Lei Feng Remembered More as a Human Rather Than Deity

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, March 06, 2003

Lei Feng Remembered More as a Human Rather Than Deity

Lei Feng was a household name across China forty years ago. Nowadays, he is still remembered by most Chinese, but in a different way.

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Lei Feng was a household name across China forty years ago. Nowadays, he is still remembered by most Chinese, but in a different way.

"When we were young, we worshipped Lei Feng as a hero or a god. But now, the name makes us feel love between people," said Peng Shunli, a 48-year-old worker, in Beijing.

Many people share similar thoughts. To them, the name recalls stories of a man who loved life and others, and who tried to "make the world more beautiful every day" as Lei wrote in his diary.

Lei Feng was born a peasant in 1940 and had lost both his parents by the age of seven. At 20, he joined the People's Liberation Army and spent all his spare time and money helping the needy. Lei died in 1962 at the age of 22, after being hit on the head by a wooden column accidentally knocked over by a fellow soldier.

Lei Feng became a household name in 1963 when then Chinese leader Mao Zedong urged the nation to learn from him, and March 5 has been designated as "Learning from Lei Feng Day".

"I was in high school at that time. Mao Zedong was idolized by the entire nation and Lei Feng was known as 'Chairman Mao 's good soldier'," said 46-year-old Zhang Jian, a medical worker, who collects souvenirs of heroes.

In Zhang's youth, most Chinese vowed to lead a frugal and meager life just like Lei Feng. Children were told to wear old clothes passed on by elder brothers and sisters, and it was considered a disgrace to throw something away before it was completely worn out.

Zhang said he had felt deceived when he first read in newspapers that Lei Feng also possessed an imported watch and leather jacket, items of luxury then.

"But I understood later that Lei was also an ordinary person, who had the same feelings and love for life as others. The charm of him lies in the fact that he loved his people and was true to others."

Today, the head of Lei appears on T-shirts and bags and his life is the subject of novels.

Nineteen-year-old Zhang Tiantian has just completed a biographical novel about Lei Feng. On the launch release for her new book, The Song of Lei Feng, Zhang wrote: "An energetic, cheerful and optimistic girl of new era writes about an energetic, cheerful and optimistic boy of the last century."

"When I sat in his former residence all alone, I felt I could see him -- a pleasant big boy," the cheerful girl writer added.

Over the past 40 years, the name of Lei Feng has inspired at least three generations of people in China. Many people do voluntary work, help the needy by donating money, body organs and blood, or apply to work in the poverty-stricken western areas.

"Everyone lives in a specific social context, that's why the 'Lei Feng spirit' has been interpreted from different perspectives over the years," said Zhai Yuanbin, copywriter at the Lei Feng Memorial Hall in Fushun City, Liaoning Province. "But its essence remains unchanged, namely love for the motherland, determination to serve the people, a strong sense of responsibility and perseverance."

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