Model of a County Party Secretary — Jiao Yulu
Note: This article was published in the People’s Daily on February 7, 1966. At that time, the People’s Daily was still controlled by Wu Lengxi [1], and had not yet been seized; it still followed the Liu-Deng revisionist line. Therefore, this article contains very little about class struggle. It is still often used by the Chinese revisionists for propaganda, so please be discerning. May 14 is the day Comrade Jiao Yulu sacrificed himself.
In the winter of 1962, it was the most severe time when the eastern Henan Lankao County suffered from the three disasters of waterlogging, sandstorms, and salinization. That year, in spring, the sandstorms destroyed 200,000 mu of wheat; in autumn, more than 300,000 mu of crops were flooded; on saline-alkali land, 100,000 mu of seedlings died from alkali. The county’s grain output dropped to the lowest level in history.
It was at this critical moment that the Party sent Jiao Yulu to Lankao.
The land of Lankao that unfolded before Jiao Yulu was such a scene of hardship! The two old Yellow River channels running across the entire region were endless stretches of yellow sand; in the patches of waterlogged depressions, green ice formed; on the white saline-alkali land, withered grass shivered in the cold wind.
Difficulties, heavy difficulties, like a heavy burden, weighed on the shoulders of this newly appointed county party secretary. However, Jiao Yulu came carrying the “Selected Works of Mao Zedong” and with a firm determination to change the disaster-stricken face of Lankao. To this poor peasant-born Communist Party member, there were 360,000 hardworking people here, and 900,000 mu of land liberated by martyrs who shed their blood. As long as the Party’s leadership was strengthened, no matter how great the difficulty, a way would surely be found.
The next day, when everyone learned that Jiao Yulu was the new county party secretary, he had already gone to the countryside.
He went to the communes and brigades most severely affected by disasters. He visited the thatched huts of poor and lower-middle peasants, the livestock sheds, and the edges of the fields to understand the situation and observe the disaster. He went from one brigade to another, walking and discussing with accompanying cadres. Upon seeing sand dunes, he said, “Plant trees, wouldn’t it become a good green forest!” Seeing waterlogged depressions, he said, “Here we can plant reeds, cattails, and raise fish.” Seeing alkali land, he said, “Control it, turn a white patch into a green one!” After a round trip back to the county party committee, he told everyone: “Lankao is a place with great potential; the key is to act and revolutionize. Lankao is a disaster area, poor and full of difficulties, but disaster areas have one advantage: they can temper people’s revolutionary will and cultivate revolutionary character. Revolutionaries must be heroes in the face of difficulties.”
Jiao Yulu’s words warmed everyone’s hearts. People discussed that the new county party secretary had a higher level of insight; he could see hope from difficulties and favorable factors from adverse conditions.
The Key Lies in the Change of the County Party Committee’s Leadership Core’s Thinking
Lankao, plagued by disasters year after year, had almost all county work overwhelmed by issuing rationed grain, loans, relief cotton-padded clothes, and coal burning. Some said the county party committee had effectively become a supply department. At that time, many masses awaited relief, some cadres were overwhelmed by disasters and lacked confidence in changing Lankao’s situation; a few even were unwilling to stay and work in the disaster area. They feared difficulties and even more feared making mistakes…
Jiao Yulu thought: “The masses look to the county party committee with eyes full of hope during disasters. If the county party committee cannot stand firm, the masses cannot be fully mobilized. ‘If cadres don’t lead, the water buffalo falls into the well.’ To change Lankao’s face, the county party committee’s spirit must first be changed.” Late at night, unable to sleep, Jiao Yulu lay tossing in bed. He put on his cotton-padded jacket and went to talk heart-to-heart with the county party committee deputy secretary Zhang Qinli.
At such a late hour, Zhang Qinli was startled by the knocking. He welcomed Jiao Yulu in and asked repeatedly, “Old Jiao, what happened?”
Jiao Yulu said, “I want to talk with you. You have been in Lankao for more than ten years and know the situation better than I do. Tell me, where is the main problem in changing Lankao’s situation?”
Zhang Qinli thought for a moment and replied, “It lies in the change of people’s thinking.”
“Right,” Jiao Yulu said, “but two words should be added before ‘thinking’: leadership. The key now is the change in the thinking of the county party committee’s leadership core. Without cadres who resist disasters, there will be no masses resisting disasters.”
The two talked for a long time, deeply, until the early morning. Their common conclusion was that besides removing the “three disasters,” the first thing was to remove the ideological illnesses; especially to carry out ideological education on disaster resistance for the county party committee cadres. Without first arming people ideologically, it would be impossible to complete the struggle to eliminate the “three disasters.”
