Su Qinghui

Su Qinghui was the father of Hua Guofeng (originally named Su Zhu), former leader of the People’s Republic of China. His ancestral home was Sujiabao in Fan County, Henan Province, though the family later settled in Jiaocheng County, Shanxi. Born into an ordinary family, Su Qinghui began working as an apprentice at the Longshengyu Leather Workshop in Jiaocheng at the age of fifteen, where he was known for his diligence and honesty.

Impressed by his integrity and hard work, the workshop owner Wang Qiu arranged for his second daughter, Wang Ernü, to marry him. The couple had four sons, though only the third and youngest—Hua Guofeng—survived to adulthood.

After becoming the son-in-law of the workshop owner, Su Qinghui was promoted to the position of second manager at Longshengyu Leather Workshop, providing the family with a relatively stable life. In Hua Guofeng’s 1948 cadre background form, the family’s class status was recorded as “merchant.”

Su Qinghui passed away in 1928 at the age of 54. His industrious and upright character left a lasting impression on his young son, shaping Hua Guofeng’s later personality marked by humility, steadiness, and a strong work ethic.