More than forty percent of Chinese still regard Lei Feng, a Mao
Zedong-era model soldier who served the people, as their spiritual
model, according to a new survey.
On March 5, 44 years ago, former Chinese leader Mao Zedong
called on the nation to learn from Lei Feng, a squad leader in an
army engineering corps in northeast China. Lei was an orphan and
became a soldier in 1960.
Lei Feng died Aug. 15, 1962, in an accident at the age of 22.
His loyalty to the Communist Party of China, generosity and
diligence have inspired generations of Chinese with the "spirit of
Lei Feng".
However, many Chinese are ignorant of Lei Feng or dubious of his
significance in contemporary society.
"In 1960s, every Chinese followed Lei Feng to help each other
voluntarily on March 5, the commemoration day," a 70-year-old
Beijing teacher surnamed Che said. "All your broken household
appliances could be fixed on that day."
The following decades, people started to find that Lei's spirit
was observed only on the commemoration day, prompting calls for the
regular teaching of Lei Feng lessons.
The calls have weakened in recent years as learning from Lei
Feng has become less common.
A nationwide survey of 3,776 people jointly conducted by China
Youth Daily and sina.com one week before the commemoration day
showed that 22.6 percent of people had "absolutely no idea of the
day" and only 28.3 percent "had observed it".
"One of the reasons for this concerns what and how those
warm-hearted volunteers help or serve other people in learning from
Lei Feng," Che said.
"In 1960s, students were able to serve the people by repairing
bikes, radios or other devices," he said, "but in 1980s and 1990s,
even the volunteers from high schools could only help others by
doing something anyone could do, such as housecleaning."
On the other hand, many Chinese felt there were many things that
needed doing no matter how common they were.
A pregnant woman named Huang Xia who took Beijing subway
everyday complained on Monday that most days nobody offered her a
seat. "Where is Lei Feng? Where are those volunteers committed to
following Lei's spirit?" Huang asked.
The survey also showed that 80 percent of people had no
particular plans on March 5 and only 12.6 percent "planned to do
something good for others voluntarily" on the day.
In the late 1990s, Lei Feng's colleagues and followers
encountered a quandary. Free haircuts, shoe repairs and other
common charitable acts met with opposition.
Many small business people like bike repairers and hairdressers
who made a living from these tasks strongly opposed the free
services that volunteers provided.
Many believe that learning from Lei Feng once a year on the
commemoration day is meaningless and irrelevant. But 56.3 percent
of respondents insisted that learning from Lei Feng was absolutely
necessary.
Two decades ago when Lei Feng was mentioned, a typical image of
a soldier clutching his rifle and eyes forward would come to mind.
Young people are now more likely to regard Lei as a brotherly
figure rather than a hero.
They pay more attention to the details of Lei's life. Historical
materials and old pictures about Lei are widely available on the
Internet. Unconfirmed stories have emerged such as Lei's love of
motorcycles, leather jackets and famous brand watches, and he has
even been given a romantic interest.
However, 41.8 percent of respondents rejected the unconfirmed
stories, and 30 percent think the stories have lowered his standing
to that of an ordinary human being.
Forty-two percent still regard Lei as an example and 77.8
percent have done volunteer work for others, according to the
survey.
"Lei Feng as an ordinary man still has his vitality," Che
said.
(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2007)