On a harsh winter night with snow and wind, Jiao Yulu convened a meeting of county party committee members at home. After everyone arrived, he did not announce the agenda but said only, “Let’s go out with me.” He led everyone to the train station.
At that time, the Lankao station was howling with north wind and heavy snow. Icicles a foot long hung under the eaves. The special train transporting Lankao disaster victims to the harvest areas sped by. Some disaster victims, wearing state relief cotton-padded clothes, curled up on freight cars and crowded in the waiting room…
Jiao Yulu pointed at them and said heavily, “Comrades, look, the vast majority of them are our class brothers. It is famine that forced them to leave their homes; we cannot blame them; we have responsibility. The Party entrusted us with 360,000 people in this county. If we cannot lead them to overcome famine, we should feel ashamed and grieved…”
He did not continue; all county party committee members silently bowed their heads. Only then did some understand why Jiao Yulu led everyone to see the snowy, cold train station late at night.
Returning from the station to the county party committee, it was already midnight, and the meeting officially began.
After listening to everyone’s speeches, Jiao Yulu finally said, “We often say we serve the people. I hope everyone remembers tonight’s scene so that we can lead the masses to change Lankao’s face with class feelings.”
Then, Jiao Yulu organized everyone to study articles such as “Serve the People,” “In Memory of Norman Bethune,” and “The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains,” inspiring revolutionary zeal and encouraging everyone to work like Zhang Side and Norman Bethune.
Later, Jiao Yulu convened another standing committee meeting to recall Lankao’s revolutionary struggle history. During the brutal armed struggle era, cadres and people of Lankao fought heroically against the enemy, sacrificing one after another. In one district, nine district heads died for the revolution within a month. Martyr Ma Fuzhong was disemboweled by the enemy, and his intestines hung on a tree… Jiao Yulu said, “This land of Lankao was won with comrades’ blood. The martyrs did not give it to the enemy because the people were poor and disaster-stricken. Can we not overcome disasters here?”
A series of class education and ideological struggles made the county party committee leadership core stand up in the face of severe natural disasters. They eliminated the cowardly mentality of helplessness and inaction, firmly establishing the determination to rely on self-reliance to eliminate the “three disasters” from top to bottom. Soon, under Jiao Yulu’s initiative and leadership, a blueprint to transform Lankao’s nature was drawn up. This blueprint stipulated that within three to five years, basic victories in controlling sand, water, and alkali would be achieved to change Lankao’s face. After the county party committee discussed and approved this blueprint, it was reported to the Kaifeng district committee of the Communist Party of China. Jiao Yulu added several sentences to the report: “We have deep feelings for every blade of grass and tree in Lankao. Facing the current severe natural disasters, we have revolutionary courage and resolutely lead all county people to fight hard for three to five years to change Lankao’s face. We will not rest until the goal is achieved.” These words deeply reflected the county party committee’s determination at that time and were a solemn oath before the higher-level party organization. Even now, they remain deeply engraved in the hearts of all county party committee comrades and serve as a driving force.
Eating Bread Chewed by Others Has No Flavor
Jiao Yulu deeply understood that ideals and plans do not equal reality. These three disasters of waterlogging, sand, and alkali have plagued Lankao people for many years! Today, to subdue the “three disasters” and drive them away from Lankao’s land like sending away a plague god, a large amount of arduous and meticulous work must be done at a high cost.
He thought, according to Chairman Mao’s teaching, whatever work is done, one must first understand the situation and conduct investigation and research. “No investigation, no right to speak.” To overcome disasters, relying only on temporary enthusiasm or subjective wishes will definitely fail. Even if forced, it would be the mistake Chairman Mao criticized long ago as “closing eyes to catch sparrows” and “blindly fishing.” To overcome disasters, one must follow Chairman Mao’s instructions, thoroughly grasp the details of disasters, understand their causes and development, and then make correct judgments and deployments.
He resolved to thoroughly understand the natural conditions of the 1,800 square kilometers of Lankao County and personally weigh the true extent of Lankao’s “three disasters.”
Based on this idea, the county party committee successively selected 120 cadres, veteran farmers, and technicians to form a three-combined “three disasters” investigation team. They launched large-scale investigations of flood tracing, wind mouth checking, and sand flow exploration throughout the county. Jiao Yulu and other county party committee leaders all participated in this battle. At that time, Jiao Yulu was suffering from chronic liver disease. Many comrades worried that his running around in strong wind and rain would worsen his condition and advised him not to participate, but he resolutely refused their advice. He said, “Eating bread chewed by others has no flavor.” He did not want to sit in the office relying on others’ reports. After saying this, he took his rations, an umbrella, and set off with everyone.
