Former Residence of Mao Zedong or Mao Zedong's Former Residence () was built in the late

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

(1644–1911). It is located in Shaoshan Village of Shaoshan Township in

Shaoshan Shaoshan () is a county-level city in Hunan Province, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xiangtan. Qingxi Town is its seat. Located on the mid-eastern Hunan and the mid-north of Xiangtan, Shaoshan is bordered by ...

, Xiangtan,

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The building was the birthplace and childhood home of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

, the first leader of the People's Republic of China. It has a building area of about , embodies buildings such as the old houses, the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, the Bronze Statue of Mao Zedong, the Cultural relics Exhibition Hall, and the Dishui Hole (Dripping Water Cave; ).

History

In 1893,

was born here, and he lived here about 17 years before leaving for his studies. He returned home in 1912 to mobilize his relatives to join the

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, and he again returned home in 1925 and 1927. Having led the Peasant Movement in Guangzhou, he sought to start a similar movement in Hunan. The house was destroyed by the government in 1929, but in 1950, the newly triumphant Communist government rebuilt the house, and it was visited by Mao's oldest son Mao Anying in May 1950. Mao again returned in 1959, eight years after the new house had been opened as a museum, and five years after it had officially been renamed ''Mao Zedong's Former Residence''. The former residence of Mao Zedong 11

In 1961, it was listed as a " Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level" () by the

State Council of China The State Council, constitutionally synonymous with the Central People's Government since 1954 (particularly in relation to local governments), is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the p ...

. In 1966, in the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

, the number of tourists was inflated. The site was open at all times of the day or night. On June 27, 1983, Central Advisory Commission chairman

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...

wrote "Mao Zedong's Former Residence" on the horizontal tablet. On December 20, 1993, the Communist Party general secretary

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as pres ...

attended the unveiling of the statue of Mao Zedong outside the house. In July 1997, it was listed as a ''National Patriotic Education Base'' () by the

Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of China The Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, also known as the Propaganda Department or Central Propaganda Department, is an internal division of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in charge of spreading C ...

. In December 2004, it was closed for rebuilding and repairs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mao Zedong's Former Residence Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Hunan Traditional folk houses in Hunan Buildings and structures in Xiangtan Tourist attractions in Xiangtan Shaoshan Mao Zedong