In the rice field, a boy in blue trousers with fat crotch was sitting on a bamboo bench, his disheveled black hair shining brightly in the sun.He was thin, but tall for a child who hadn't yet reached puberty.His big eyes are full of dreams.The child's task is very simple, that is to scare away the birds that come to look for food. Surrounded by emerald green mountains, there is an idyllic hillside, and thatched houses with earthen walls are hidden in the greenery of the mountains.A stone bridge stands at the bottom of the valley, everything is harmonious, only the old book next to the boy sitting on the bamboo bench, the peaceful nature and the life of this Asian village in the early 20th century are somewhat discordant.

On December 26, 893 (November 19, the 19th year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty), Mao Zedong was born here. The young Mao Zedong rested and studied here.Mao Zedong, who loves reading, often covers the doors and windows at night to prevent his father from seeing the lights. The peasant boy's surname is Mao, and Mao's scientific name is Mao, which means "moisturizes the East". There are four houses of his family on a small highland next to a green hillside. His violent father Mao Shunsheng is in charge of the family power.He was small and shrewd, with a mustache and an air of impatience.The family's 18 acres of farmland is his castle, and he manages everything carefully.

Chairman Mao was born in this solid and quiet adobe house.As he grew older, so did his conflict with his father. At night, the air is dry and hot, only the chirping of crickets breaks the silence.No one spoke or moved, and the whole mountain village seemed to be completely integrated into nature.Only in the Mao family's house was a dim yellow spot, and a wall could be discerned in the darkness.While it's definitely time to go to bed in rural China, Chairman Mao is staying up late at night.He sat there bent over, in front of him was a novel about the hero of the forest.His sweaty face was close to the oil lamp whose flame was only the size of a soybean grain, and he half-covered the oil lamp and himself with the quilt to prevent the light from shining out, because Mao Shunsheng didn't like his son spending oil to light the lamp at night.

A pond separates the Mao family's house from the village.One day, such a scene happened by the pond full of lotus: a group of well-dressed people stood there, silent in embarrassment.The calm in the valley will be broken at any time, because Mao Shunsheng's fiery temper is on the verge of breaking out.Everyone looked at the flushed Zedong in front of him. The father and son had just had a quarrel at home.His father scolded him for being lazy and useless in front of a room full of guests, so Zedong contradicted his father and ran out of the house.His parents came out to chase him, and the guests followed him in a daze.Zedong ran to the edge of the pond and stopped, claiming that if his father got any closer, he would jump off.

Mao Shunsheng suppressed the fury of the thunder, and turned to reason with his son instead of beating him.All he needs now is for Mao Zedong to apologize for his rudeness and kowtow to show his obedience in the future (in old China, kowtow was a cumbersome kneeling ceremony, and the person who kowtowed had to kneel on both knees and touch the ground with his head nine times).Zedong's act of defiance in front of the guests forced his father to back down.Mao Shunsheng apologized to his father, but only kowtowed half his head (on one knee), and Mao Shunsheng promised not to hit him. Mao Shunsheng, Mao Zedong's father. In October 1919, after Mao Zedong's mother died of illness, Mao Zedong's father came to Changsha.Three months later, in January 1920, Mao Shunsheng died of typhoid fever at the age of 52.

The Mao family's family situation is better than most other families in Shaoshan.At the beginning of the 20th century, during Mao Shunsheng's childhood, Mao Shunsheng made a fortune, turning from poverty to wealth. When Chairman Mao was 10 years old in 1904, his family had only 18 mu of farmland, which increased to 24 mu three years later.The Mao family consumes about 4,500 catties of rice every year, and there are about 7,000 catties of surplus grain to sell.Mao Shunsheng hired a long-term worker and began to start a grain and pig business shrewdly to make money, and he also lent usury.After saving a sum of capital, he began to buy land pawned by other farmers.Mao Shunsheng's house began to look decent, with a cowshed, a granary, a pigsty, and a small mill.

