The Forgotten Prince: How Mao's Son Saved China from Dynasty Rule | Digging into China

I am Dong Jong. Welcome to Digging into China, where we explore China in depth to review unique perspectives. On September 3rd, the Chinese Communist Party hosted a military parade and invited the North Korea's King Jong-un to attend. This time, King arrived in China accompanied by his daughter, Kim Juai, prominently displaying her presence. North Korea's leadership has passed from Kim Yao son to Kim Jong- and now to Kim Jong-un, spanning three generations. Kim Jong-un now appears intent on extending this lineage to a fourth generation, effectively transforming North Korea into a hereditary monarchy cloaked in communist ideology. Yet, China, another communist nation, has not followed this monarchical path. The reason is surprisingly straightforward. Rooted in a historical coincidence. Our story today centers on Maing, once regarded as China's crown prince. Born in 1922 at Shangya Hospital in Chong Sha, many assume Maing entered the world as a privileged prince destined for a charmed childhood filled with luxury. However, the reality was far different. His early years were marked by hardship and chaos. Maoadon, a figure responsible for immense loss of life in China and world history, was not only a ruthless leader, but also a deeply flawed father and husband. As the eldest son of Maong and Yang Kaiwei, Mao Anying was separated from his father at a young age due to Mao's involvement in autumn harvest uprising, leaving him as one of the eras left behind the children. Later, when Mao established himself as a warlord in the Jing Gong Mountain, he embraced a lifestyle of indulgence, taking on multiple revolutionary partners while maintaining a nominal marriage with Yang Kai. This led to a near total severance of contact with young Haiwi and her son Maing who waited desperately for him. Tragically, Yang Hai, the daughter of a picking university professor who had married down to Mao was implicated in his plundering activities around the Chong Sha and executed by firing squad. Despite Ma's multiple assaults on Chong Sha, he could have warned the young Kaiwe to flee, but instead callously allowed the mother of his two children to face peril. Following his mother's death, Maing received little to no support from his father, who was consumed by military campaigns, effectively an orphan. Maing was sent to kindergarten operated by the Communist Party. In 1931, the death of his younger brother Ma Unlong from an acute illness further darkened his already bleak existence. Ma Zong engrossed in his new revolutionary partners or but forgot his children. A neglect so stark that even Joe and Li known for his ruthlessness found it intolerable. Joe decided to place Ma an in the care of one of his agents, Dong Jang Wu. Under the pretense that he was a modest child, securing him a modest living allowance. Though the Communist Party provided some financial support, Dong Jang's wife and mother-in-law accustomed to a comfortable lifestyle resented the extra burden. Eventually, Dong had no choice but to transfer Maing to his ex-wife, Huang Hi Guang. Dong's plan seemed reasonable. Huang, an unemployed housewife struggling financially, could care for the Mao brothers in exchange for funds, benefiting both sides. However, the party's monthly allocation of 30 yen dwindled to 10 by the time it reaches Huang, diminished by layers of deductions. Despite this outsourcing, Maing's life stabilized briefly. But in 1933, when the Communist Party's central committee fled to Jang Xi province, its financial chain collapsed, halting subsidies for the Mao brothers. Huang, already supporting four children as an unemployed housewife, saw her circumstances plummet, and her treatment of the Mao brothers soured rapidly. Forced to do housework, sell newspapers, and take other jobs to survive, Maing also endured frequent abuse and beatings from Hong. At one point, he and his brother Maqing ran away from home only to be swiftly retrieved by communist agents. The Mao brothers who had endured hardship and abuse from one household to another finally saw a turning point in 1936, a chance to reclaim their status as the offspring of the party's leader. This opportunity traced back to 1935 when Maoong reemerged as the Communist Party's top leader at the Dun E conference. In its early days, the Chinese Communist Party functioned as a loyal extension of the Soviet Communist Party, almost like a satellite regime. With the mouse rise, traditional hostage diplomacy became necessary to assure Soviet leader Stalin, who better to serve as hostages than Ma's only two sons, Maing and Maqing. At this juncture, northeastern warlord Jang Shuyang, who had aligned himself with the communist, arranged for the two semi-offenant the Ma brothers to be transported to Mar, France, and from there to the Soviet Union. Like a stray creatures packed into a diplomatic suitcase, the Mao brothers embarked on a journey across the sea. Arriving in Moscow as a hostage, Maing saw this as the dawn of a new chapter. His previous life had stripped him of the privileges of a red second generation elite. And