Chapter 24 Marriage with Yang Kaihui 1920

Journalist: “When did you meet Yang Kaihui, and when did you marry her?”

Mao: “Yang Kaihui was born in a village outside Changsha in 1901.

Shortly after her birth, in 1903, her father went abroad to Japan, England, and Germany. He was away for 10 years. Her mother raised her, and she grew up delicate and graceful, both tender and generous in her emotions. In 1913, her father returned to Changsha and took up a teaching position, and in 1918, he was invited by Cai Yuanpei to teach at Peking University.

Xiao Zisheng and our group of seven people went to Beijing for the first time to discuss the matter of work-study programs with Cai Yuanpei. We stayed at Mr. Yang’s house. I had the opportunity to meet Kaihui. At that time, Kaihui was 17 years old, and I was 25. I liked her very much, but she didn’t respond to my feelings.

In January 1920, Mr. Yang passed away. Coincidentally, at that time, I was in Beijing for the second time, petitioning for Hunan’s affairs. I also stayed at the Yangs’ house and spent a lot of time with Kaihui. Finally, Kaihui fell in love with me. She wrote, “Father has passed away! My beloved father has passed away! Of course, I am sad. But unexpectedly, I have gained a lover! I love him very much: ever since I heard many things about him, and read many of his articles and diaries, I have fallen in love with him.” However, Kaihui was a reserved lady and did not express her feelings openly. Soon, we had to part ways. She accompanied her father’s remains back to Changsha and entered a church school. The separation strengthened our love. She wrote, ‘Until he sent me many letters expressing his love, I couldn’t believe I am this lucky.’

After we returned to Changsha, we became a couple. I lived in the primary school affiliated with the normal college where I worked, Kaihui often came to visit me. But she didn’t want to stay overnight, and we were not yet married. I didn’t want to get married; I didn’t want to be constrained. In a letter to a friend in November 1920, I mentioned, “I feel that men and women under the institution of marriage are merely a ‘rape gang.’ I have already declared that I don’t want to join this rape gang. I agree to form an anti-marriage alliance. If no one agrees with my method, I have already formed a one man alliance by myself.”

One night, Kaihui left, and I couldn’t sleep. I got up and wrote a Song Ci (Song Dynasty Styled poem) titled “The Beautiful Lady Yu” to give to her:
‘Lying on the pillow, burdened with worries,
The rivers and seas surge with rolling waves.
The long night makes it hardfor daylight to appear,
Helpless, I rise and sit in the cold, thin air.
With the dawn, a hundred thoughts turn to ashes,
Exhausted, my body has no support.
A waning moon hangs low,flowing westward,
In the face of this, tears cannot be shed, nor reason found. ’

The poem moved Kaihui, and she finally agreed to stay overnight. That night, we passionately made love, and it set a precedent for her to stay overnight at school. For Kaihui, staying the night meant giving her whole self to me. My feelings for her were not as intense or sincere; I continued to have other girlfriends. Tao Siyong was one of them. In 1921, after the conclusion of the First Party Congress in Shanghai, I specifically went to Nanjing to meet her.

Kaihui discovered that I had other girlfriends, and she said it felt like a bomb had fallen on her head. Her frail life was almost destroyed by this blow. But she forgave me, and she moved in with me. At the end of 1920, we got married.”

Journalist: “So you lived together before getting married.”

Mao: “Yes. In order for this marriage to happen, Kaihui ultimately paid with her life. The immediate consequence was her expulsion from the church school because my reputation in society was not good at that time. I continued with my romantic affairs, and shortly after our marriage, I had another girlfriend. However, Kaihui was refined and cultivated, rarely causing any arguments. She remained steadfastly loyal to me. She helplessly understood my uncontrollable sexual desires, and she had to adopt an attitude of tolerance and let things take their course.”

Journalist: “I understand. Even after marriage, you continued with your indiscretions.”

Mao: “Yes, I couldn’t control myself. However, Kaihui was actually a feminist. She wrote powerful articles advocating for women’s rights. In one of her writings, she loudly exclaimed, ‘Women are also people,’ and men are also ‘people.’ Sisters, we demand gender equality and will not tolerate being treated as accessories.’

Yang Kaihui joined the Socialist Youth League in 1920 and the Communist Party of China in 1921. Under my leadership, she was responsible for confidential information and transportation liaison work in the Communist Party’s Hunan Regional Committee. In October 1921, we had our own home in Qingshuitang, Changsha. We hired a maid, and the house was purchased with funds from the Party organization, serving as the agency for the Hunan region. After 1921, I became a professional revolutionary, transitioning from having no fixed occupation to making revolution my career, with financial support from Russia. My monthly allowance increased from around 60-70 silver yuan to 100 yuan and later to 160-170 yuan. I resigned as the principal of the affiliated primary school, no longer needing to engage in rigid work. All my activities could be arranged as I pleased, and I had time to read books that I enjoyed.”

Journalist: “I understand. From then on, revolution became your profession, and you received money from Russia.”

Mao: “Yes. In 1922, I copied the poem ‘Tusi’ by the Tang Dynasty poet Yuan Zhen and gave it to Yang Kaihui:
‘For depending on them, success may not come.
Behold the bindweed vine,
It relies on the hazel and thorns.
Beneath lies the den of foxes and hares,
They dart and run in all directions.
The woodcutter approaches with an axe,
The tender vine intertwines with it. ’

I metaphorically referred to her as clinging to me like a dodder plant, and she immediately became angry and said, ‘You are doing your work, but am I not doing anything?’ She claimed that she is not just only supporting my revolutionary work, she is also being a virtuous wife and mother, so how did she become a ‘dodder plant?’ Her retort left me speechless. This incident deeply hurt her feelings, and despite my numerous explanations, she still couldn’t let go of it. In reality, I saw her as my accessory.”

Journalist: “Oh, you regarded Yang Kaihui as your accessory.”

Mao: “Yes. In 1923, following the orders of the CCP Central Committee, I traveled from Shanghai to Guangzhou, but she didn’t see me off. However, between 1923 and 1927, she accompanied me during political activities in Shanghai, Shaoshan, Wuhan, and other places.

During that time, we already had three children. It wasn’t until 1927 when I was preparing to organize the Autumn Harvest Uprising in Jinggang Mountain that she listened to me and took the children back to her hometown, Bancang Village in Changsha, to hide.”