Yan Tou Ancient Village · Searching for Jiang's Original Wife's Former Residence

🚩Having seen the Jiang's Former Residence on Wuling Road in Xikou, I originally planned to visit Jiang's Mother's Mausoleum by car. The driver introduced Yantou Village, the hometown of Jiang's original wife, Mao Fumei, which immediately piqued my interest. ✅Yantou Ancient Village is only about 10 kilometers away from Xikou, and it takes less than half an hour to reach the destination. The village is located on both sides of the Yanxi River and was built during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, with a history of more than 600 years. ✅The ancestor of the Mao family in Yantou was named Mao Xuanyi, the 39th grandson of the Mao family in Qingyang, Jiangshan. In the third year of Hongwu (1370), he moved to this place and was honored as the ancestor. ✅Yantou Village is divided into East Street and West Street. East Street is located on the east bank of Yanxi River, built along the mountain, and is a bustling area with many shops. West Street is on the west bank, with relatively flat terrain, and many deep courtyards and ancestral halls are concentrated in this area. ✅The driver also acted as a tour guide, familiar with the roads, first taking me to the former residence of Mao Bangchu. Mao Bangchu was a clan grandson of Mao Fumei and the most successful person from Yantou Village who followed Jiang. He once studied in the third phase of the infantry department of the Whampoa Military Academy and participated in the first Eastern Expedition. Later, he went to Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow to study, and after returning to China, he served as the head of the flight group of the aviation class of the Central Army Officer School. In 1931, he was appointed as the principal of the Aviation School. Later, he had a smooth career, held high positions, and eventually moved to the United States. ✅Next, we crossed the Yanxi River to East Street, where the streets are narrow and many old houses are preserved. The driver took me to find a special place, the former residence of Mao Sicheng. Mao Sicheng was a scholar in the late Qing Dynasty and Jiang's last private tutor. Jiang was a naughty boy in his youth, and Mao Sicheng used a strategy of softness to overcome hardness and treated him generously, resulting in a deep teacher-student friendship. After Jiang's rise to power, he invited his teacher to work by his side. ✅Finally, the driver took me to the highlight of this trip, the former residence of Mao Fumei. Mao Fumei can be described as a tragic figure. The matchmaker back then was Chen Chunquan, a well-known figure in the village and the cousin of Jiang's mother, Wang Caiyu. Mao Fumei's family was well-off, and her parents prepared a generous dowry for her. She married Jiang in 1901 when Jiang was only 14 years old. She gave birth to Jiang Jingguo in April 1910 and was forced to divorce Jiang in 1927 but remained in the Jiang family. On December 12, 1939, she unfortunately died during a Japanese bombing of Xikou.