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The model status of Zhang Haidi (Shandong Province,
1955), widely publicized in print and in propaganda posters from 1983
on, is an interesting one. Zhang Haidi, also known as Ling Ling, became
a paraplegic at the age of five following four operations for the
removal of tumors in her spine. When she received news that her illness
was incurable, she was reported to have attempted to commit suicide by
taking sleeping pills, an action usually considered as a betrayal of
the revolution and as evidence of discontent with socialism and
therefore as the act of a coward. She never went to school, but through
diligent self-study, she learned to read books on politics, literature
and medical science. She also learned foreign languages, including
English, Japanese and German. She did not only function as a model
because of her intellectual accomplishments or her devotion to serving
others, but also because "... In Lei Feng, Chinese youths had to reach
for communism. In Zhang Haidi, communism reaches for Chinese youths."
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Her depicting that 'a cripple' could still function
normally in Chinese society and even contribute to its modernization,
was also clearly intended for all those who had been maimed and
crippled during China's 'punitive expedition' against its southern
neighbor Vietnam in 1979. The attention suddenly given to invalids even
might be linked to Deng Xiaoping's
son, Deng Pufang, who gained national prominence in the 1980s. Pufang
ended up in a wheelchair as a result of a fall (or a push) from a
sixth-floor window when he was subjected to Red Guard interrogations in
August 1968, during the Cultural Revolution. As the Chairman of the
Kanghua Foundation for the Disabled, he later was accused of shady
business practices and embezzlement, and was forced to step down in the
late 1980s.
Persons like Zhang Haidi did not necessarily have to
be martyrs for the revolutionary cause or pay with their lives in order
to attain model status, although this did help. They simply were
visualized in their 'daily' activities, which were clearly designed to
make the population feel proud of being a woman, or a Chinese.
Over the years, Zhang Haidi's shining example ceased
to be held up, although she continued to play an advisory role in
politics. As a member of consecutive sessions of the National Committee
of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference (CPPCC), she remains an
advocate for the rights of the disabled and for the improvement and
accessiblity of public facilities for them. In 2001, Zhang, an avid
internet surfer, was invited to act as the headmaster of China's first
on-line school. China Central Television (CCTV) devoted a program to
Zhang during the marking of the May Fourth Movement in 2002. Aside from
her duties as headmaster, Zhang has become a writer and translates
foreign literature with her husband.
Sources:
Chiang Chen-ch'ang, "The New Lei Fengs of the 1980s", Issues and Studies, May 1984, pp. 22-42
He Pin and Gao Xin, CPC Princes (Toronto: Canada Mirror Books, 1992) [in Chinese]
Qian Jun, "A Model Woman's New Focus: Internet and Environment", CRI Online News
Shao Wu et al. (eds), Gongheguo qunyingpu [Register of heroes of the Republic] (Beijing: Zhongguo shaonian ertong chubanshe, 2003) [in Chinese]
Xiao Yu, "Zhang Haidi: Xiang shi yiyang shenghuo" [Zhang Haidi: A life like poetry], CCTV.com, 1 May 2002 [in Chinese]
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s.r.landsberger@let.leidenuniv.nl
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