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Lei Feng's Immortal Spirit
Beijing Journal: At a Trying Time, China Revives Mao's Model
Man
The New York Times
April 16, 1998; Section A, p. 4
ERIK ECKHOLM
Whenever Communist leaders get worried about the morale of the
people, they breathe new life into Lei Feng.
Lei Feng is the soldier of unsurpassed altruism who died in an
accident in 1962 in his early 20's and has been held up as the
ultimate "model worker" ever since.
Now, officials are exhorting people to emulate him as they suffer
the hardships created by the dismantling of Communist industries
and cherished welfare programs.
In what often seems like a throwback to another era, the party's
Propaganda Department still works tirelessly, if to much less
effect than in the past, to shape what the Chinese people read,
watch and think.
Lei Feng was beatified by Mao Zedong, who in 1963 coined the
phrase, "Learn From Comrade Lei Feng." This was not long
after the economic calamities of the Great Leap Forward and a
famine in which tens of millions died, a time when citizens needed
extra inspiration to keep struggling for a socialist paradise.
Generations of schoolchildren have studied the young hero's life
and on every March 5, the anniversary of Mao's statement, soldiers
and students and assorted groups of workers trundle into the
streets to do good turns like repairing bicycle tires or, this
year, cleaning Beijing's new metal street dividers.
The heaviest promotions of Lei Feng have come in waves. One big
push came after 1989, when the party tried to bolster a public
shaken by the crackdown on student-led demonstrators in Tiananmen
Square. Another well-planned Lei Feng effort appears to be under
way now, with articles extolling his qualities appearing
constantly in the official press, a major museum exhibit touring
the country and numerous other events carried out in his name.
In part, the new push reflects the general desire of the
Government to fight the downsides of market freedom, like
money-worship, corruption, pornography and other forms of
"spiritual pollution." But in recent months, as the
depth of the economic threat has become apparent, spurring fears
of unrest, the appeals to Lei Feng have become more urgent.
A recent article from the New China News Agency, printed in papers
around the country, said there was "something in Lei Feng's
spirit that can help solve some of the most pressing problems in
modern China, like the reform of state-owned enterprises, which
has led to massive layoffs of redundant workers."
Another widely printed article said the Chinese people "hope
that Lei Feng's spirit of sacrifice and dedication can keep people
adversely affected by reforms and restructuring in a good mood and
help avoid social contradictions."
Every Chinese knows Lei Feng's story: how he was orphaned and
raised by the Communist Party, how word spread of his kindness
even before his death. This was a young man who, on receiving four
sweet bean cakes at the New Year's holiday, thought only of
injured miners at the hospital and gave away all four.
Everyone knows about the rainy day when Lei Feng stepped out of
the truck driven by a fellow soldier, Qiao Anshan, only to have
the truck slip and knock down a telephone pole that struck and
killed him.
Many can recite passages from the diary that was
"discovered" after Lei Feng's death, with entries
revealing pure nobility like, "A person's life is limited,
but to serve the people is unlimited." (Oct. 20, 1961.)
This year the Government mounted the largest exhibit of Lei Feng
memorabilia ever, starting a national tour in March at the Museum
of the Chinese Revolution on Tiananmen Square. The exhibit
includes photographs, pages from the diary and a pair of socks Lei
Feng repeatedly darned, among other artifacts.
During the recent National People's Congress, the official media
said, lawmakers agreed that Lei Feng "has once again become
one of the most admired heroes in the Chinese people's
hearts."
This was not entirely evident at the opening of the exhibit. While
sight seers crowded the show next door celebrating the centennial
of the birth of the late Zhou Enlai, a beloved Prime Minister, Lei
Feng's brought in only a handful. This, even though the opening
featured Mr. Qiao himself, the driver on that fateful day who has
lived an exemplary life of atonement ever since. (His own
inspiring story was told in a feature film last year, "Days
Without Lei Feng," produced under the direction of the
Propaganda Department.)
In an interview Mr. Qiao, now a retired driver, explained how he
had carried on the spirit of his late comrade. Once, he said, a
colleague had a terrible disease and needed blood. The hospital
told Mr. Qiao each person could donate only one liter.
"But I insisted on giving three liters," he proudly
said. "Then I used the $7 they paid me to buy food and gifts
for my co-workers."
In private conversations with Chinese, reactions to Lei Feng range
from a sincere "He was a very good person" to amused
indifference. Not a few people say they believe that Lei Feng was
made up by the party.
But even those skeptics agree that they would like to see more
considerate behavior among strangers, something of a rarity here.
One woman said that when her friends see a foreigner do something
like give a seat on the subway to a pregnant woman, they say,
"There goes a foreign Lei Feng."
Many Chinese are astonished to learn that most Americans know
nothing of the famous Lei Feng; newspapers here even reported
recently that his life was studied by cadets at West Point.
Lei Feng is the purest example of the "model worker."
Each year hundreds of people around the country are officially
labeled good examples, carrying on the Lei Feng spirit. One of the
most promoted living models is Li Suli, a Beijing bus conductor,
who is said to show up at work early to clean the windows and is
unfailingly helpful to passengers.
Mao-era propaganda and the new "market socialism" seem
to blend with surprising ease.
Spaced along Chaowai Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Beijing, are
50 lighted signs with pictures of Communist heroes, including Lei
Feng and Ms. Li. The reverse side of each sign is a large
advertisements for Goldlion men's clothing, a major Hong Kong
apparel line that is now, it seems, a commercial sponsor of party
propaganda.
This has offended some of the true believers. "You don't know
if they are using Goldlion to advertise the heroes, or the heroes
to advertise Goldlion," complained a writer in the newspaper
Southern Weekend.
Last month, party officials allowed private companies for the
first time to nominate their employees as model workers. Until
now, the New China News Agency noted, only workers in state-owned
enterprises or collectives were eligible for this honor. But today
the spirit of Lei Feng, like Marxism itself, is being redefined to
fit the needs of a new era.
© 1998 The New York Times Company
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