Just Who Is Lei Feng
May 1, 2008In the Dong Bei Ren song (see previous post) there is a line that says “We all live according to the principles of Lei Feng.” This might beg the question, “Who is/was Lei Feng?”
Lei Feng was the poster boy for self-sacrifice under Mao Zedong’s Communist rule. Although there are doubts as to whether he really existed or was merely a propaganda piece I would prefer to think that he really did exist and was as close to selfless as Mao ascribed him to be.
From Wikipedia
Lei was orphaned at an early age and raised under the wings of the Communist Party. He became a member in the Communist youth corps when he was young and joined a transportation unit of the People’s Liberation Army at the age of twenty. Lei died in 1962 at the age of 22, when a telephone pole, struck by an army truck, hit him while he was directing the truck in backing up. After Lei’s death, his diary was published, and Lei was built up as a good example to the Chinese people to be cheerfully selfless and noble in thought.
From another website
Diligent study of the works of Chairman Mao taught him how to live a life of extreme frugality, to eschew selfishness and to devote himself body and soul to the revolution and to the people. His greatest desire in life was to be nothing more than “a revolutionary screw that never rusts”.
Lei Feng left behind a diary which became an object of national study. On March 5th, 1963 Chairman Mao Zedong called on the nation to learn from the 22-year-old martyr by penning the inscription Xiang Lei Feng tongzhi xuexi (Learn from Comrade Lei Feng). Nowadays the term huo Lei Feng which literally means “living Lei Feng” has become a description for anyone that is seen as selfless, or anyone that goes out of their way to help others.
This Dong Bei Cup I pledge to be our team’s Lei Feng - selfishly helping those around me on my team.
