Shao Hua
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Shao Hua (October 1938 - June 24, 2008) was a Chinese photographer and a major general in the People's Liberation Army. [1] Shao was the daughter-in-law of the late Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong and the wife of Mao's second son, Mao Anqing, who had died in 2007.[1]
Shao was born in October 1938 in Yan'an, Shaanxi province, a former base for Mao Zedong's Communist army following the Long March. [2]
Shao began working as a photographer during the 1950s using a camera which had been brought to her from the Soviet Union by Mao Zedong's eldest son, Mao Anying.[1][2] She traveled extensively throughout China following the Chinese Civil War.[1] The subjects of her photographs were often related to the government of the Communist movement, including factories and other factors of production, army units, schools, and poor rural Chinese villages.[1] She became the head of the China Photographers Association (CPA) in 2002 and served in that position until her death in 2008.[1]
Shao also served as a major general in the People's Liberation Army.[1] She had also served as the director of the military encyclopedia department of the PLA Academy of Military Sciences.[2] Shao was a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) from 1988 to 2002, when she began displaying her photographs publicly. [2]
Shao married Mao Anqing, Mao Zedong's second son and a Russian linguist,[2] in September 1960.[3] The couple had one son, Mao Xinyu. Her husband had no active role in the Chinese government.[1] Mao Anqing died on March 23, 2007, at the age of 84.[1] Her son Mao Xinyu and his wife, Liu Bin, have one son Mao Dongdong born in 2003 who is currently the only great-grandson of Mao Zedong.
Shao Hua died in Beijing of an unspecified illness on June 24, 2008, at the age of 69.[1] Her death was announced by the China Photographers Association and the state run Xinhua news agency.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Chairman Mao's daughter-in-law, a photographer and PLA officer, dies in Beijing at age 69". Associated Press (International Herald Tribune). 2008-06-25. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/25/asia/AS-GEN-China-Obit-Shao-Hua.php. Retrieved on 2008-06-30.
- ^ a b c d e "Daughter-in-law of Chairman Mao Zedong dies in Beijing". Xinhua. 2008-06-25. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/25/content_8435053.htm. Retrieved on 2008-06-30.
- ^ "Chairman Mao's daughter-in-law dies". Danwei. 2008-06-25. http://www.danwei.org/the_passing_of_the_old_guard/general_photographer_shao_hua.php. Retrieved on 2008-06-30.
