Mao Zejian (Chinese: 毛澤建; 5 October 1905[1] – 20 August 1929) was a cousin of Mao Zedong who was executed by the Kuomintang. She was the daughter of Zedong's paternal uncle Mao Weisheng (Chinese: 毛尉生) and aunt Mrs. Chen (Chinese: 陈氏). However, Zejian lived with Mao Zedong's parents from the age of 5 as her father could not afford to feed her. After Zedong's parents died in 1920, Zejian unwillingly married a fruit seller in Changsha at the age of 15, as a child bride, where she was maltreated in the new family. In 1921 she divorced her husband and followed Mao Zedong to Changsha, where she attended women's polytechnic school. She joined the Communist Party in 1923, and changed her name to Mao Daxiang (Chinese: 毛达湘). In the same year she was admitted to Hengyang Provincial Third Women's Normal School. She married a communist member Chen Fen (Chinese: 陈芬) in 1925. In 1928 she joined the Hunan uprising led by Zhu De and Chen Yi in Leiyang. Since then she led uprising activities as a female guerrilla soldier around Hunan Province. In May 1928 she was caught in a guerrilla activity together with her husband Chen Fen. She was tortured in prison. Her young child born in prison was killed by Kuomintang authorities shortly after birth. She was executed at Hengshan, Hunan Province (Chinese: 湖南衡山县) on 20 August 1929.

Mao Zejian
毛澤建
A group photo of Mao Zejian with her cousin Mao Zetan and others in Changsha, Mao Zejian (middle), Mao Zetan (first from left).
Born5 October 1905[1]
Died20 August 1929(1929-08-20) (aged 23)
Cause of deathExecuted by the Kuomintang
NationalityChinese
Other namesMao Zehong (毛澤紅)
OccupationGuerrilla soldier
Mao Zejian
Traditional Chinese毛澤建
Simplified Chinese毛泽建
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinMáo Zéjiàn
Wade–GilesMao2 Tse2-chien4

References

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  1. ^ a b Zhu Xiaohua (2016-07-01). ""衡山朱凤"毛泽建:毛泽东妹妹 24岁英勇牺牲". Hunan Today. Retrieved 2018-02-27.