Chapter 72 He Zizhen left in anger, leading to Jiang Qing’s rise to power 1938

Journalist: “How did you end up marrying Jiang Qing?”

Mao: “In 1937, I had relationship with Wu Lili, which led to a scandal caused by He Zizhen’s discovery of our affair. It created a huge uproar in Yan’an. He Zizhen couldn’t bear the grievances and was furious, wanting to leave Yan’an. I was more than happy for her to go. In my heart, I secretly rejoiced, but I couldn’t say it out loud. He Zizhen had a group of older Red Army sisters protecting her, so I couldn’t do anything to her. In fact, even before He Zizhen went to the Soviet Union, I was already involved with Jiang Qing. In the summer of 1937, Jiang Qing came to Yan’an from Shanghai. She was younger than He Zizhen, with a soft and charming figure, and knew how to attract attention. During my speeches, she would sit in the front row.

One day, I went to see her perform in Peking opera and draped a coat over her shoulder’s backstage, and that’s when we started our relationship.”

Journalist: “You once boasted to the American journalist Snow that you had expelled three women in Yan’an?”

Mao: “Yes, I boasted to Snow that I had power and could do as I pleased. I could play with women and discard them when I was done. One of the three women was He Zizhen. She was jealous of my affair with Wu Lili and couldn’t bear it anymore. She wanted to leave Yan’an, and of course, I was more than happy for her to go. I wanted her to go to Shanghai, but she was afraid of being manipulated by the underground party in Shanghai. She wanted to go to the Soviet Union for freedom. I couldn’t resist her, so I let her go to the Soviet Union.”

Journalist: “Did He Zizhen give birth to a child in the Soviet Union?” Mao: “Yes, she was already pregnant when she left. In the spring of 1938, she gave birth to a son, but the child died of pneumonia that winter.

She was left alone and destitute. In 1939, she kept writing letters and sending telegrams to me, wanting to return to Yan’an, but I ignored her. Later, I sent my 3-year-old daughter, Jiaojiao, to Moscow to be with her. After that, I no longer acknowledged any marital relationship with her, and the Soviet Union treated her as an ordinary woman. One winter, Jiaojiao fell seriously ill in the orphanage and was sent to the morgue before her last breath. He Zizhen went to the morgue, rescued her daughter, and caused a scene with the orphanage director. She was considered crazy and sent to a mental institution for six years. I pretended not to know about it.”
Journalist: “How did He Zizhen return to China later?”

Mao: “In 1947, Wang Jiaxiang happened to hear about He Zizhen while in Moscow. Out of a sense of justice, he negotiated with the Soviet authorities and got her released from the mental institution. They informed me that He Zizhen had been found, and I had no choice but to agree to her return to China. In 1947, she went back to Harbin, then to Shenyang in 1948, and finally arrived in Tianjin in 1949. However, I didn’t allow her to enter Beijing. She had someone send our daughter to Beijing to meet me. At that time, Jiaojiao was 13 years old and very lovely. I decided to keep my daughter with me and entrusted her upbringing to Jiang Qing. Jiang Qing asked Jiaojiao to change her surname to match hers and named her Li Min.”

Journalist: “What happened to He Zizhen afterward?”

Mao: “I arranged for her to go to Shanghai and provided a villa for her to spend the rest of her life. I wrote her a brief letter: ‘Zizhen, take care of yourself. Revolution comes first, others come second. Consider the overall situation.’ I changed her name to ‘Zizhen’ and asked her to cherish herself.”

Journalist: “So, you confined her to a secluded place like a cold palace?”

Mao: “I never cared about women’s emotions; I only cared about using them for my own purposes. When they became useless to me, I cast them aside. But considering that there were still people protecting her, letting her live in a villa was already quite generous.”

Journalist: “Did He Zizhen try to pay her respects to you when you passed away?”

Mao: “Yes, but Jiang Qing forbade it. It wasn’t until the ‘Gang of Four’ was arrested that she managed to come to Beijing and see me at the ‘Memorial Hall.’ However, what she saw was a plastic statue of me; my actual body had already decayed beyond display.”

Journalist: “Oh, so you managed to seduce her with just a coat?”

Journalist: “How did you seduce Jiang Qing?

Mao: “Jiang Qing was born in 1914. She had a beautiful face and a graceful figure. From a young age, she was promiscuous and didn’t like to study. Starting at the age of 14, she had numerous intimate encounters with men, over ten of them. She had four formal marriages or publicly acknowledged cohabitations. The last one left her at the beginning of the war. In the winter of 1937, at the age of 24, she came to Yan’an, radiant and enchanting. She joined the Lu Xun Academy of Arts as a drama instructor. At first, she had a passionate relationship with the head of education, Xu Yixin. Later, she met Kang Sheng, who had the intention of choosing her for me. He arranged for her to sit in the front row and ask questions during my speeches. Kang Sheng then approached me and introduced her. When I saw her beauty and intelligence, I welcomed her to my residence for further discussions.

During Jiang Qing’s first visit to my residence, He Zizhen had just left, leaving an empty and lonely bed. I couldn’t resist the temptation, so I invited her to stay for a meal, and we engaged in intimate conversations over drinks. After dinner, she stayed the night. She used all her charm and seductive techniques, and we indulged in passion until the early morning. Only then did I hold her in my arms and fall asleep.”

Journalist: “Wow, you managed to have an affair with Jiang Qing on the first try. Faster than He Zizhen!”

Mao: “Yes, news of my affair with Jiang Qing spread throughout Yan’an.

