He Jiesheng

He Jiesheng was born on November 1, 1935, into a peasant family in Sangzhi County, Hunan Province. Her father was the renowned Marshal He Long of the People's Republic of China, and her mother was a Red Army female soldier named Jian Xianren. He Jiesheng's birth coincided with the Long March of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. While her parents were advancing north with the military, she became the youngest member of the Long March convoy just 19 days after her birth. Soon after her birth, He Jiesheng accompanied her mother back to their home in Sangzhi, western Hunan, during which time she experienced poverty and wartime turmoil. In 1937, the full-scale Anti-Japanese War broke out; at the time, He Long served as the commander of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army. Her mother entrusted her to the care of Qin Guangyuan and Qu Yuping in Nanchang.

In 1950, He Jiesheng was brought back from western Hunan, and her life gradually stabilized. She entered the Department of History at Peking University in 1955. After graduation, she was assigned to Qinghai Nationalities College, where she engaged in educational work for five years. During the Cultural Revolution, she faced interference and persecution. As the daughter of Marshal He Long, a founding father of the PRC, she also encountered political difficulties. With persistent effort and with the help of Hu Hua, she was able to work at the Chinese Museum of History and actively contributed to the rehabilitation of her father. Subsequently, she transferred to the fields of military history research and propaganda, working at institutions such as the Military Academy, the General Political Department, and the Armed Police Force, publishing numerous related works.

In 1983, He Jiesheng joined the China Writers Association and was transferred to the Military Sciences Academy of the People's Liberation Army, where she served as the director of the Military Encyclopedia Research Department. She participated in the ten-year-long compilation of the *Chinese Military Encyclopedia*, a ten-volume work with approximately 15 million words, the first military encyclopedia in China. In 1996, she was awarded the rank of major general. As a scholar, she also published numerous essays, reportage literature, and screenplays, including works such as *Deep Autumn*, *Stars*, and *Loyalty of Fathers*. Her literary works have been compiled and published in books like *My Father’s Snowy Mountain, My Mother’s Grassland* and *The Galloping Hooves of the Past*.

Throughout her career, He Jiesheng has dedicated herself to military history and literary creation, achieving significant accomplishments in both academic and artistic fields. Her works have won multiple awards, including the Excellent Prose Award of the Maotai Cup People's Literature Prize in 2013. In 2012, she published *The Galloping Hooves of the Past*, which depicts the historical scenes of the Long March. Recently, she continues to contribute to China’s military and literary development as a scholar and writer.