The Chinese leader and teacher Mao Zedong firmly believed that a man can gain immortality only if he constantly changes partners. We will not argue about whether the great helmsman was right or not, let's just say that he followed this conviction all his life, surrounding himself with tens and hundreds of mistresses. But even he, a famous womanizer and heartthrob, as it turned out, had the main woman in his life …
In his first marriage, Mao was not happy. And all because he married at the behest of his father, and even at the age of 15. The newlywed - a hard-working and laconic peasant woman - was neither beautiful nor graceful, and besides, she was much older than her husband.
The only thing that saved the unfortunate Mao was that at that time the 300-year rule of the Manchu Qin dynasty came to an end. China declared itself a republic, and Mao, with a heightened sense of justice, plunged headlong into political activity. Soon, the hated wife perished at the hands of the Kuomintangists Chiang Kai-shek (but did not give away the place where Mao was hiding). The second wife, He Tzu-Zhen, went mad when Mao chose another woman over her.
Crane
The other one was a very extravagant Chinese actress. In her youth, she was called Podlachnaya Zhuravushka. The girl grew up in poverty, but her mother dreamed of seeing her daughter in luxurious palaces.
“You must become a princess,” the parent repeated, bandaging the legs of the Zhuravushka so that they no longer grow and remain small, as befits a noble lady. But my daughter tore off the bandages, shouted that she would become a famous actress anyway.
After getting married and starting to lead a respectable family life, Podlachnaya Zhuravushka accidentally found out that her chosen one was in a communist society. Although this was extremely dangerous and threatened with imprisonment, the girl began to carry out various party assignments. Later, after parting with her husband and changing her name to a more playful one - Lan Ping (Blue Apple), she went to conquer Shanghai, where, she believed, world fame awaited her.
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HAPPINESS MEDALLION
Walking the streets of Shanghai, Lan Ping entered an antique dealer's shop. Fumbling through the jewelry displayed in the windows, she saw a small silver medallion with a dragon devouring the earth. Here's what she needs! Be the ruler! Own the whole world!
- I will definitely buy it, - said the girl, - I will buy it, even if I have to give all my money!
“And you’ll do the right thing,” said the old antique dealer, fiddling with his thin little beard. - This little thing is unusual, it will bring you good luck and lift you to the heights of power. After all, do you dream of possessing all the benefits, becoming a real Shanghai lady, enjoying luxury and conquering this city?
The girl glanced suspiciously at the strange seller and hurried away.
It was at that time that Blue Apple first heard of Mao Zedong. He was considered a heretic, a schismatic and a dork. Mao, Mao, this Mao is on everyone's lips … Women's intuition suggested that someday this man would become the master of the whole country.
ROTTED APPLE
Days passed … Soon the stage of the Shanghai theater submitted to the Blue Apple, but for some reason colleagues did not like her. Considered an upstart, provincial and a great lover of men, they called him "Rotten Apple" behind the back. However, Lan Ping did not pay attention to such conversations. In moments of sadness, she recalled the old man's predictions. The girl was convinced that the spiteful critics would someday regret their words.
In the evenings, in a cramped hotel room, she imagined herself as a noble lady, rehearsing her gait, gestures and a smile. She was always very sympathetic to the legendary Empress Wu, who more than a thousand years ago, being a humble concubine of the emperor, won his soul and heart.
THE PARTY SAID NO
However, the Blue Apple managed not only to dance, but also to actively participate in revolutionary rallies. She delivered sincere and fiery speeches in support of the oppressed people of China. She was arrested several times, imprisoned on charges of aiding the Communists. Contemporaries claimed that Lan Ping gave the police the names of several underground fighters, but she preferred not to discuss this topic, in every possible way bypassing it in conversations.
Not doubting for a moment that Mao would soon become a famous person, she went to Xi'an, closer to the communist camp. By hook or by crook trying to penetrate the carefully guarded territory, Lan Ping achieved her goal. On the same day, she came face to face with a tall, thin and rather handsome man with long, slicked back hair. It was Mao. He looked at Lan Ping, and it seemed to her that admiration flashed in his eyes …
Mao's associates more than once pointed out to him the dysfunctional past of his new passion. But the future leader only brushed it off. A beautiful and intelligent actress worried him. He was ready to do anything for her, including a divorce from his wife. The party, having decided that things had gone far, took the situation under control. Mao Zedong was denied a divorce and forbidden to marry Jiang Ching, as the now called Blue Apple.
Despite the fact that the party repeatedly pointed out to Mao about his promiscuity in relations with women and tried to return the negligent communist to the bosom of the family, the future leader showed his characteristic stubbornness.
“Without Jiang Ching, I will not be able to follow the revolutionary path,” he said at a meeting of the Central Committee. And in 1939, Mao and Jiang got married. She was happy. After pleading with her husband to put her in a party school, Jiang Qing plunged headlong into politics. Power! What she longed for. She bathed in power, reveling in and enjoying it.
PROFESSOR OF LOVE
Jiang Qing enjoyed traveling abroad. In Moscow, Stalin received her. She could communicate with the most famous people, live in luxury hotels, be treated by the best doctors. It seemed, what more could an ambitious woman wish for, but she had plenty of reasons for grief. Beloved husband increasingly left her alone. Around him, already elderly, but quite cheerful, very young girls flocked in flocks.
The leader's contemporaries argued that in matters of love he had the title of professor. The head of the party school Kang Sheng, who is also Jiang Qing's longtime friend and head of the leader's erotic library, assured that there were real works of art in it.
Jiang Qing, learning about her husband's new adventures, could not find a place for herself. Meanwhile, the cult of the leader's personality reached transcendental heights, and the girls, each of whom had been brought up in the spirit of deification of Mao, considered it an honor to be invited to his bedroom.
Jiang Qing suffered greatly from Mao's infidelity, and although he tried to spare his wife's pride, he could not deny himself the pleasure. Well, who of the men would refuse to jump into the pool, the water of which was heated by the bodies of hundreds of naked girls?
Of course, she tried to arrange scenes for him, but everything was useless. Soon it became clear to her that she had only one choice - to come to terms with her fate and recede into the background, giving her husband complete freedom.
ABOVE THE EDGE
The great helmsman was getting old, but still sacredly honoring the teachings of the Taoists, he showed signs of attention to many pretty women. His wife now had to apply for permission in writing to see her husband. And in 1976, Mao passed away.
Jiang Qing, without thinking twice, tried to seize the political throne, but the widow's turbulent past haunted her opponents. All imaginary and real sins were recalled to her. Left without support, she could not retain power, and a year after her husband's death, she was arrested, expelled from the party and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Jiang Qing, Azure River, died in prison. An official statement was published in Beijing newspapers and the alleged cause of death was suicide. What was she thinking before her death? Maybe she remembered the words of the old man from the antique shop and regretted that the desire to ascend to the heights of power led her to the very edge of the abyss? Or remembered Mao's ex-wife, whose place she once took and who ended her days in a psychiatric hospital? Or maybe she was thinking about a person whose meeting with whom turned her whole life upside down?
Natalia BYKOVA