Many in Yan’an criticized her as a vile creature, accusing her of destroying He Zizhen’s family happiness and calling her a promiscuous woman, but they didn’t blame the adulterous husband. Zhou Enlai, on the other hand, sympathized with me. He said that instead of letting me have affairs with numerous women, it would be better to have a fixed relationship with one woman. However, I couldn’t resist the public criticism in Yan’an, so I agreed to let Jiang Qing temporarily join the team and go to the frontlines in Shanxi for training to ease the situation. Unexpectedly, she encountered Japanese aircraft bombing the transportation lines in Shanxi, making it impossible to continue, so she returned to Yan’an. I felt down and lonely when she left, but when she returned unexpectedly, I embraced her tightly. It was like a gift from heaven, and I no longer cared about hiding our relationship. We openly cohabitated, and it became an accepted fact. The Central Politburo had no choice but to accept it and gave me three conditions: ‘not to address her as ‘wife,’ only take care of our personal life, not to be involved in party or government activities, and not to set it as an example for others.’ I quietly accepted these conditions.

Yes. We appeared together in public, causing a stir throughout Yan’an.

Jiang Qing had already been married or cohabitated with four men, and there were often rumors about her in Shanghai tabloids, especially regarding her romantic history with Tang Na. The Yan’an public opinion couldn’t tolerate Jiang Qing. People sympathized with He Zizhen, and I received many anonymous letters opposing my relationship with Jiang Qing. One of the letters stated, ‘We, the students of the Marxist-Leninist Academy, are all dissatisfied, and we are so angry! This kind of woman! Chairman Mao, we hope you don’t marry Jiang Qing. He Zizhen’s health is not good, and you have already had five or six children. You are an old married couple. Jiang Qing’s presence here is not good for influence, and both men and women criticize her as a demon.’

For the party organization, Jiang Qing had serious problems: she had been imprisoned by the Kuomintang and had written a ‘confession’ to be released. For the Communist Party, this was betrayal, even treason. But I liked her, and I didn’t care about any of that. People also said that she performed for and entertained spies in prison, and there were rumors of her sleeping with them. The Shanghai underground party sent a telegram to Yan’an, expressing that it was ‘inappropriate for Chairman Mao to marry her.’ General Secretary Zhang Wentian compiled the opinions and wrote me a letter, saying that marrying Jiang Qing wouldn’t be good for the party or for me. When I received the letter, I was furious and tore it apart, saying, ‘I will get married tomorrow, and who can stop me!’ The next day, I held two wedding banquets, but Zhang Wentian was not among the guests.”

Journalist: “In 1938 in Yan’an, did Zhang Wentian and many other high- ranking officials oppose your marriage to Jiang Qing?”

Mao: “Yes, Zhang Wentian, representing many high-ranking officials, advised me not to marry Jiang Qing. I didn’t care how many times Jiang Qing had been married or how many lovers she had. I was attracted to her youth, beauty, and acting skills, so I decided to marry her despite the opposition.”

Journalist: “So, you went ahead and married Jiang Qing regardless and held a grudge against Zhang Wentian?

Mao: “Yes, I had Kang Sheng intervene and vouch for Jiang Qing. Kang Sheng returned to Yan’an from the Soviet Union in November 1937 and soon became my trusted assistant. Kang Sheng had evidence that confirmed Jiang Qing’s actions in the Kuomintang prison, but he complied with my wishes and gave Jiang Qing an ‘organizational conclusion,’ stating that she had a ‘clean history and no political issues.’”

Journalist: “So, Kang Sheng concealed Jiang Qing’s past and went along with your intentions?

Mao: “Yes, as my wife, no one dared to accuse Jiang Qing. But she felt uneasy and feared that someone might say something. I wanted to train her to be submissive to me, so I made her write ‘thought checks’ like everyone else and endure ‘criticism and self-criticism.’ She wanted to hide and requested sick leave. I didn’t protect her and ordered her to move to the Central Party School to ‘receive the inspection of the party and the masses.’ Although the duration was not long, and the extent was far less severe than others, she had been through the training and lived in fear of me for the rest of her life. Unlike He Zizhen, Jiang Qing never dared to play with other women, provoke my anger, or even think about leaving me. She did whatever I wanted. She always carried a sense of fear and became my loyal dog.”

Journalist: “So, you trained Jiang Qing to become your lapdog?”

Mao: “Yes, I also trained her to learn how to torment others. Afterward, she became addicted to tormenting people. The first target was the 19-year-old nanny of my daughter, Li Na. When Li Na was one and a half years old, the third nanny arrived. She came from a poor family and was hardworking and honest. She was promoted to work in the district government and was selected as the nanny for the Yan’an leaders.

After receiving training, the nanny came to Mao’s residence. She was washing Jiang Qing’s hair. Jiang Qing had a hot temper, and if things didn’t go her way, she would lose her temper. One day, the nanny was suddenly called in front of Jiang Qing, who shouted at her in a harsh voice, saying, ‘The milk is poisoned, you are a bad person. You brought poison with you when you came. Confess!’

There was a cow specially raised for Mao’s family in the jujube garden, and someone was responsible for feeding and milking it. That day, Jiang Qing had diarrhea and suspected that the milk was the problem. She interrogated the chef, the servants, and then the nanny. That night, the nanny was imprisoned in the ditch behind the jujube garden, subjected to interrogation, insults, and guarded against suicide. She was kept imprisoned for nine months before being released.”

Journalist: “So, this is how you created false accusations?

Mao: “Yes.