Peking University, Mar 12, 2012: March 5th is the official "Learning from Lei Feng Day" when various organizations and institutions call on people to learn from Lei Feng, a cultural icon symbolizing selflessness, modesty and dedication. As time passes by, the values and beliefs that the Lei Feng spirit represents continue to spread throughout China.
What is Lei Feng spirit? What should we, as the new century's generations with vigor and vitality, learn from him? According to People's Daily editorial, "These are the revolutionary will to work arduously for self-improvement, the moral quality and self-cultivation of showing fraternal unity and taking pleasure in assisting others, the heroic spirit of being ready to take up cudgels for a just cause without caring for one's safety, the attitude of seeking advancement and studying hard, and the genuine spirit of matching words with deeds and enthusiastically carrying out one's duties."
Fifty years has passed since Lei Feng's death, but his legacy continues. In memorial of his death and to carry forward and further promote Lei Feng spirit, PKU organized different kinds of activities around "Learn from Lei Feng Day" this year.
On the morning of Feb 25, the PKU Youth League Committee held a symposium-"Former Monitors of Lei Feng Squad Communicate Face-to-Face with PKU Youth Students", in Yingjie Overseas Exchange Center of PKU. Four former monitor representatives of Lei Feng Squad and a senior journalist from the PLA branch of Xinhua Agency had been invited to give a speech and exchange their ideas with the students in view of Lei Feng spirit.
Wu Xi,the 22th monitor of Lei Feng Squad,is showing his collections concerning Lei Feng
To put Lei Feng spirit into action, PKU teachers and staff were working to fulfill their bounden obligations. On Mar 2, the grand opening ceremony of the themed event "Learn from Lei Feng and establish the new trend---Yanyuan leads in assisting students' growth" was launched in Yingjie Overseas Exchange Center of PKU. Around 200 representatives of the teachers and staff of PKU, students whose families have financial difficulties and media reporters had also attended the ceremony. As the first group of Yanyuan leading teachers, President Zhou Qifeng aided students with poor financial condition in 2010 and 2011 respectively. By means of meetings, phone calls, text messages and e-mails, President Zhou kept in touch with the students. He constantly encouraged them and directed the students in their growth and progress.
President Zhou Qifeng is giving a speech at the opening ceremony
In the "Learn from Lei Feng Day", the Youth Volunteers Association of School of Foreign Languages led the volunteers into the Campus Restaurant,doing voluntary activities, like cleaning the tables and chairs, wiping the windows and doors etc.
Volunteers from School of Foreign Languages are doing voluntary work in the Campus Restaurant
What's more, in order to fully implement the spirit of "learning from Lei Feng" and to carry forward the glorious revolutionary tradition, recently, PKU has decided to establish the "PKU Research Institue of Lei Feng Spirit", making full use of this advantage in the coursed of philosophy and social sciences and promote further development of the activity of "Learn from Lei Feng".
Lei Feng
Lei Feng sews a quilt for his comrade.
Here is an abstract from Lei Feng's diary:
If you are a drop of water, have you moistened the earth?
If you are a ray of sunshine, have you lit up the darkness?
If you are a single grain, have you nurtured the human being?
If you are the smallest screw, will you always stay where you are?
If you want to indoctrinate, are you preaching day and night?
Since you are alive, have you tried your best to make the world a better place for your descendants?
May I ask you that, what do you bring to the world?
For life, we should not only demand.
Lei Feng Diary Selected, June 7, 1958
Extended reading:
Lei Feng:Changing Role Models in China
Written by: Dong Zhiyao
Edited by: Cao Yixing
Source: PKU News(Chinese)