This house with earthen walls was originally built by Mao Zedong's grandfather in 1878.Mao Shunsheng's family has gradually become richer, and the house has been expanded and renovated, making it look more grand than before.Later, two families lived here, the Mao family and the Zou family.When the Zedong family's house was replaced with a tile roof, the Zou family's house was still a thatched house. Zedong grew up carefree.Other children of his age do not enjoy this generous life.He was never hungry, and his clothes were few but never tattered.His mother kept the house in order.It was his father who gave him a headache.His longing is spiritual.

Shaoshan is beautiful and peaceful.In those days it was hours to walk to any town.It seems that the good fortune of nature has arranged everything properly.There are hundreds of families here, most of which belong to the Mao clan.Due to the sparse population, Shaoshan is full of green hills, green trees and patches of crops.Red soil underfoot.The paddy field full of seedlings sparkles in the sunlight, like a huge mirror divided into thousands of pieces.The fresh bamboo forest hides the green hills shrouded in mist, and the towering pine trees standing side by side seem to be faithfully guarding the hillside on which they live.

Farmers express their humility before nature through their choice of place names.The name Shaoshan comes from a legend that an ancient emperor rested here and played music on one of the peaks here. [1] The two towns closest to Shaoshan were also named after the Xiangjiang River that flows nearby, and Hunan Province is also referred to as "Xiang" for short. There are no newspapers here, and news from the outside world is spread by word of mouth.It takes a while for anything that happens outside to reach here, so Shaoshan is almost isolated from the outside world.If there is a notice from the Beijing Imperial Palace, the villagers will be called to read it out and stick it on the wall of the village school.Just like the Mao family standing alone on the hillside without any close neighbors, the more than 2,000 villagers in Shaoshan form a world by themselves.

Shaoshan, the world where Mao Zedong lived as a teenager, had never been 70 miles away from home until he left here forever at the age of 16. Hunan is a rich and vibrant inland province full of legends and a battleground for military strategists of all dynasties.People in Hunan like to tell you that their hometown has seven mountains, one water and two fields.This aptly explains the reason for Hunan's current situation. Except for Dongting Lake in the north, the other three sides are bounded by rolling mountains.Therefore, the people here have a rough temperament, and the rolling mountains provide a natural shelter for the bandits.The people living in the land of Hunan are not only shrewd and cunning, but also thrifty and simple.In the poems and prose written after Mao Zedong, Dashan is a symbol of nobility, rebellion and invincibility.

The numerous lakes and four rivers in the territory have earned Hunan the reputation of "Land of Fish and Rice".Chairman Mao has been fond of swimming since he was 6 years old, and almost the entire worldview he formed later is related to the tempering of the currents hitting the water and the rivers and waves in his early years. The Dongting Lake Plain is a major granary in China.As the saying goes, "two lakes are familiar, the world is full".At the same time, this populous plain also has a solid political tradition, whether in the field of business or in the field of thought, the provincial capital Changsha often leads the new trends in China. Shaoshan is neither located in the mountains of Hunan, nor is it located on the plains.In Mao Zedong, there are not only the characteristics of mountain people: rough and simple, rebellious spirit, and the romanticism of green heroes;If the character of the Hunan people is a combination of the roughness of the mountains and the smooth instincts of the towns, then Mao Zedong can be said to be a true son of Hunan. Bunches of brightly colored red peppers hanging from the beams brighten the ordinary decorations on the Mao family's house.Like most Hunanese, Mao Shunsheng likes spicy food.It was here that Chairman Mao developed the habit of being addicted to spicy food all his life. Chinese elsewhere have to be wary of the violence and stubbornness of the Hunanese, but they do not deny that fire is accompanied by bravery.The whole country knows this saying: "If the country of China is dead, unless all the people in Hunan die." Hunan people are aggressive, curse people, and like to express their opinions.Most of them have broad foreheads, deep eye sockets, and red cheeks. They are the Prussians of China.So Mao Zedong was by no means an ordinary person when he grew up.