Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji passed away in Beijing on Wednesday due to illness, at the age of 98. According to a report from Globe People Magazine, Zhu Rongji was born in Changsha, Hunan, and is a descendant of Zhu Xian, the 18th son of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, who was enfeoffed as the Prince of Min. Zhu Rongji’s family member Zhu Tianchi once gave a six-character evaluation of Zhu Rongji as a child: "quiet, rarely smiled, loved reading.”
According to Globe People Magazine, Zhu Rongji was born on October 23, 1928, in Tangpo, Heping Village, Ansha Town, Changsha County, Hunan Province. His father died of illness before he was born, making him a posthumous child. Later, Zhu Rongji’s mother also died of illness, and he was raised by his fifth uncle Zhu Kuantao.
After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he divided his sons among various regions to guard the empire. His 18th son Zhu Xian was enfeoffed as king in Minzhou (now Min County, Gansu Province), and his descendants moved several times, eventually settling and proliferating in Tangpo, Changsha. By the time of the 14th generation, Zhu Changlin, the family established a flourishing household.
Zhu Changlin, Zhu Rongji’s great grand-uncle, combined business with the cause of saving the country, earning praise from Zuo Zongtang as “a local hero of ours.” Zhu Rongji’s grandfather Zhu Fangxu became a scholar (through the imperial examination) in the year of the First Sino-Japanese War, but resigned and returned home due to his disgust with the decadent late Qing bureaucracy.
Zhu Rongji’s family member Zhu Tianchi recalled Zhu Rongji’s childhood with a six-character evaluation: "quiet, rarely smiled, loved reading.” An archive document at Guangyi Middle School in Hunan called "Student Enrollment Book of Hunan Private Guangyi Middle School" shows that Zhu Rongji ranked first in the graduation exam, achieving perfect scores (100) in 7 out of 11 subjects, with an average score of 96.27.
Zhu Rongji excelled especially in his civics class, achieving a perfect score in the graduation exam. The civics teacher listed a large number of extracurricular readings, including Rousseau’s The Social Contract and Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws, but according to classmates’ recollections, only Zhu Rongji fully read all of these books.
Zhu Rongji’s family member Zhu Changjiu, who also studied at Guangyi Middle School at the time, recalled: "Zhu Rongji never indulged in trivial talk; he was concerned with the state of the war.”