The Spirit of Lei Feng
2 min readThe Spirit of Lei Feng（Part One）
Lei Feng was born in a poor farmer’s family in Wangcheng County，Hunan Province in 1940 and was a squad leader in the Engineering Corps of the People’s Liberation Army.He became an orphan when he was 7.After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949，he became a postman and a bulldozer driver and he joined the People’s Liberation Army and served as a driver in a transportation unit in December 1959.He had got many honorary titles like“Pacesetter”
and“Model Worker”and been elected deputy to the People’s Congress of Fushun, Liaoning Province ever since he began to work.On August 15，1962，at the age of only 22，he died at his post in an accident.
Two days later，the local government held a solemn memorial service for him.Almosta hundred thousand people escorted Lei Feng’s coffin to the Martyr’s Cemetery.
The Spirit of Lei Feng（Part Two）
Lei Feng has left people so much spiritual legacy.But the most important aspects are his unwavering loyalty for the Communist Party of China and the socialist cause，his lofty thoughts to serve the people heart and soul，his conscientious and meticulous attitude to love any job given to him and to try his best to finish it，his tenacity in studying socialist theories，and his moral virtues of diligence，thrift，plain living and hard work.
He had a famous motto:”We must treat our comrades as warmly as spring，treat our work asenthusiastically as summer，treat our mistakes as the autumn wind sweeping away the deadleaves，and treat our enemy as sternly as the winter.”That is the essence of his spirit.
In 1963，Mao Zedong and other members of the Chinese leadership called on th whole country to“Learn from Comrade Lei Feng.”It soon brought in a wave of nationwide enthusiasm to learn from Lei Feng.Lei Feng became the model of the noble-minded people in the Chinese socialist construction and his name was closely related with the socialist morality.People follow the slogans”To learn from Lei Feng to do good，”“To learn from Lei Feng to offer help to needy families，””To learn from Lei Feng in job and to create a good professional ethics”in their voluntary actions.March 5 of every year is the memorial day of Lei Feng.Almost all Chinese people，no matter who they are，know about Lei Feng more or less.The spirit of Lei Feng has become a great cohesive force of the spiritual life of the whole nation.
