Play about Mao's relationship with son he lost in Korean war opens
Production detailing relationship between Mao and the son he lost in war premiers in Beijing in lead up to commemoration
A new play that glorifies the love of Mao Zedong for his eldest son, Mao Anying , who was killed while serving with the PLA in the Korean war, premiered this week in Beijing.
It is expected that the 2½-hour play, which opened yesterday at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, will be another highlight in the celebrations leading up to the 120th anniversary of the late chairman's birth date on December 26.
"Chairman Mao tried to shape his son in line with the standards and beliefs of a Chinese Communist Party member. It provides a striking contrast to many officials today whose children lead wealthy lives," said playwright and director Liu Yiran, a former member of the People's Liberation Army and who in recent years has directed a number of red-themed TV dramas to national acclaim.
Mao Anying was the eldest son of Mao and his first wife, Yang Kaihui, who was executed by the Nationalists in 1930 when the boy was just seven.
In 1937, along with his younger brother, Mao Anying was sent to Moscow, where he attended a military academy. In 1946, he was summoned back by his father to Yanan , Shaanxi province, the communists' revolutionary base, and joined the land reform movement in the neighbouring province of Shanxi.
From 1949, he was deputy party secretary at a machinery plant in Beijing. He was 28 when he was killed in an air strike during the Korean war in 1950.