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A Letter from China 26 November 2014

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A Letter from China 26 November 2014 A letter from China 26 November 2014 The mysterious survival of Lei Feng In the matter of propaganda, the current administration has been the busiest, and most imaginative, since Mao. Bus stops and building-site hoardings around the country are papered with a range of colourful posters, first on the “China Dream” theme and most recently on the less promising theme of “Socialist Core Values”. But among all these, there are strange posters of a soldier, porting an impressive assault rifle and wearing an old-style PLA furry hat, as last seen in the Korean War. The posters exhort the onlooker to “Study Lei Feng, assist others, raise yourself”. The old-time soldier stares past today’s Shanghai (you can tell the picture is up to date as it includes China’s tallest tower, which isn’t even finished yet). In the bottom corner, Shanghai’s aggravating mascot, Haibo, also wears a furry hat and rifle. What on earth is going on here? It was on 5 March 1963, in the wake of the disastrous “Great Leap Forward”, that Mao first called upon the nation to “Learn from Lei Feng”. The campaign was developed by Mao’s trusted lieutenant, Lin Biao, who presented Lei Feng’s diary to the public. The story is a short one; Lei Feng (the surname 雷 means “thunder”, and 锋 means peak or pioneer) was born Lei Zhengxing in Hunan in 1940. By the age of seven he had lost father, mother and brothers. He changed his name in 1958, when he started work at Anshan Steel. He joined the army and the Communist Party in 1960 and died in a traffic accident (a lamppost fell on him when he was backing a truck) in 1962, at the age of 21. He is buried in Fushun, Liaoning, where his army unit was based. So, despite his martial appearance on the poster, this is not a soldier who won any great battles, or sacrificed himself heroically in the face of counter-revolutionary machine guns. He worked in a car pool, and, as described by his diary, was helpful to colleagues, old people and children. More a boy scout than a warrior, or, as his diary endearingly puts it “a revolutionary screw which never rusts”. There is considerable scepticism about whether Lei Feng, as presented, ever existed. The diary has been doubted as a creation of the CCP’s propaganda department. The dozen high-quality photographs bequeathed by Lei Feng, of himself doing good works seem too good to be true. The reaction when I mention Lei Feng to my colleagues is a chuckle, and one bursts into a song about Lei Feng that he was taught in primary school. Most contemporary slogans (“Learn from Dazhai”, 1964) have long been forgotten. So how is it that Lei Feng not only survives, but has been mentioned in glowing terms by every Communist Party leader since Mao, most recently Xi Jinping? There is even an online game where players who “work hard, live plainly and show a willingness to help others” win the ultimate prize – a chance to meet Mao. Tourist meets Lei Feng My guess is that the Party is aware of the ethical shortfall in China. With the traditional values of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism having been dismissed by the Communists, foreign religions severely restricted and Marxism now a dead letter, money has faut de mieux become the main motivator. This can be seen in the many food scandals which pollute the newspapers (plasticisers in baby formula, formaldehyde used to preserve cabbages, noodles fried in gutter oil) alongside titillating details of the corruption and immorality of government officials. “Rule by law” can be used to frighten officials and businessmen into correct behaviour for a while, but is difficult to sustain. The Party has even teetered on the edge of reviving Confucianism, the safest of the religions; but the statue of Confucius in Tiananmen Square was removed only weeks after it was erected. Far safer is a good man, safely dead, his story preserved in aspic, to use as a model for altruism. And perhaps because Lei Feng’s story is not one of glorious heroism, but of small, good deeds, the Chinese people retain some affection for him. I have heard the Chinese Catholic Church have even applied for his beatification. Saint Lei Feng. Chris Ruffle, November 2014 www.odfund.com.
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