MCLC: emulating Lei Feng through cosmetic surgery

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: emulating Lei Feng through cosmetic surgery
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Source: Sinosphere blog, NYT (2/21/14):
http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/21/emulating-a-model-communist-
through-cosmetic-surgery/

Emulating a Model Communist Through Cosmetic Surgery
By AUSTIN RAMZY 

For the poor, the homeless, people down on their luck in the central
province of Anhui, Zhang Yidong has often been there to help. He has made
a career of raising money and public interest to help the downtrodden.

He has also made something of a name for himself in the process, so much
so that Chinese media outlets call him a “public welfare celebrity.” He is
often compared to Lei Feng, the young People’s Liberation Army soldier
trumpeted as a Communist Party icon for his unstinting devotion to his
comrades.

Mr. Zhang says he considers Lei Feng, the so-called rustless screw of
Mao’s revolution, to be a role model. And now he has taken his emulation
to the next step. This week he began a series of cosmetic procedures as
part of an effort to look like Lei Feng.

“No matter how open or developed China becomes, we can’t forget the Lei
Feng spirit,” Mr. Zhang said in an interview. “Through this activity I
want to tell even more people that to study Lei Feng, we can’t just engage
in slogans.”

Mr. Zhang says that by changing his appearance he hopes to raise public
awareness of Lei Feng, whose fame saw a mild resurgence two years ago
thanks to a vigorous propaganda push tied to the 50th anniversary of his
death.

Lei Feng, who died at the age of 22 in 1962 when he was hit by a falling
telephone pole, is known in China as a symbol of selflessness and devotion
to the cause of communism. He sewed quilts and darned socks for his fellow
soldiers, assiduously studied Mao’s writings at night by flashlight and
collected weighty loads of cow dung for fertilizer.

Those exploits and most of his biography itself have come under close
scrutiny in recent years by scholars and average Chinese alike who point
to the suspect signs of propaganda: well-lit photos of a supposedly
average soldier, a detailed diary full of expressions of loyalty and an
all-too-well-honed image.

Like Lei Feng, Mr. Zhang has at times found his record under question.
Last year he participated in an event with Chen Guangbiao, a recycling
tycoon and philanthropist known for brazen acts of self-publicity. Mr.
Chen wanted to award 800,000 renminbi, about $130,000, to Mr. Zhang to
help carry out his charitable work. Mr. Zhang declined, and online many
people suggested the exchange was merely a ruse to help boost both men’s
profiles.

Mr. Zhang says he welcomes the scrutiny, and argues that serving the
public interest requires a certain amount of bombast.

“I think criticism is good,” he said. “It shows people are paying
attention.”

Mr. Zhang’s makeover, which is being provided free of cost by a hospital
in the city of Hefei, began on Thursday with a series of injections of the
dermal filler Restylane. The goal of the process is one that many who
visit a plastic surgeon can identify with.

“It involves some skin rejuvenation and microsurgery to help my face look
like Lei Feng’s,” said Mr. Zhang, who at 32 is 10 years older than his
hero at the time of his death. “Lei Feng, he was very young.”