文素勤
Wen Qimei was born on February 12, 1867 in Jincheng, Shanxi, China. Her father, Wen Qifu, was a poor shoemaker who was a heavy drinker. Her mother was a 14 year old concubine of Qifu's when Suqin was born. Suqin had two brothers and two sisters. Her father would beat her mother, so they fled to Shaoshan. There, Suqin's mother remarried a 60 year old landowner, which was quite unusual in China at that time.
Wen Qimei attended the local Buddhist nunnery for education until she was 14. She attended a Baptist school in Shaoshan and passed with honors.
Wen Qimei was betrothed to Mao Yichang when she was thirteen and he was ten. Their wedding took place five years later. Later, Suqin gave birth to Mao Zedong.
After the birth of Mao Zedong, Wen Qimei was concerned for her baby's health, having had two sons previously died in infancy. She took the baby to see a Buddhist monk who was living in the mountains, and asked her to take care of him. The nun refused, believing that baby Zedong appeared healthy. From there, she traveled to her father's house in a neighbouring district, along the way stopping at a temple devoted to the bodhisattva Guan Yin, where she prayed that the deity would become Zedong's foster mother.
Mao Zemin (April 3, 1896 - September 27, 1943) was the head of the state bank of the Chinese Soviet Republic in Ruijin and also the Minister of National Economic Department. He was a younger brother of Mao Zedong and joined the Communist Party of China early on.
During World War II, he was sent to Xinjiang by the Party central committee in 1938. He and Chen Tanqiu were arrested by the warlord Sheng Shicai while at Ürümqi, Xinjiang. Zemin was executed on September 27, 1943.