Whenever the wind and sand were strongest, he led the investigation of wind mouths and sand flows; when the rain was heaviest, he led the team to brave the rain and wade through water to observe flood flow and changes. He believed this was the best time to grasp the patterns of wind, sand, and water disasters. To understand a major wind mouth or a main river channel’s origin and course, he often tirelessly followed the investigation team, tracing the paths of sand and floodwaters from the old Yellow River channel, crossing county and provincial borders, until the sand settled and water entered the river channel before stopping. In this arduous struggle, county party secretary Jiao Yulu almost became a rural “mud-covered man.” He and the investigation team comrades often ate dry food in waist-deep water and sometimes rested squatting in muddy water at night…
Once, on the way back to the county from Yanggu Commune, Jiao Yulu encountered a heavy white rainstorm. The heavy rain lasted seven days and nights, turning the entire county into a vast ocean. Jiao Yulu thought, “Oh, floodwaters, no need to wait; you came right to the door.” After returning to the county, he did not even stop but set out with three comrades from the office. There was only water ahead; where was the road? They relied on sticks in their hands to probe and walk. At this time, Jiao Yulu suddenly felt bouts of liver pain, often bending over and pressing his liver with his left hand. Three young men pleaded, “You should go back and rest. Leave the task to us; we promise to complete it as you require.” Jiao Yulu did not agree and continued walking and working all the way.
He stood in the raging floodwaters; comrades held an umbrella for him. He drew one water flow map after another. When they arrived at Jinying Brigade, branch secretary Li Guangzhi was surprised to see Jiao Yulu and asked, “In this vast flood, how did you come?” Jiao Yulu swung his stick and said, “I came by this boat.” Li Guangzhi wanted him to rest, but he took out the maps he drew, pointing and telling Li Guangzhi in detail that according to the terrain and water flow, a river should be opened from here to there, and a ditch dug from there to there… so the water accumulated in these brigades could be drained. Li Guangzhi was deeply moved; he had not expected Jiao Yulu’s leadership work to be so thorough and detailed! At mealtime, Li Guangzhi wanted to serve food to Jiao Yulu, but Jiao Yulu said, “It’s rainy; the masses lack fuel; I won’t eat!” Saying this, he walked back into the wind and rain.
Spring with rolling sandstorms passed, and the rainy concentrated summer passed. The investigation team spent month after month in wind, rain, sand pits, and raging currents, traveling over 5,000 li, finally enabling the county party committee to grasp the first-hand data on Lankao’s “three disasters.” The county had 84 large and small wind mouths, each investigated and numbered and mapped by the investigation team; 1,600 large and small sand dunes were measured, numbered, and mapped; the county’s thousands of rivers and streams, silted rivers and canals, water-blocking roadbeds, and sluices were also thoroughly investigated and detailed drainage and flood discharge maps drawn.
This large-scale investigation and research enabled the county party committee to basically grasp the occurrence and development patterns of water, sand, and alkali. Months of hard running brought a complete set of detailed data, placing the county’s disaster resistance battle deployment on a more scientific and solid foundation. Everyone felt the direction was clear, confidence was sufficient, and invisible strength was added.
The Power of Role Models Is Infinite
Late at night, bouts of liver pain and the heavy burden of county party committee work made Jiao Yulu unable to sleep for a long time. His heart was thinking of the 360,000 people and 2,574 production teams in Lankao County. The development of the disaster resistance struggle was uneven, and the ideological consciousness of grassroots cadres and masses varied. How to raise the banner of Mao Zedong Thought high? How to fully mobilize the masses’ revolutionary enthusiasm? How to more quickly launch a vigorous disaster resistance struggle throughout the county?..
Jiao Yulu was pondering deeply.
He got up, put on clothes, and reopened the “Selected Works of Mao Zedong.” Over years of work, Jiao Yulu had developed the habit of studying Chairman Mao’s works, drawing endless wisdom and strength from them. Before county party committee meetings, he often read relevant chapters aloud. Whether in the office or working in the countryside, he always carried a cloth bag with the “Selected Works of Mao Zedong” nearby. Whenever encountering difficulties at work, he seriously consulted Chairman Mao’s works and strictly followed Mao’s instructions. He introduced his method of studying Mao’s works to county party committee comrades as “investigating and visiting the masses during the day, reading Mao’s works after returning, ‘watching movies’ at night, and taking notes in the morning.” The “watching movies” mainly meant thinking about problems in connection with reality. He said, “Whether studying or working, not ‘watching movies’ is impossible.”
