Lei Feng is China's iconic goody-two-shoes. In addition to fearlessly defending the Motherland as a soldier in the PLA and diligently swotting up on Mao Zedong Thought in the evenings, he went around helping people at every opportunity. If you had to change a wheel on your truck, or your shopping bags were a bit heavy, or you didn't fancy getting your feet wet crossing that stream..... well, if Lei was around, then you were in luck!
Some of his reported good deeds seem a tad implausible, not to say creepy (giving his platoon mates "a nice surprise" by darning their socks for them without telling them?!). However, his story seems to be one of the quainter and more useful inventions of Mao era propaganda (as with Jesus, Lei Feng was a real person, but 99% of what's been written about him is pure invention), and it endures to the present day. Chinese schoolchildren are still exhorted to follow Uncle Lei's example, and every March 5th is celebrated as Learn From Lei Feng Day. Yes, all over China today Young Pioneers are zealously escorting senior citizens across the road - whether they want to go or not.
On balance, though, I'd say that the Lei Feng myth is a good thing: altruism is one of those ideas that seems to have struggled to establish itself in Chinese culture.
1 comment:
Been meaning to thank you for posting this educational item. I'd never heard of Lei Feng before -- although (oddly? not so much?) I was familiar with that iconic image.
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