以入眠_理论频道_新华网|publisher=News.xinhuanet.com|access-date=12 November 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107103252/http://news.xinhuanet.com/theory/2011-06/28/c_121594458.htm|archive-date=7 November 2015}}</ref> Yang was arrested and executed in 1930 by the Kuomintang.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VyU6fwmdjf8C&dq=yang+kaihui+executed&pg=PA56|title=The Private Life of Chairman Mao|last=Zhi-Sui|first=Li|date=22 June 2011|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|isbn=9780307791399|language=en}}</ref> While with Mao, He Zizhen restricted herself to clerical work and served as Mao's secretary.<ref name=":0" /> Despite this, she was still severely injured by shrapnel in 1935 and needed to be carried by stretcher on parts of the Long March,<ref name=":0" /> suffering 17 gunshot wounds during it.<ref name=hunan/>
He Zizhen had three daughters and three sons with Mao Zedong – she was pregnant ten times in her life<ref name=hunan/>– but except for their daughter, Li Min, all of them either died young or were separated from the family. This was partially due to the constant movement of the communists as they worked to evade the Kuomintang. Their eldest daughter, Yang Yuehua, 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/school/2005-12/05/content_3879846.htm|title=毛澤東尋訪長女 福建農婦是"紅色公主"|publisher=Big5.xinhuanet.com|access-date=12 November 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112053333/http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/school/2005-12/05/content_3879846.htm|archive-date=12 November 2014}}</ref> Being closely pursued and having given birth to a daughter, He glanced at her and was carried back to the Long March, leaving 13 yuan and a note behind.<ref name=Zhang/> 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.<ref>[http://english.qianlong.com/7778/2003-4-16/208@792743.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050312104651/http://english.qianlong.com/7778/2003-4-16/208@792743.htm|date=12 March 2005}}</ref><ref name="unbound">{{cite book | last = King, Dean | year = 2010 | title = Unbound: A True Story of War, Love, and Survival | publisher=Little, Brown and Company | pages = 432 pages | isbn = 978-0-316-16708-6}}</ref><ref>[http://www.newlongmarchers.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050211203149/http://www.newlongmarchers.com/|date=11 February 2005}}</ref>
In 1936, while still on the long march, He Zizhen helped Jin Weiying to give birth to Li Tieying, son of Head of the Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party, Li Weihan. Liu Ying and Li Jianzhen also assisted with the birth.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-10 |title=Legendary Female Red Army: Her first husband was at the level of the state, and her second husband and son were both of the rank of vice state |url=http://www.laitimes.com/en/article/12v6w_13run.html |access-date=2025-09-01 |website=laitimes |language=en}}</ref>
=== Divorce from Mao and sojourn in Russia === In 1937, Mao had allegedly begun an affair with Wu Lili, the interpreter of journalist Agnes Smedley.<ref name=":0" /> After a confrontation with Mao, He Zizhen traveled, pregnant,<ref name=":0"/> to the Soviet Union for treatment of a wound suffered earlier in battle,<ref name="telegraph">{{cite news |title=Tang Wei: Chairman Mao's relationships |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8512567/Tang-Wei-Chairman-Maos-relationships.html |access-date=5 January 2021 |work=The Telegraph |date=13 May 2011}}</ref> later attending the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies, under the pseudonym Wen Yun.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McGuire |first=Elizabeth |title=Red at Heart : How Chinese Communists Fell in Love with the Russian Revolution |year=2017 |pages=223}}</ref> In Moscow, in 1938, He Zizhen gave birth to a boy, Xiao Liuwa,<ref name=Zhang/> who died shortly of pneumonia. Her daughter, Li Min, also suffered pneumonia after arriving in Moscow with Mao Anqing and Mao Anying to accompany He.<ref name=":0" /> According to Mao Anying, He Zizhen suffered severe depression after losing yet another child.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McGuire |first=Elizabeth |title=Red at Heart : How Chinese Communists Fell in Love with the Russian Revolution |year=2017 |pages=214}}</ref> To support three children, He took in washing, knitted socks, and went logging on weekends.<ref name=hunan/><ref name=Zhang/>
While He Zizhen was in Russia, Mao courted Jiang Qing, who would become his fourth wife.<ref name="telegraph" /> He Zizhen was reportedly "dispatched to a mental asylum in Moscow to make room for Jiang".<ref>{{cite news|last=Terrill|first=Ross|date=8 March 1998|title=What Mao Traded for Sex|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-mar-08-op-26719-story.html|url-status=live|work=Los Angeles Times|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200524045009/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-mar-08-op-26719-story.html|archive-date=24 May 2020|access-date=7 October 2021}}</ref> He Zizhen was labeled schizophrenic and confined in a sanitarium between 1942 and 1946.
