Letter to Li Min and Li Na [l]
(July 23, 1954)
Li Min and Li Na, my dear daughters:
I have received both your letters and am very pleased. The area around Beidaihe, Qinhuangdao, and Shanhaiguan is where Cao Mengde (Cao Cao) once traveled. He was not only a statesman but also a poet. His poems are indeed famous. There is an anthology of classical poetry at Mother’s place; you may ask her to teach you how to read them. I am well—do not worry.
Lots of love to you both!
Father
July 23, 1954
[1]
Li Min is Mao Zedong’s eldest daughter, born to He Zizhen. She was born in 1936 in Xiangtan, Hunan, but came into the world in Yan’an, Shaanxi. In 1940, she went to Moscow with He Zizhen and lived there. In 1943, she began attending a five-year Soviet elementary school and graduated in the autumn of 1948. That winter, she returned to Harbin with He Zizhen from Moscow. In the spring of 1949, she went to Beijing with her aunt He Yi and enrolled in the Girls’ Middle School Affiliated to Beijing Normal University. Later, she was admitted to Beijing Normal University. After graduation, she married Kong Linghua in 1959. Subsequently, she worked in the Institutions Bureau and the General Office of the Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, as well as in organs under the General Political Department. Li Na is Mao Zedong’s second daughter, born to Jiang Qing.