Mao Zedong's Daughters

A short account of why two of Mao Zedong’s (毛泽东) daughters Li Min (李敏, pictured left) and Li Ne (李讷) bore the family name “Li” instead of “Mao”.

There was even speculation that the two girls took Mao’s third wife Jiang Qing’s (江青) family name, whose maiden was Li Yunhe (李云鹤).

Incidentally, Li Ne is Jiang’s daughter, but Li Min’s mother was He Zhizhen (贺子珍), Mao’s second wife.

In a highly personalized book written by Wang Guiyi (王桂苡), a long-time friend of Li Min, part of the explanation was that in Li Min’s school records, her father’s name was listed as Li Desheng (李得胜). And Li Desheng was the name used by Mao during the war against the Kuomintang. Zhou Enlai on the other hand used the name Hu Bicheng. (胡必成) (毛泽东的女儿李敏，辽宁人民出版社, 1997)

During chaotic and turbulent periods, it is common for Chinese to adopt different names, partly to reflect their revolutionary zeal, and partly to avoid detection. But there was no explanation of why there was no desire on either side to restore their rightful names after the chaotic periods were over.