 Born on October 20 , 1889 , Luo Yixiu was the eldest daughter of Luo Helou ( 罗合楼 ; 1871 – 1943 ) , a shenshi ( 绅士 ) – or rural intellectual who earned his living as a farmer – and his wife ( 1869 – 1912 ) , whose surname was Mao and who was a distant great @-@ aunt of Mao Zedong . Although historian Lee Feigon stated that the Luo family was locally important , Mao biographers Alexander V. Pantsov and Steven I. Levine claimed that they had fallen into poverty . Luo Helou and his wife had five sons and five daughters , but seven of these children died , leaving them only three daughters . The couple 's lack of adult sons diminished their social status , for in Chinese society at the time , only sons could continue the family lineage . 