=== Later life and death === Upon her return to China in 1947, she found she could not hope to fulfill any sort of political role in Beijing, and moved to southern China, staying variously in Nanchang, Fuzhou and finally Shanghai. She later became the chair of Zhejiang Province Women's Union. After 1972, He raised her granddaughter, Kong Dongmei, in Shanghai.<ref name=hunan >{{cite web |url=https://news.ifeng.com/history/3/200611/1127_337_39308.shtml|title=毛泽东外孙女签售新书 还原外公为普通人(图) |language=zh |trans-title=Mao Zedong’s granddaughter signs new book and restores her grandfather as an ordinary person (photos)|date=27 November 2006|newspaper=iFeng |editor = Hunan |access-date= 28 April 2024}}</ref><ref name=Zhang>{{cite web |url=https://www.chinanews.com.cn/cul/news/2009/07-29/1795049.shtml |title=毛泽东家三代女性的百年传奇:贺子珍孤独一世情 |language=zh |trans-title=The century-old legend of three generations of Mao Zedong women |date=29 July 2009|newspaper=People's Daily |editor = Zhang Zhongjiang |access-date= 28 April 2024}}</ref> Together they traveled to the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall,<ref name=hunan/> when he was elected to the fifth Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. She spent her last years in hospital in Shanghai, where she died on 19 April 1984.<ref name=":0" /> After her memorial service in Shanghai on 25 April 1984, her remains were cremated and then interred at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20240128A04XAG00|title=贺子珍病逝前，提出想安葬在北京，邓小平得知后连下两道命令|trans-title=Before her death, He Zizhen expressed her wish to be buried in Beijing. Upon learning of this, Deng Xiaoping issued two orders in quick succession.|newspaper=news.QQ.com|date=2024-01-28|language=zh|access-date=2025-12-19}}</ref>
==Legacy== In 2007, a memorial hall was opened in Yongxin for He Zizhen with her daughter, Li Min, present as a guest.
== References == === Citations === {{Reflist}}
=== Sources=== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |last1 = Chang |first1 = Jung |last2 = Halliday |first2 = Jon |author1-link = Jung Chang |author2-link = Jon Halliday |title=Mao: The Unknown Story |year=2005 |publisher=Jonathan Cape |location=London |isbn=978-0-224-07126-0 }} * {{cite book |last=Feigon |first=Lee |author-link = Lee Feigon |title=Mao: A Reinterpretation |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-56663-458-8 |publisher=Ivan R. Dee |location=Chicago }} * {{cite book |last=Hollingworth |first=Clare |author-link = Clare Hollingworth |title = Mao and the Men Against Him |year=1985 |publisher=Jonathan Cape |location=London |isbn=978-0224017602 }} * {{cite book |last1 = Pantsov |first1 = Alexander V. |last2= Levine |first2 = Steven I. |title = Mao: The Real Story |year=2012 |publisher= Simon & Schuster |location=New York and London |isbn=978-1-4516-5447-9 }} * {{cite book |last=Terrill |first=Ross |author-link= Ross Terrill |title = Mao: A Biography |year=1980 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-06-014243-8 }} * {{cite book |last= Schram |first= Stuart |author-link = Stuart R. Schram |title = Mao Tse-Tung |year= 1966 |publisher = Simon & Schuster |location = London |isbn= 978-0-14-020840-5 |url-access= registration |url = https://archive.org/details/maotsetung0000schr }} * {{cite book |last=Snow |first=Edgar |author-link = Edgar Snow |title=Red Star Over China |year=1961 |orig-year=1937 |location=New York City }} * Karl, Rebecca. ''Mao Zedong and China in the Twentieth-Century World''. (2010). Durham: Duke UP. {{ISBN|978-0-8223-4795-8}} {{refend}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:He, Zizhen}} Category:1910 births Category:1984 deaths Category:Family of Mao Zedong Category:People from Yongxin County Category:Women in war 1900–1945 Category:Women in war in China Category:Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies alumni Category:Members of the 5th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Category:Secretaries to Mao Zedong Category:Chinese revolutionaries Category:Hakka politicians Category:Chinese Communist Party politicians from Jiangxi Category:People with schizophrenia Category:Chinese politicians with disabilities Category:Burials at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery Category:Political office-holders in Zhejiang Category:Politicians from Ji'an