Wang Jie (1942-1965) was a platoon leader of the 1st Company of the Engineering Battalion of an armored unit of the People's Liberation Army. When he helped the Zhanglou Commune in Beixian, Jiangsu Province, to train militia
in the use of landmines, an accidental explosion of dynamite occurred.
To protect the militiamen and the assembled innocent bystanders, he
threw himself into the blast and was killed, saving the lives of twelve
people.
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The platoon to which Wang belonged was conferred the
title of "Wang Jie Platoon" in December 1965. In the meantime, a
movement to learn from Wang Jie was developed in the army.
Subsequently, Wang Jie became one of the many military models (such as Lei Feng and Ouyang Hai) held up for emulation by civilians as well. In Wang's case, the slogan advanced was "Fearing neither hardship nor death".
Sources:
Wang Jie riji [The diary of Wang Jie] (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1965) [in Chinese]
Chiang Chen-ch'ang, "The New Lei Fengs of the 1980s", Issues and Studies, May 1984, pp. 22-42
Shao Wu et al. (eds), Gongheguo qunyingpu [Register of heroes of the Republic] (Beijing: Zhongguo shaonian ertong chubanshe, 2003) [in Chinese]
Song Jiang, Ma An, Li Ming (eds.), Zhongguo hua yu (Beijing: Zhongguo minzu sheying yishu chubanshe, 1998) [in Chinese]
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