Posted 2017/2/27
Yáng Kāihuì (杨开慧; 1901 – November 14, 1930) was the first wife of Mao Zedong from 1920 to 1930.
She was born in Bancang village, Changsha, Hunan, Qing Dynasty the daughter of Yang Changji, head of the Hunan First Normal School and one of Mao's favorite teachers. She joined the Communist Party of China in 1921. In October 1930, the local warlord Hei Jang (何键) of Kuomintang (KMT) captured her along with her son, Mao Anying. The KMT put them in prison. They wanted her to renounce Mao and Communism publicly. She still loved her husband and would not speak out against him. Anying, then 8, was forced to watch as the KMT tortured and killed his mother.
