CHAIRMAN Mao Zedong's grandson admits his family background helped his recent promotion as China's youngest major general.

Mao Xinyu, 40, made the comment during an interview with web portal 163.com. He also said he hoped to have a career in politics.

"That's a good way my mother arranged for me, to start my career from the People's Liberation Army," Mao said.

He said his grandfather, founder of the People's Republic of China, was deeply loved by Chinese people and that helped him gain his present rank.

"I feel it among my friends and colleagues in the army, everyone has this sense. All the people take their love and respect for Chairman Mao and transfer it onto my person. Definitely this is a factor."

Family background was "an objective fact that you can't avoid," he said.

Mao Xinyu is a seniorresearch fellow at the People's Liberation Army Academy of Military Science. He said that becoming a general was more pressure for him than glory.

"Being the grandson of the founder of the People's Republic, people will definitely have higher expectations of me," he said.

During college, Mao studied his grandfather's thoughts. At this year's annualsession of the country's top political advisory body, he proposed the application of "Mao Zedong thoughts" to tacklecomputer hacking.He said "Mao Zedong thoughts" would never be out of date.

Besides his grandfather, he named Napoleon Bonaparte as one of his favorite military strategists.

Mao Xinyu told the website he never thought about becoming a businessman.

"My salary can't support a luxury life, and that's not what my family were after," he said.

He said he wanted his two children, a seven-year-old son and two-year-old daughter, to become normal people.

In a former report, Mao said most of his spare time was spent at home with them.

Mao Zedong married four times, siring 10 children in all, including his second son, Mao Xinyu's father Mao Anqing. None of Mao Zedong's children played a prominent role in Chinese politics.

Chairman Mao's first marriage, in 1907, was arranged by his parents when he was 16. The woman he never recognized as his wife, Luo Yixiu, died three years later.

Mao Zedong met Yang Kaihui, his second wife, in Beijing. They had three sons, including Mao Xinyu's father. Yang was executed by the Kuomintang in 1930 after she refused to renounce Mao and communism.

His third wife, He Zizhen, was a comrade in the Chinese Red Army. They married in 1928 and had six children. She died in Shanghai in 1984.

Mao Zedong's fourth wife was former Shanghai actress Jiang Qing. He married her in 1938 a year after He Zizhen had left for the Soviet Union.

Once a key member of the "Gang of Four" during the "cultural revolution (1966-1976)," she hanged herself in 1991. The couple had a daughter.

• background [´bækgraund] n.背景；经历；幕后 (初中英语单词)
• comment [´kɔment] n.&v.评论；评注；注意 (初中英语单词)
• interview [´intəvju:] n.&vt.接见；会见；交谈 (初中英语单词)
• career [kə´riə] n.经历；生涯；职业 (初中英语单词)
• politics [´pɔlitiks] n.政治(学)；政治活动 (初中英语单词)
• grandfather [´grænd,fɑ:ðə] n.(外)祖父；祖先 (初中英语单词)
• republic [ri´pʌblik] n.共和国；共和政体 (初中英语单词)
• everyone [´evriwʌn] pron.=everybody 每人 (初中英语单词)
• transfer [træns´fə:] v.&n.迁移；调动；转让 (初中英语单词)
• definitely [´definitli] ad.明确地；绝对 (初中英语单词)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中英语单词)
• academy [ə´kædəmi] n.专科学校；学会；协会 (初中英语单词)
• pressure [´preʃə] n.压榨 vt.对...施压力 (初中英语单词)
• annual [´ænjuəl] a.每年的 n.年刊 (初中英语单词)
• application [,æpli´keiʃən] n.申请；申请书；应用 (初中英语单词)
• computer [kəm´pju:tə] n.计算机；电子计算器 (初中英语单词)
• luxury [´lʌkʃəri] n.奢侈(品)；享受 (初中英语单词)
• normal [´nɔ:məl] a.正规的 n.正常状态 (初中英语单词)
• prominent [´prɔminənt] a.突起的；凸出的 (初中英语单词)
• soviet [´səuviit] a.苏联的 n.苏维埃 (初中英语单词)
• promotion [prə´məuʃən] n.促进；提升；倡仪 (高中英语单词)
• founder [´faundə] n.奠基者 v.陷落 (高中英语单词)
• senior [´si:niə] a.年长的 n.前辈 (高中英语单词)
• studied [´stʌdid] a.故意的；有计划的 (高中英语单词)
• session [´seʃən] n.会议；会期；(开庭)期 (高中英语单词)
• tackle [´tækəl] n.用具；装置 vt.处理 (高中英语单词)
• napoleon [nə´pəuljən] n.拿破仑 (高中英语单词)
• communism [´kɔmjunizəm] n.共产主义 (高中英语单词)
• actress [´æktris] n.女演员 (高中英语单词)
• grandson [´grænsʌn] n.孙子；外孙子 (英语四级单词)
• portal [´pɔ:tl] n.(正)门；隧道 (英语四级单词)
• objective [ɔb´dʒektiv] a.客观的 n.目标 (英语四级单词)
• renounce [ri´nauns] v.拒绝 n.放弃权力 (英语四级单词)