Xinhua reports that senior Party leaders “will pay tribute and lay flowers at the Monument to the People’s Heroes in Tiananmen Square on Sunday morning.” I can speculate on two reasons, aside from the fact that Xi happened to be in the northeast near the “birthplace of Lei Feng Spirit.” Let me be frank, I’m just dumping my thoughts here: 1. And that Global Times story is originally from Xinhua, so the Lei Feng stuff is coming from the central propaganda authorities, not just from a Global Times columnist. It’s not March 5, the traditional Lei Feng remembrance day. 2009 Lei Feng an 60th Anniversary Fashion, Lei Feng heritage for the whole world.See, for example, these links (all to my old website,, except where noted):
The Lei Feng propaganda engine has been revved up periodically since then. Lei Feng’s Diary 雷锋日记 was published in 1963 and the “Learn from Lei Feng” propaganda campaign began in earnest. Then Lei was killed at the age of 21 by a falling telephone pole. He had a short life of good socialist deeds, selfless devotion to Chairman Máo Zédōng 毛泽东, and service to a transport brigade of the People’s Liberation Army. The story is that he was orphaned at a young age. Xi went to Lei Feng’s “second hometown”of Fushun, Liaoning, where he visited the Lei Feng Memorial Hall and said that the Lei Feng spirit is eternal, and that Party members should integrate his lofty ideals into their daily work life, and be screws that never rust in service of the people. “Screws that never rust” is, of course, a reference to everyone’s favorite Communist boy scout, devoted Maoist, and semi-fictional soldier: Léi Fēng 雷锋, the original revolutionary screw that never rusted.
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