Danwei has a great post today about Lei Feng. For those of you new to Chinese revolutionary propaganda, Lei Feng was a fellow who was said to have served in the PLA in the early 1960's. He died in 1963 and was made into an icon of socialist virtue. It seems that March 5th is Lei Feng day, an occasion widely celebrated in the 1970s but which now passes by without much notice - such is the fate of socialist heroes, I guess.
In any event, Danwei reports on a new book, which apparently tries to update Lei Feng for the new millennium. What struck me was this passage, taken from an article translated from Modern Express:
In fact, whether you are familiar with Lei Feng, whether you know of "Lei Feng Day," whether you can sing "Learn from the good model Lei Feng" - these are not the crucial issues. What is truly critical is for the Lei Feng spirit to be propagated from one generation to the next. There is truth to that statement - the so-called "Lei Feng Spirit" is really the traditional morality of the Chinese people: respect for the old and love for the young, taking pleasure in helping others, selflessness, and solidarity and harmony.
That Lei Feng spirit is taken directly from Confucius! Remember what the Venerable Sage says is his greatest ambition: "to comfort the old, to trust my friends, and to cherish the young." The writer must be aware of the source of these sentiments, especially given the revival of Confucianism in recent years. The lack of direct citation comes close to plagarism!
The ironies are too good not to mention here. Lei Feng, a mythic figure of socialist morality, who was used to combat "feudal" Confucian tradition and build "socialist spiritual civilization," is now re-framed in terms of classical Confucian virtues. What's next? Mao Zedong is a long flowing robe quoting the Analects?
Happy Lei Feng Day, Comrades!
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