now he was determined to reclaim what was his. He enrolled in the Ivanov International Children's Institute, a Soviet facility designed to mold the children of revolutionary leaders from countries like China, Germany, Spain, and Greece into loyal Soviet proxies. The institute's sole aim was to shape these youth into obedient agent who would serve Soviet interests in their home countries. Main exemplified this process. Upon arriving in the Soviet Union, he committed an act that could infuriate today's Chinese nationalists. He abandoned his heritage by adopting a Russian name, Sergey Yong Fu. Later, upon returning to China, Sergey frequently clashed with Maoong over Soviet interests, often to his father's exasperation. From Maing's perspective, this was understandable. In China, Maadong had left him an orphan. While in Soviet Union, he enjoyed good food, fine living, and the company of other red second generation elies from around the world. Loyalty naturally went to the provider. By 1940, with the World War II escalating, Mount Aning enrolled in the Leningrad military political academy for two and a half years for military training. As the Japanese sought to sever the Burma road and the nationalists battled fiercely in Hube and Gujo province, the communists supported the Japan by attacking nationalist parties forces in northern Djangu province. Aid this global turmoil, Maing found solace in his relatively peaceful life. His tranquil days might have continued. But in 1941, the Soviet German war erupted, forcing him to leave the academy and transfer to a Soviet tank unit as an instructor. Maing's military stint was later glorified by his nephew Mao Shining who claimed after leaving the academy my uncle was commissioned as a Soviet lieutenant and served in the first bellow Russian front as a tank company commander amid fierce counterattacks against the German fascist. Maing fearlessly charged into battle crushing stubborn enemies with his tank fighting all the way to Berlin. In reality, according to Chanzu Tao, son of early CCP leader Chen Chan Hao, Stalin had issued a protective order for the institute's red second generation youth, granting them immunity from actual combat. Their frontline service was merely a VIP battlefield tour. Sergey Yung Fu dressed in a cosplay uniform with a lieutenant's badge and accompanied by a colonel mind joined the bellow Russia front as a trainee. Post war Sergey Yung Fu Anying was granted an audience with a Stalin and encountered and moved along a drifted Maing to tears much like North Korea's meeting Kim Jong on today. Pleased with his loyalty, Stalin gifted him a pistol which became Maing's lifelong pride and a frequent boast on the Korean battlefield. The Soviet Union's investment in Maing and other red second generation youth was a strategic. They were either hostages or groomed as a puppet leaders, not cannon father for the front lines. Even as the Soviets depleted their manpower fighting Germany, they would not risk these valuable assets in combat. Stalin was cunning, not foolish. With World War II's end, Stalin deemed the Ma insufficiently indoctrinated. In January 1946, Sergey Yongfu Aning returned to China, pistol in hand, exerting the confidence of a victorious general. As a Chinese civil war raged, Maong, a communist in name, but an emperor at heart, contemplated the critical issue of succession. Despite a strange relationship and a scanned contact, Maing was one of the only two confirmed sons. The other being Maing whose frail health ruled him out. With a few options, Maong had no headed to groom Sergey Yungfu Anching as his heir. To build his resume, Ma was kept away from the dangerous battlefields of the civil war, instead trading spy master Kong to experience land reform at the grassroots. After Chongqai's defeat and the retreat to Taiwan in 1949, Maing was appointed a secretary, ostensibly a translator for the CCP's social department, but effectively an Iran runner for Lee Kong. After Maong seized the power, Maing briefly worked at the Beijing machine factory to gain worker credentials, but found the factory life too grueling. With two months, he left for Hunan under the pretext of visiting graves. His resume building was deliberately low effort. Maing likely reasoned that as the only viable crown prince, he could afford to coast. This comfortable life could have persisted with Maing simply waiting to inherit the throne. But in 1950, North Korea's King Yaan launched an attack on South Korea, sparking the Korean War. Maong saw the Korean War as a perfect opportunity. Unlike the highstakes civil war, where death was a real risk, the Korean War seemed safer for resumeé padding. To earn military credentials for his heir, Maing was sent to Korea in 1950. While Pi soldiers died in droves as cannon fering enjoyed a cushy camping experience, a roaring stove, clean cotton bedding, tables laden with a steamed buns, porridge, rare apples, coffee, and even special issued eggs for frying. Chungpool, then director of the volunteer army headquarters, witnessed Maing roasting apple peels by the fire, savoring his wartime treats. While Maing padded his resume in