CONFIDENTIAL
Hunan, Hu Yaobang's Home Province
Hunan Province lies in south-central China. It has a population of 54 million, the majority of which is Han Chinese. Minority nationalities, such as the Dong (who are of Thai descent) and the Miao, inhabit some of the hilly border areas. The land is fertile and Hunan is
It is famous for known as one of the granaries of China. its handicrafts, particularly embroidery, and its hot, spicy food.
The provincial capital is Changsha, a city of 2.6 million. It is noted for its marionette and
shadow-puppet theatre. In the provincial museum is exhibited the remarkably well-preserved corpse of a woman who died 2000 years ago. The corpse was discovered in one of three tombs unearthed at Mawangdui in 1972.
Hunan Province is strongly associated with the communist revolution. The early Communist armies found refuge in the Jinggang Mountains on the borders of Hunan and Jiangxi Provinces in 1927. It was there that the Communists began their struggle with the Kuomintang (Nationalists), and from neighbouring Jiangxi Province that the Long March began. Many Communist leaders come from Hunan. Mao Zedong was born in Shaoshan Village, not far from Changsha, where he studied at teacher training college from 1912 to 1918. Former President Liu Shaoqi and General Peng Dehuai were also natives of Hunan. Mao's successor, Hua Guofeng, had been an important provincial leader there.
CONFIDENTIAL