Han Zhijun
韩芝俊
Han Zhijun in 1949
Spouse of the paramount leader of China
In office
9 September 1976 – 22 December 1978
LeaderHua Guofeng (party chairman)
Preceded byJiang Qing
Succeeded byZhuo Lin
Member of the 4th Executive Committee of the All-China Women's Federation
In office
1978–1980
Personal details
Born (1930-02-21) 21 February 1930
Wutai County, Shanxi
Political partyChinese Communist Party
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1949; died 2008)​
ChildrenSu Hua (苏华)
Su Bin (苏斌)
Su Ling (苏玲)
Su Li (苏莉)
Parent(s)Tian Changfeng (田常凤)
Han Qihai (韩七海)
RelativesStephanie Jiale Su (grandchild)

Han Zhijun (born 21 February 1930) is a Chinese Communist Party cadre and widow of Hua Guofeng, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and Premier of China. She has been described as "China's most mysterious first lady", as she rarely appeared with her husband in public.[1]

Biography

Han was born in 1930 to a peasant household in a small village in Wutai County.[2] Her father participated in training drills organized by the Eighth Route Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and reportedly returned home to teach his daughter revolutionary songs.[2] Han would then teach these songs to the members of the Children's Corps (Chinese: 儿童团). An uncle later described her as a smart and alert young girl, who was more use than the older male youths, and led the Children's Corps in guard duty. Han later recalled that the years 1941–1943 as the most desperate living under the Japanese army's white terror. In 1945, Han's mother joined the Chinese Communist Party and worked for the National Salvation Women's Corps (Chinese: 妇救会), using the family's crops to feed members of the Eighth Route Army,[2] and Han entered the workforce in 1945.[3] In 1948, Han was a cadre in a provincial organization. She married Hua Guofeng in November that year. In August 1949, she went with Hua when he became party secretary of Xiangyin County. Their eldest child, Su Hua, was born in early 1950. The family moved to Beijing in 1951, after Hua was transferred to the State Council.[1]

As first lady

Han never accompanied Chairman Hua on business trips abroad and the two rarely appeared in public together. Reportedly, Han continued to cycle to and from work. She served as director of the cadre department of the import-export company of the Ministry of Light Industry (Chinese: 轻工业部) from 1975. In 1978, she participated in the 4th executive committee of the All-China Women's Federation.[1] Since Hua's death, Han has made public appearances at his memorial services, and the 2013 and 2014 Spring Festival celebrations, where she was publicly greeted by Xi Jinping and Zhang Dejiang, respectively.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "揭秘1949年后新中国最"神秘"的第一夫人" [Uncovering the most 'mysterious' first lady of New China after 1949]. IFeng (in Chinese). 8 May 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Bian Shutang 边树堂 (2011). "韩七海与他的革命家庭" [Han Qihai and his revolutionary family]. Xianfeng Dui 先锋队 (in Chinese) (7): 32–36.
  3. ↑ Chang Shixiong 常世雄; Li Mengxiong 李孟雄 (2015). "在京城拜见华国锋夫人韩芝俊" [A visit to Han Zhijun, Hua Guofeng's wife, in the capital]. Laonianren 老年人 (in Chinese) (10): 12–13.
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