Ep. 161 | Zhou Enlai (Part 1)

In today’s Part 1 episode Laszlo explores the early life of Zhou Enlai, growing up in a traditional scholar-officials family that had seen better days. Zhou gets passed from relative to relative. But each step of the way there were mentors and breaks that he was able to make the most of.

We can see through his early years and into his teens how Zhou was perfectly trained and tested for the larger job that lay ahead.

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Terms in Episode

Pinyin/Term	Chinese	English/Meaning
Beijing Lu	北京路	Beijing Road
bofu	伯父	Uncle (elder brother of father)
Chen Duxiu	陈独秀	Communist Party co-founder and writer
Chen Jiongming	陈炯明	Landlord in Guangdong, the target of the Eastern Campaign
Chi Guang	赤光	Red Light, the journal printed in France
Deng Xiaoping	邓小平	Featured in CHP episodes 63-70
Deng Yingchao	邓颖超	Among other accomplishments, wife of Zhou Enlai
didi	弟弟	Younger brother
ganma	干妈	Adoptive mother
Gemingjun	革命军	Revolutionary Army, Zou Rong’s great work
Guofu	国父	The Father of the Country (Sun Yat-sen)
Guomintang	国民党	The KMT or Kuomintang
Hua Guofeng	华国锋	Succeeded Mao in 1976 as Chairman of the Party
Huái’ān	淮安	City in northern Jiangsu province
Jiang	-	Zhou’s nurse who took care of him
Jiangsu	江苏	Province just north of Zhejiang
Jing Ye	敬业	Respect Work, Zhou Enlai’s first journal
Juewushe	觉悟社	Awakening Society
Jung Chang	张荣	British Chinese author famous for her critical biography of Mao Zedong and her book Wild Swans
Kang Youwei	康有为	Reformer in the late 19th century
Lady Chen	陈氏	Zhou’s 养母 or adoptive mother
Li Dazhao	李大钊	CCP co-founder and librarian at Peking U
Li Fuchun	李富春	Longtime party leader, chairman of State Planning Commission
Liang Qichao	梁启超	Student of Kang Youwei who participated in the 100 Days of Reform
Lin Biao	林彪	Great military leader, later Mao’s successor but not for long
Liu Qingyang	刘清扬	Early Communist Party member
Liu Shaoqi	刘少奇	One-time top Chinese leader, hounded to death during the Cultural Revolution
muqin	母亲	Mother
Nankai Middle School	天津南开中学	Middle School attended by Zhou
Nie Rongzhen	聂荣臻	Great military leader and called Father of China’s Atomic Bomb
Shaoxing	绍兴	Historic city in Zhejiang, just west of Shanghai
shushu	叔叔	Uncle (younger brother of father)
Song Meiling	宋美龄	Madame Chiang Kai-shek
Taiping Guan	太平馆	Restaurant in Guangzhou where Zhou and Deng Yingchao had a wedding reception.
Tianjin	天津	City in the north, just east of Beijing
Tianjin Xuesheng Lianhe Huibao	天津学生联合会包	Tianjin Student Union
waigong	外公	grandfather (father of one’s mother)
Wan Dong’er	万冬儿	Zhou Enlai’s natural mother
Wang Hongwen	王洪文	One of the Gang of Four and Mao’s appointed successor but not for long
Whampoa Military Academy	陆军官校	Funded and established by Soviets to train Chinese officers
Xiao Feng	校风	School Wind School newspaper of Nankai
Xin Qingnian	新青年	Chen Duxiu’s New Youth Magazine
Yan Xiu	严修	Co-founder of Nankai Middle School
Yang Zhen	-	Deng Yingchao’s mother
Ye Jianying	叶剑英	Great military man and CCP stalwart
Zhang Boling	張伯苓	Co-founder and president of Nankai
Zhang Shenfu	张申府	Married to Liu Qingyang, another early Party operative
Zhongshan Gunboat Incident	中山舰事件	March 20, 1926, an incident that provoked a crackdown by Chiang Kai-shek against left leaning elements in the KMT as all Communists.
Zhou Enlai	周恩来	1898-1976
Zhou Enlai	周总理	Premier Zhou
Zhou Panlong	周攀龙	Zhou Enlai’s paternal grandfather
Zhou Yigan	周贻淦	Zhou’s uncle (younger brother of father)
Zhou Yigeng	-	Uncle of Zhou Enlai who got led him to Tianjin
Zhou Yineng	周貽能	Zhou Enlai’s father
Zhou Yiqian	周贻谦	Zhou’s uncle (elder brother of father)
Zhu De	朱德	Red Army founder, great military leader
Zou Rong	邹容	Early revolutionary writer

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