Chairman Mao Zedong and General Mao Anying, Chinese Military Leaders of the Korean War

	Chinese Military Leaders During the Korean War Mao Zedong and General Mao Anying Background and History When Mao went to Jinggang Mountain in 1927, he left his wife Kaihui, behind in Changsha with three baby sons. In October 1930 the KMT seized her with eight-year-old Anying and put them in prison. Anying was forced to look on as they tortured her and eventually killed her. A few weeks later they released Anying and he went to live with his grandmother. They sent him to Shanghai in 1931. After the KMT roundup of the Communists he became an urchin begging in the street. The Party eventually smuggled Anying to Moscow where he was educated. Mao Zedong returned him to live in Beijing. Relations with his father became edgy and demanding. Click here for Mao Zedong's Response On to Next General Back to General Choices Page 2
Chairman Mao Zedong and his Son General Mao Anying
Korean War Exactly how Anying came to be stationed in Korea is clouded. Most likely the unit he led was ordered there. Jiang Qing urged Mao not to let his son go. But Mao wanted no special treatment for his children. Anying went to Korea with a headquarters unit in October 1950. Headquarters had been set up in an old gold-mining settlement. Its old caves provided excellent protection from American fighter-bombers. That day the weather was so fine that everyone had come out to enjoy the sunshine. Then it happened. An American fighter-bomber swooped over the site, machine guns going, strafing from a low level, and leaving the Chinese no time to take cover. Casualties were not great, but one of the three officers killed was Mao Anying. Mao refused to have his son's body returned to China. Mao made no public expression about his son's death and Anying's death was kept secret for years. Peng Dehuai did not tell Mao Zedong of his son's death for weeks in fear of Mao's reaction.