Mao Anying

Mao Anying

Mao Anying in Soviet officer's uniform
Born 24 October 1922
Changsha, Hunan, Republic of China
Died 25 November 1950 (aged 28)
Tongchang, North Pyongan, North Korea
Allegiance  People's Republic of China
 Soviet Union (during WW2)
Rank Soviet Union Lieutenant
China General
Battles/wars Soviet Union World War II
China Chinese Civil War
China Korean War 
Spouse(s) Liu Songlin (m. 1949–1950)

Mao Anying (Chinese: 毛岸英; pinyin: Máo Ànyīng; 24 October 1922 – 25 November 1950) was the eldest son of Mao Zedong and Yang Kaihui. Educated in Moscow and a veteran of multiple wars, he was killed in action by an air strike during the Korean War.

Early life

Mao Anying was born in an American Christian hospital in Changsha, Hunan Province. His mother, Yang Kaihui was executed by the Kuomintang in 1930. He and his younger brother, Mao Anqing, escaped to Shanghai, where they attended a kindergarten run by the Communist underground. In Shanghai, they lived with Pastor Dong Jianwu (董健吾), who was a Communist party member.[1]

World War II

Mao Anying and wife Liu Songlin.

Anying and his brother Anqing later studied in the Soviet Union, under the name "Sergei Yun Fu".[2]

During the Second World War, Anying and his brother Anqing joined the Russian Red Army as a show of international Marxist solidarity. Anying served as an artillery officer in the fight against Nazi Germany.[3]

Korean War

Mao was Peng Dehuai's secretary and Russian translator in the Chinese People's Volunteer Army at the time of his death.[4] He was stationed in the army headquarters with Peng Dehuai in caves near an old gold mining settlement, which offered excellent protection from American air attacks. The evening of 24 November 1950, two P-61 Black Widows were spotted on a photo reconnaissance mission by the Chinese on the ground near the location.[5] The next day on 25 November at around noon, a South African Air Force A-26 bomber dropped four napalm bombs,[6] one of which hit a makeshift house near the cave, killing Mao Anying and another officer who were cooking their lunch in violation of war-time regulations of Chinese Army.[1][5][7]

Mao was buried in Pyongyang, in the Cemetery for the Heroes of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army though some also claim that his body was later shipped to Beijing. It is believed that Peng Dehuai's fall from grace after the Great Leap Forward and further humiliation in the Cultural Revolution was due at least in part to Mao Zedong's hatred for Peng's carelessness in protecting the life of his son, Mao Anying.

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Chairman Mao Zedong and General Mao Anying, Chinese Military Leaders of the Korean War
  2. Oxana Vozhdaeva (4 October 2013). "How children of the world united at a Soviet school". BBC News. Retrieved 4 October 2013. Mao's eldest son, Mao Anying, who was known in the home as Sergei Yun Fu.
  3. Pathanothai, Sirin. The Dragon Pearl. Simon and Schuster. 1994. p 163.
  4. Kruschev, Nikita. Memoirs of Nikita Kruschev, Vol 2. Pennsylvania State University Press. 2006. p 98.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "»ĸʱ⺦ëӢ(ͼ)". Cul.sohu.com. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  6. 武立金 (2006). "第六章 血染大榆洞". 毛岸英在朝鲜战场. 作家出版社. ISBN 978-7-5063-3717-5.(simplified Chinese)
  7. Nanchu, Xing Hang, Page 94, McFarland Press, 2003, In North Korea: an American travels through an imprisoned nation ISBN 0-7864-1691-2, ISBN 978-0-7864-1691-2