SHENYANG: Celebrated for selflessly helping others and being called a role model of an era, Lei Feng, an ordinary Chinese soldier with an extraordinary soul, remains a national folk hero for generations of Chinese, 60 years after his death at age 22.
Until his untimely demise in 1962, the famous model soldier served in an army regiment in the city of Fushun, northeast China’s Liaoning Province, where the memorial hall dedicated to him is located. Devoting almost all of his spare time and money to helping others, Lei had become an icon of altruism long before he died in an accident when he aided a fellow soldier to direct a truck.
“Leading a frugal lifestyle, Lei spent all the money he saved to help victims of calamities and his comrades-in-arms whose families were facing problems,” said Ren Guangyou, curator of Lei Feng Memorial Hall. He added that Lei quietly did good deeds for people in need.
In his diary compiled and published posthumously, Lei said human beings are mortal while the pursuit of serving the people is never-ending. He was determined to spare his life for the people wholeheartedly.
One year after his death, Chairman Mao Zedong called on the nation to learn from Lei Feng and follow Lei’s example.
For generations of Chinese, the spirit of Lei Feng remains a rallying point for society and public service, which has surpassed the meaning of being good Samaritans and has been China’s moral symbol of selfless dedication. –Agencies
