Mao Zejian

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).
Born	5 October 1905[1] Xiangtan, Hunan, Qing Dynasty
Died	20 August 1929(1929-08-20) (aged 23) Nanjing, Jiangsu, Republic of China
Cause of death	Executed by the Kuomintang
Nationality	Chinese
Other names	Mao Zehong (毛澤紅)
Occupation	Guerrilla soldier

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.