Zhou Enlai was a prominent statesman of China s modern history, who had been the Chinese Premier for 27 years from 1949 to 1976 and the foreign minister from 1949 to 1958. He was also one of the national leaders in the Central Committee of Communist Party of China (CPC).Mr. Zhou Enlai was born March 5, 1898, in a room of this traditional Chinese-styled house complex in Huai an, Jiangsu Province and lived here for 12 years.
The complex is comprised of 32 rooms. After his death in 1976, the house was restored and opened to the public.He was the eldest son of his parents. His family was not wealthy but well educated. He was later adopted by his father s youngest brother who was dying of tuberculosis. This adoption took place so that the younger brother would not die childless, a serous embarrassment to a traditional Confucian family of high status.
When he was nine years old, his birthmother died, and one year later his adoptive mother died as well. Zhou was orphaned at the age of ten and had to be arranged to leave Huai an in order to live with his Uncle in Shengyang.At the age of fifteen, Zhou was enrolled in the Nankai School, an American funded missionary school in Tianjin. He later studied in a university in Tokyo and afterwards in Paris, France.
In Chinese politial and public respect, Enlai did a great job for his country in his time and was loved by his citizens. He was instrumental in the CPC s rise to power, and subsequently in the construction of the Chinese economy and reformation of Chinese society. Skilled in international diplomacy, he was an effective diplomat and negotiator on the world stage. He is one of the most respected statesmen in China s modern history.
Source:jschina.com.cn