ABSTRACT
Mao Zedong's mother, Wen Qimei, bore seven children. Of these, only the sons, of whom Mao was the oldest, survived beyond infancy. At the age of seven Mao began working on the family farm, and continued to do so while at the local primary school, which he attended until he was thirteen in 1906. At the time they occurred, the young Mao knew little of the dramatic developments that preceded the Chinese Revolution of 1911. In 1909, when Mao was sixteen, Mao Rensheng grudgingly allowed him to join his cousin at school in neighbouring Xiangtan. After six months in the army, Mao returned to civilian life, determined to improve his formal education. The 4 May marked the first day of violent reaction in Beijing to the news that China had been humiliated by the Versailles Treaty. Mao had not been involved in the early stages of the 4 May movement was explained by his mother's declining health.
