Xi Yongsheng

Xi Yongsheng (late Qing Dynasty) was the grandfather of Xi Zhongxun, one of the “Eight Immortals” of the Chinese Communist Party. The Xi family originally lived in Huachengmen Village, Xin’gan County, Linjiang Prefecture, Jiangxi (today Xijia Village, Jinchuan Town, Xingan County, Ji’an, Jiangxi Province). In 1369, during the reign of the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, their ancestor Xi Sijing migrated to Dengzhou, Henan, due to famine and political turmoil, where the family settled and became farmers. Over six centuries, the Xi clan grew into a large local lineage numbering in the thousands.

During the Guangxu reign (1882), facing war, banditry, and famine in Dengzhou, Xi Yongsheng and his wife, Madam Zhang, relocated the family to Tangtou, Xijia Village in Fuping County, Shaanxi. There, his son Xi Zhongde (1885–1928) was born, who later became the father of Xi Zhongxun. Xi Yongsheng’s decision to migrate laid the foundation for the Xi family’s settlement in Shaanxi, from which emerged one of the most influential political families in modern China.