Communist hero reborn as human face of party

The Communist Party has kicked off a high-profile campaign to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of an icon, in what is being seen as an effort to fill a moral vacuum in society.

The party's powerful Publicity Department launched the 'Practice Lei Feng Spirit' campaign at a press conference in Beijing yesterday.

Lei Feng, a People's Liberation Army soldier, became a symbol of selflessness after his accidental death in 1962 and gained nationwide fame. Mao Zedong coined the phrase 'Learn from Lei Feng' a year after Lei's death and Monday is 'Learn from Lei Feng Day' on the mainland. 'By learning from Lei Feng we can set up a new moral standard and fix the distrust and other moral issues in today's society,' Xinhua quoted the publicity department's Luo Shugang as saying.

Communist officials are concerned that distrust of the government could undermine stability.

The altruistic Lei has been held up as a role model since his death at the age of 22. In his diaries, studied by generations of mainlanders, he wrote that he wanted to be 'a revolutionary screw that never rusts'.

Mainland media have published articles and books about the young hero's life as part of the anniversary celebrations, many of which seek to make Lei appear more human.

Stories in the mainstream media have not only focused on the good turns he did but have tried to show a real Lei: an ordinary young man who loved dancing, taking photographs and writing poems. Letters and uncensored photos have also been published. One picture shows Lei standing in front of Tiananmen Square with a bag - which was carefully removed by an editor decades ago during the Cultural Revolution because it represented a 'bourgeois lifestyle' and might have damaged Lei's image.