Author: CHUNG Yoon-Ngan
Date: 12-26-03 00:09
Tracing the ancestors of Mao Ze-dong (毛澤東)
Ji Fa (姬發) was the leader of a clan called Zhou (周族) who lived in the area
of Wei Valley (渭谷) in the west of the great bend of the Yellow River. In 1122BC
Ji Fa led his army and destroyed the Shang Dynasty (商朝 1783BC to 1122BC).
and established the Zhou Dynasty (周朝1134BC to 256BC). Ji Fa, who was
installed as Zhou King Wu (周武王), delegated authority to his eighth brother,
Shu Zheng (叔鄭) to rule a district called Mao (毛邑 present day in the area
near Qi Shan 歧山 county in Shaanxi province 陜西省). Zhou King Wu also
bestowed upon Shu Zheng him the heritable title of Gong (公Duke). Shu Zheng
was then came to be known as Mao Gong Zheng (毛公叔) who became the ruler
of Mao district.
Zhou King Wu died in 1116BC and was succeeded by his eldest son, Ji Song
(姬誦), who was crowned as Zhou Cheng King (周成王). Zhou King Cheng was
only twelve year-old and therefore he was too young to rule the country. The Zhou Court appointed Ji Dan (姬旦), a younger brother of Zhou King Wu to become the Regent. Ji Dan recalled Mao Gong Zheng to the capital Hao (鎬 present day Xi An 西安 city in Shaanxi province) to help him to governor the country. Zhou King Cheng appointed Mao Gong Zheng the Si Gong (司空 equivalent to present day civil engineer) to take charge in the building construction in the capital.
The decendants of Mao Gong Zheng inherited the title of Gong. It was during
the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋時代 722BC to 481BC) that the district of
Mao was absorbed by the State of Qin (秦國 present day Feng Xiang 鳳翔
county in Shaanxi province). The descendants of Mao Gong Zheng adopted
MAO (毛) as their surname in remembrance of their extinct domain.
Many of the descendants of Mao Gong Zheng emigrated to the States of Lu, Qi
(魯國, 齊國 in present day province of Shandong 山東省) and Jin (晉國 in present day Shanxi province 山西省). Some of them became officials in these States.
After the Dynasties of Qin (秦朝 221BC to 207BC) and Han (漢朝 206BC to 220AD) the offspring of Mao Gong Zheng Mao relocated themselves in other parts of what we now call China.
In 880AD, at the end of the Tang Dynasty (唐朝 618AD to 907AD), Chang An
(長安 in present day Xi An city of Shaanxi province), the capital of Tang was captured by the peasant rebellion led by Huang Chao (黃巢) who installed himself
as the first Emperor of his Qi Dynasty (齊朝). Emperor Xi Zong (禧宗皇帝 qho reigned from 874AD to 888AD), the fled to Chengdu (成都) in the west of present
day Sichuan province (四川省). Eventually, with the help from the Tibetants the Tang destroyed the fledging Qi dynasty. Huang Chao escaped back to his home base in Shandong province and committed suicide.
In order to escape famine, drought and peasant upheavals, people, including
some of the descendants of Mao Gong Zheng, from the Central Plain of China, migrated to the regions south of the Yangtze River (長江). They armed and banded themselves in groups to move southward and settled down in the fringes of the five
ridges in the provinces of Jiangxi (江西省), Hunan (湖南省) and Guangdong (廣東省). The descendants of Mao Gong Zheng settled down in Long Cheng county (龍城 present day Ji Shui county 吉水縣) in the province of Jiangxi. These displaced people, who were looking for a safety place temporarily, had no intention of staying in the new place permanently. They hoped to return to their homeland in the north when the turbulence was over. However, the situation in the North had deteriorated into total chaos with the collapse of the Tang Dynasty in 907AD.
After the extinction of the Tang Dynasty China was disintegrated into many Kingdoms. The next fifty three years was referred to as the Wu Dai (五代) or the
Five Dynasties and Shi Guo (十國) or the Ten Kingdoms. Under these chaotic circumstances there was no way that these displaced people wanted to go back
to their homelands in the north. They always told themselves that one day they would go back to the north. They preserved their ancient custom and continued to speak their ancient tongue (Hakka?). They told their offspring that they were originally from the north.
During the reign of Emperor Shun Di (順帝 who reigned from1341AD to 1368AD)
of the Yuan Dynasty (元朝1206AD to 1368AD) and in order to escape the oppression by the Mongols Mao Tai Hua (毛太華), the leader of the Mao Clan, led his people and relocated to Lan Cang Wei (瀾滄衛 present day Lan Cang county
瀾滄縣) in Yunnan province (雲南省). After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty
(明朝1368AD to 1644AD) Mao Tai Hua became a petty official of the Ming Dynasty. He was posted to Xiang Xiang county (湘鄉縣) in Hunan province. Mao Tai Hua took along with him his elder son called Mao Qing Yi (毛清一) and his fourth son Mao Qing Si (毛清四) and lived in a place called Fei Zi Qiao (緋子橋 in the place north of the present day near the railway station of Xiang Xiang 湘鄉火車站).
About ten years later, Mao Qing Yi and Mao Qing Si moved to live in a place
called 39 city (present day Shao Shan 韶山) near the town of Xiang Tan (湘潭).
Nineteen generations and about 500 years after Mao Tai Hua in the late
nineteenth century, in the village of Shao Shan (韶山村), a young farmer by the name of Mao Shun Sheng (毛順生) married a girl, Wen Qi Mei (文其美). In
1893AD the couple had a baby boy. He was named as Mao Run Zhi (毛潤之)
who changed to Mao Ze-dong (毛澤東). When Mao Ze-dong grew up he founded
the People's Republic of China.
CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
All rights reserved 26122003
Yoon-Ngan
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