Rising about self-interest to help others
Before he went to villages for inspections, Meng Han would temporarily “confiscate” the cellphones of accompanying colleagues to prevent a possible “leak” of his plans. In many cases, even those closest to him didn't know where they were going.
This was to ensure his fact-finding tours produced a true picture of local life. From March 2013 when he became Party secretary of Xupu County in central China’s Hunan Province to July 2020 when he died, Meng spent most of his time visiting hundreds of villages to come up with practical ways to lift people out of poverty.
“Whenever he decided to go to the grassroots, he would prohibit his companions from contacting people at the receiving end beforehand,” said Qin Lindong, an official responsible for poverty alleviation in Xupu County. “No one except Meng knew the destinations. Our driver would often have to blindly follow his order to turn right or left along the way.”
Xupu County has many mountainous villages where life isn't easy. Last April, Meng decided to visit an impoverished rural village where a dozen households sit atop a mountain more than 1,000 meters above sea level. On the day of his arrival, a landslide blocked the only road leading to the top of the mountain. Undaunted, Meng and his colleague rode motorcycles along a curvy path that was so steep and bumpy they often had to lift the front wheels off the road to reduce ground resistance and move more easily. Once at the top of the mountain, they visited every household and gave residents all the money they had — more than 1,000 yuan (US$150).
As I read these stories last week, I felt like I had known Meng for a long time. My mind’s eye could see him dragging his feet along muddy roads in more than 400 villages and shaking hands with everyone in need. He was like an old friend with a big heart who wanted to help others. He embodied Communist Party of China members I have known since my father’s time who lived to give.
“The muddier our shoes, the happier the people may become,” Meng once said. “As a Party member, I would give my life for the people.”
Li Dongjin, a 73-year-old villager, cried as she talked on July 8 when Meng passed away.
“He has made my life better, but he is no more,” Li said.
Li was on Meng’s one-on-one help list. Every year, Meng would live with Li’s family for a few days, cooking for her while they chatted. With Meng’s help, Li expanded her house and saw her two granddaughters graduate and become school teachers. Having a stable job is a dream of many people like Li struggling to rise out of poverty. So are convenient roads.
On one fact-finding tour, Meng discovered a nearby mountainous village had no direct access to the outside world. Residents had to go more than 50 kilometers out of their way to get out of the village. He organized a meeting of local carders at 9pm, after which they explored the wild, rocky trails created by villagers, made visible only with weak flashlights. They discussed future road construction plans as they staggered along. Four months later, a 7.5-kilometer-long cement road was built, ending the village’s history of geographic isolation.
Going to the grassroots is often easier said than done. In China’s vast countryside, poverty alleviation would be an impossible mission without hundreds of thousands of carders like Meng, who have blazed a trail of hope by setting their feet on solid earth. It wasn't just his shoes that were often muddy; on mucky grounds he often walked barefoot. He was a living map of the 400-plus villages under county management.
Thanks in large part to his down-to-earth attitude, accessible roads had been paved for all the poor villages in the county by the end of 2019. The number of people living in poverty decreased from 139,827 in 2014 to 6,246 last year. There’s still a long way to go, but from 2013 to 2020, Meng lived up to his motto; a promise indeed — giving his life to the people. He boosted the local economy by promoting industrial development, yet he didn't rest on the laurels of economic growth. He saw to it that distribution was fair.
He's one of the many Communist Party of China members who have devoted their lives to building a prosperous and fair society. No one is to be left behind, including the poor 73-year-old villager or those once isolated by a mountain. Dang Jiang (Party construction) Magazine honored Meng as one of the people in China with “the most beautiful minds.”
Gui Hebiao, a grassroots official in the city of Yingtan, Jiangxi Province, jumped into torrential floodwaters in July when even professional divers wouldn't. During the unprecedented summer flood, part of a levee on Poyang Lake cracked, but there was no way to know where the crack was unless someone dived into the lake. When the assembled professional divers were reluctant to dive into the gushing waters, Gui decided to do it himself. He dived in and was submerged for a period of time, finally feeling the absorbing force of a whirlpool with the tips of his feet. He then surfaced, reported the position of the whirlpool and the levee was repaired. If it had collapsed, more than 10,000 villagers and 18,000 mu (1,200 hectares) of arable land would have been affected. As a young Party member, he was selected one of China’s 32 "most beautiful civil servants" earlier this month.
Browse the online edition of Dang Jian Magazine and other media outlets, and you will come across many more people like Gui and Meng. They may or may not be Party members.
Yang Ming quit his high-paying job in Hangzhou in 2009 when he was in his 20s to become a volunteer teacher in a poor mountainous region in Guizhou Province. Some volunteers left after a year, but Yang stayed. Eleven years of hard work have turned his hair gray. Zhang Jinzhe, a pediatrician who turned 100 this year, always stands up to welcome incoming patients and warms his hands before touching them. Both Yang and Zhang have been selected by Dang Jian Magazine as having “the most beautiful minds.”
Together, these “beautiful minds” and “beautiful civil servants” stand for what real Communists are and who the Communist Party of China holds in high esteem. These brothers and sisters of ours have sacrificed their own interests — even lives — in their step-by-step efforts to create common prosperity for the people. They are the best of our times, inspiring us to rise above self-interest.
