Li Na (daughter of Mao Zedong)

Li Na
Li Na as a young girl, with her parents Jiang Qing and Mao Zedong
Born	1940 (age 75–76)
Alma mater	Peking University
Spouse(s)	Mr. Xu Wang Jinqing
Children	Xu Xiaonin/Wang Xiaozi
Parent(s)	Mao Zedong Jiang Qing

Li Na (simplified Chinese: 李讷; traditional Chinese: 李訥; pinyin: Lĭ Nà; born 1940), or Li Ne,^[1] is the daughter of Mao Zedong and his fourth wife Jiang Qing, and their only child together. Her surname is Li rather than Mao, because her father used the pseudonym "Li Desheng" (simplified Chinese: 李得胜; traditional Chinese: 李得勝) for a period of time during the Chinese Civil War.

The names of Li Na and her sister Li Min come from Book 4 of the Analects of Confucius: "ne yu yan er min yu xing" (讷于言而敏于行, meaning slow in speech and earnest in conduct).^[2][3]

Biography

Li Na was born in Yan'an in 1940. She graduated from Peking University in 1956. After graduation, she worked in PLA Daily.

She was a member of the 10th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1973, and the Party Chief of CPC Pinggu County Committee and Deputy Secretary of CPC Beijing Committee from 1994 to 1975.^[4]

Since 2003, Li Na has been a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.^[5]

Notes

1. Li Na pronounced her own name as "Li Na" (see, e.g., a television interview by Yangguang Weishi (阳光卫视)). The traditional pronunciation of the character "讷" was "Nà"; however, in Modern Standard Chinese it has shifted to "Nè": see "讷" in 辞海, Shanghai Literary Press, 1999, ISBN 7-5326-0702-X. See also contemporary dictionaries which only list the "Nè" pronunciation, e.g.: Xinhua Zidian p.357, Commercial Press 1998, ISBN 7-100-02601-6 ; Modern Chinese Dictionary (现代汉语词典), 5th edition, p.986, Commercial Press 2005, ISBN 7-100-04385-9 ; Ancient and Modern Chinese Dictionary (古今汉语词典), p.1024, Commercial Press 2000, ISBN 7-100-02822-1 ; Xinhua Chinese Dictionary (新华汉语词典), p.887, Commercial Press 2004, ISBN 7-80103-362-0 . Some reliable sources also call her Li Ne (see, e.g., New mood of open-minded politics gaining ground in China, Xinhua News Agency, March 4, 2003). However, some other reliable sources call her Li Na.
2. (Chinese) Sohu.com: “红色公主”李讷 ('The "red Princess", Li Na') (Chinese)
3. Zhao Zhichao (赵志超), The Family of Mao Zedong (毛泽东一家人), Zhongyang Wenxian Press (中央文献出版社), 2000, ISBN 978-7-5073-0770-2. (Chinese)
4. 李讷不平静的生活 ('The Unpeaceful Life of Li Na') (Chinese).
5. 政协委员出"名门""毛氏三姐妹"聚首政协会 (in Chinese). People's Daily. 2003-03-03. Retrieved 2011-02-03.

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