China’s Model Soldier

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30804, 16 July 1965, Page 5

China’s Model Soldier

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter) PEKING. Political and military officers in China have singled out a new model soldier to serve as an example for the People’s Liberation Army. He is not a battle hero of the civil war which led to the establishment- of the Com munist government or a veteran of the Korean conflict. Nor is he a youthful soldier who died on duty like Lei Feng the now almost legendary “great ordinary soldier” who two years ago posthumously became the subject of a masive emulation campaign among the whole population, and about whom a film has now been produced. Instead, the man from whom the 2,500,000 members of the world’s largest army have now been called upon to learn is 27-year-old Sun Lo-yi (the name means “He who enjoys doing good deeds”) a cook, accountant and, above all, an ardent student of Mao Tse-tung’s writings. His rank was quartermaster sergeant until June 1, when military ranks were abolished in the P.L.A. whose long-standing status as one of the main foundations of Chinese communism was emphasised as its members donned identical uniforms with no insignia of rank or unit

However, tasks and responsibilities of officers and N.C.O.’s remain basically the same as before. Sun Lo-yi is reported to have given up his free time to walk more than five kilometres to repay the equivalent of 3d to someone who mistakenly paid that much too much for some armygrown onions.’ This is one of the “good deeds” illustrated in an exhibition of paintings, photographs, and writings about him which opened ip Peking with big publicity. Meetings Held All over the country thousands of soldiers as well as civilian, financial, commercial, and supply workers have complied with army and Communist Party instructions to hold meetings to discuss and learn how best to follow Sun Lo-yi—“This advanced model in applying Mao Tse-tung’s thinking to everyday life,” as the newspapers describe him. At the exhibition and in press reports Suh is depicted as a tall young soldier, often wearing a cook’s white apron over his uniform, who completely disregards individuality, personal ambition, and comfort for the sake of the well-being of the collective and the needs of his fellow soldiers and country. He is shown going out alone on a stormy night to save a vegetable field from possible flooding, staying up all night to rectify an error of one cent (about one third of a penny) in his accounts.

and making or repairing the clothes and shoes of his comrades in his spare time. Those whom he helped he also “patiently educated to serve revolution wholeheartedly,” according to captions at the exhibition. The campaign to learn from Sun Lo-yi is also designed to incluate frugality and resourcefulness in the use of army equipment or State property. Newspapers and the exhibition emphasised how he would plan ahead to save meticulously even a single bean or a few grains of rice. Mao’s Works However in this, as in all other campaigns associated with China’s “Socialist Education Movement,” insistence on persistent study of Mao’s works and their application to all fields of activity—however remote from politics—is the most constantly recurring theme. It was this aspect which was emphasised in reports of Sun being received recently by Lo Jui-ching, a VicePremier and Chief of the Army General Staff. Sun commented in his diary: “My respected Chairman Mao! After reading your books I can understand revolution and after listening to your words I begin to do the work of revolution wholeheartedly. Fish cannot live without water and I cannot go a single step without the instructions of Chairman Mao.”