Mao Yichang orMao Rensheng^[a] (15 October 1870 – 23 January 1920) was a Chinese farmer andgrain merchant who achieved notability as the father ofMao Zedong. The nineteenth generation of the Mao clan, he was born and lived his life in the rural village of Shaoshanchong inShaoshan,Hunan Province.

Mao Yichang 毛贻昌
Born	15 October 1870 Shaoshan,Hunan,Great Qing
Died	23 January 1920(1920-01-23) (aged 49) Shaoshan,Hunan,Republic of China
Occupation(s)	Farmer,grain merchant
Spouse	Wen Qimei
Children	Mao Zedong Mao Zemin Mao Zetan Mao Zejian (adopted)

The son of Mao Enpu, he was raised in a poverty-stricken family of peasants. MarryingWen Qimei when he was fifteen, he subsequently served for two years in theXiang Army. Returning to agriculture, he became a moneylender and grain merchant, buying up local grain and selling it in the city for a higher price, becoming one of the wealthiest farmers in Shaoshan, with 20 acres of land. He and Wen had four surviving children,Zedong,Zemin,Zetan, andZejian, the latter of whom was adopted.

According to familyoral histories, the ancestor of the Mao clan in Shaoshanchong (韶山冲) was Mao Taihua. Taihua left his nativeJiangxi Province forYunnan, where he joinedZhu Yuanzhang's rebellion against theYuan dynasty; Zhu overthrew the Yuan and founded theMing dynasty in 1368. Taihua married a local woman in Yunnan. In 1380, Taihua's family resettled inXiangxiang county,Hunan. Around ten years later, two sons moved to Shaoshanchong inXiangtan county; Mao Yichang was their descendent.^[2]

Mao Yichang was born on 15 October 1870, the only child of Mao Enpu and his wife Liu. Enpu was a farmer who had lived in poverty throughout his life, leaving his son debt-ridden.^[3] He was betrothed to Wen when she was thirteen and he was ten; the wedding took place five years later when he was fifteen.^[3] Due to his father's debts, Yichang served for two years inZeng Guofan's localXiang Army, during which time he saved enough money to purchase much of the land that his father had lost.^[4] Mao Yichang managed through hard work and frugality to become a significant village landowner.^[1] According to stories passed down from Mao Zedong to one of his daughters, Yichang often said:^[5]

Poverty is not the result of eating too much or spending too much. Poverty comes from an inability to do mathematics. Whoever can do sums will have enough to live by; whoever cannot will squander even mountains of gold!^[5]

Mao Yichang's mother, Liu, died aged 37 on 20 May 1884.^[3]

Prior to Mao Zedong's birth, Mao Yichang and his wife had had two sons, both of whom had died in infancy.^[5]

After the birth of Mao Zedong, his parents were presented with a rooster, as was the local custom.^[5]

Two years later, a second son was born, who was named Zemin, followed by a third son, Zetan, who was born in 1905. Two further daughters died in infancy, but the family began fostering another daughter.^[5]

Although a poorly educated peasant, Mao Yichang became one of the richest people in the village of Shaoshan.^[6] Mao Yichang grew rice, two-thirds of which fed his family with the remaining surplus sold at market.^[7] Mao Yichang hired two laborers and became a grain middleman for urban markets.^[7] Grain middlemen like Mao Yichang were a feature of rural markets, and as an adult, Mao Zedong would describe their economic role as "parasitic".^[7] Mao Yichang was also a usurious lender, obtaining mortgages on the other peasant's farms as a result.^[8]

Mao Yichang died in 1920 oftyphoid.^[9]

Mao Zedong described his father as a strict disciplinarian who brutally beat him and his siblings. His father called him lazy because Mao preferred to read books over doing manual labor.^[10][11][12]

Mao Enpu (April 27, 1846 – 1904), with hiscourtesy nameYinbin andnicknameYichen, was aHan Chinese farmer born inXiangtan,Hunan,Great Qing. He was born in the 26th year of the reign of theDaoguang Emperor. He married a woman the same age as him, named Liu (刘), with whom he had one son and two daughters. His only son wasMao Yichang, later father of his famous grandsonMao Zedong.^[13]