Korea tens of kilometers away, countless soldiers starved or froze, lacking even cotton pants or food, sacrificing their lives for the communist dynasty's glory. Meanwhile, the red prince yawned by the fire, meticulously peeling apples to gild his credentials with the blood of his peers. Beyond [snorts] the sightseeing, Maing was born with both inept and overly confident. Though he never saw real combat, always stationed in real civilian roles or on VIP battlefield tours, he believed himself a military genius. He frequently brandished the Stalin's gifted pistol, boasting of his merits in the great patriotic war. And in war council rooms deciding the face of thousands, he arrogantly criticized the pung tactics as outdated compared to Soviet methods. Maing hubris was genuine. He repeatedly demanded to lead troops, even arguing with the general leangu, insisting he'd confront the old man pong. But Apunai, the volunteer army's commander, was no fool. He knew the consequences of sending this novice to the front or of letting the crown prince die in Korea. Yet fate intervened. On November 25, 1950, a pivotal day arrived. The PLA's air defense rules were explicit. After dawn, all must disperse to mountain caves with no fires or smoke allowed. An ironclad rule for all soldiers. violation of which meant execution for the brash crown prince. However, these rules were meaningless. Chungpool recounted that around 11:00 a.m. after finishing radio duties, Ma was eating apples and roasting their peels for amusement with the stove smoke rising straight to the roof. Yang D then the deputy director of the headquarters office in his memoir years in the volunteer army headquarters noted passing PD's office and seeing smoke from the chimney inside the three people were frying rice with eggs he gifted to Pong the previous evening. Yang D confronted them. How dare you use Commander Pong's egg for fried rice. extinguished the fire immediately. For ordinary soldiers, cooking over a fire would have meant immediate execution. But the crown prince flouted the battlefield rules as if they were more suggestions. This recklessness proved costly. As Maing shoveled egg fried rice into his mouth, American bombers delivered a nap. Instead of rushing to a shelter as a protocol demanded, Ma Ain hid under a table, this Soviet lieutenant, the celebrated war hero and a stalin pistol bearer, resorted to the instincts of a school child in an earthquake drill clinging to a table leg. Had he possessed even basic military discipline, he might have survived. The CCP offers an official account through Hong, former PLA logistic chief. That morning, after an early breakfast, Maing dispersed to the mountains with us, but later returned to the house for unknown reasons and was killed in a bombing. While seemingly different, Hong's version aligns with the Chungpool and Yang omitting key details. The bombing was triggered by Main fire whether for roasting apples or frying rice drawing American plans after which he hid in the house and died. For the CCP and its supporters, these details are inconvenient. Hong's vague ran back to the house was spun by propaganda into a heroic act of saving documents, transforming Maing's foolish death into that of a war hero. This narrative is illogical. Air defense orders mandated sheltering in caves. Documents could have been secured elsewhere, and a prince would not risk himself for them. With his defined attitude, Maing would likely have ordered a subordinate to retrieve anything critical. The CCP's story falters, yet it denies the apple or egg fried rice accounts. Every November 25, Maing's death anniversary, the CCP reacts as if under attack, deploying online defenders to refute these stories for decades. This has created a bizarre Chinese taboo. Maing's death is unrelated to egg fried rice or apples, but mentioning them on this day is forbidden. Cooking blogger Wong Gong faced online harassment and bans for posting an egg fried rice tutorial near this date. birthing China's infamous egg fried rice legend. Maing's death was not an isolated tragedy, but a reflection of the communist regime's absurdities. A 28-year-old with no combat experience, guilded repeatedly since his Soviet days, Main wielded his prince status to act as with impunity in Korea, flouting orders by lighting fires, roasting apples, frying rice, and critiquing seasoned commanders. His death was a tragedy for Maong and Pankai who faced Ma's lasting resentment and later purges. But for the Chinese people, it was a fortune fortunate turn. [snorts] With Maing Gong, Maong had no viable successor. His only surviving son, Maqing, suffered from severe mental illness and was unfit to lead. Mao was a force to rely on his wife Jangqing a non-blood relative offering China a chance to avoid North Korea's hereditary path. Maing's arrogance was a misfortune for Maong but a stroke of luck for the Chinese people. Thank you so much for watching. If you find this video helpful, please like it, drop a comment below and hit the subscribe button right here. It really helps YouTube suggest my video to others. I'll be back with more content soon. Until then, be well.