Pain in Silence: Qiao Anshan Remembers Lei Feng

Author: Qiao Anshan, Yan Yu, Wen Shui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-02-01
Features: Northeast, formerly known as "Beyond the Pass" or "Eastern of the Pass." During the Mao Zedong era, Northeast was not only the "eldest son" of the Republic and an important industrial base for the new China but also a major contemporary narrative space for socialist culture. From Yang Zirong in the snowy forests of Northeast, the iron man Wang Jinxin, and the soldier Liu Yingjun who sacrificed himself to block a runaway horse, to the flames by the Yalu River and the battles on, all were closely tied to this land. Here, the first domestically produced cars of New China took to the road, the first domestically produced jet planes took to the sky, and the first domestically produced machine tools started to operate. "Learn from Daqing" became the most resonant slogan of the 1960s and 1970s. Northeast supplied the young Republic with abundant golden grains, dark coal, advanced mechanical equipment, and valuable talents and technology. In that era, no region became the stage for so many famous contemporary heroes and heroic stories as Northeast. Northeast was a turning point for Lei Feng. As Jiang Zemin said, "Lei Feng came to Ansteel, moving from the countryside to the factory. Ansteel was a place where industrial workers were concentrated. It wasn't handicraft but large-scale industry, and this environment played a significant role in shaping Lei Feng." At the same time, Lei Feng's appearance also changed the life of Qiao Anshan, an ordinary person.