Now, the scenes of the county’s disaster resistance struggle played like movies in his mind. Carrying a series of questions, he read Mao’s article “Several Problems on Leadership Methods.” His gaze stopped at the few lines shining with golden light: “We Communists must use two methods in all work: one is to combine the general with the particular, and the other is to combine leadership with the masses.”
“Concentrating from the masses and persisting among the masses to form correct leadership opinions is the basic leadership method.” Chairman Mao’s words gave him great strength, and his mind suddenly brightened. He decided to mobilize county party committee leaders to go again among the poor and lower-middle peasants. He himself often stayed in the thatched huts of old poor peasants, squatted in cattle sheds, ate and worked with the masses. With high revolutionary enthusiasm and infinite trust in the masses, he inquired, listened, and observed among the poor and lower-middle peasants. He heard many calls for “turning over” and revolution. He saw many teams’ self-reliance and vigorous revolutionary spirit in the struggle against the “three disasters.” He learned many methods for controlling sand, water, and alkali from the masses and summarized many valuable experiences. The wisdom of the masses greatly encouraged him and strengthened his confidence in overcoming disasters.
Hancun was a production team with only 27 households. In the autumn of 1962, it suffered a devastating flood disaster, with each person receiving only 12 liang of red sorghum ears. Facing such severe difficulties, the poor and lower-middle peasants of the production team proposed not to ask the state for relief grain or funds, but to cut grass and sell it to support themselves. They said: “The money tree belongs to everyone and depends entirely on our own hands. We cannot support the state, which would be too painful; we must not be a burden to the state anymore.” That winter, they cut 270,000 jin of grass, supported all members, fed eight livestock, repaired farm tools, and bought seven carts.
The poor and lower-middle peasants of Qinzhai Brigade scraped off a layer of soil on saline-alkali land, deep-plowed good soil underneath, and covered it on top. They worked hard to deeply plow the land during the most difficult summer of 1963. They said: “We can’t work half a day or half a shovel; like silkworms eating mulberry leaves bit by bit, we will turn this alkali land upside down.”
The poor and lower-middle peasants of Zhaoduolou, after seven seasons of near total crop failure, fought against torrential rain by digging rivers and drainage ditches. In autumn 1963, after nine consecutive days of heavy rain, they still achieved a good harvest and sold more than 80,000 jin of grain.
The poor and lower-middle peasants of Shuangyangshu, despite near total crop failure, remained united. Members exchanged eggs for pigs, bought livestock and seeds, and insisted on the collective economy and self-reliance. Members said: “Poor, we are poor together; rich, we are rich together.”
The revolutionary spirit of self-reliance among the poor and lower-middle peasants of Hancun, Qinzhai, Zhaoduolou, and Shuangyangshu deeply moved Jiao Yulu. He believed this was a good example of the revolutionary spirit nurtured by Mao Zedong Thought. He repeatedly spoke about the great significance of these advanced models at county party committee meetings and personally summarized their experiences. He said: “The power of role models is infinite. We should gather these precious things from the masses, persist in them, and call on all county teams to learn from them.”
In September 1963, the county party committee held a grand assembly of all county team cadres at the Lankao freezing plant. This was a turning point in reversing Lankao’s situation and a mobilization meeting for Lankao people to be self-reliant and strive hard. At the meeting, Jiao Yulu beat the drum for the poor and lower-middle peasants of Hancun, Qinzhai, Zhaoduolou, and Shuangyangshu, inviting them to the podium and before thousands, publicly praising their revolutionary spirit. He gathered these revolutionary elements from the masses, summarized them into four phrases: “The spirit of Hancun, the determination of Qinzhai, the energy of Zhaoduolou, the path of Shuangyangshu.” He said: This is Lankao’s new path! It is the path guided by Mao Zedong Thought! He loudly called on all county people to learn these four models, carry forward their revolutionary spirit, lock down sand and wind, control floods, and heroically fight the “three disasters” throughout the county!
This meeting was a great turning point on Lankao’s disaster resistance path. It aroused the masses’ revolutionary enthusiasm, inspired their fighting spirit, and strongly promoted the county’s disaster resistance struggle. It made the names of Hancun and the other three models spread throughout Lankao; it raised the great red flag of Mao Zedong Thought high in the hearts of 360,000 people in Lankao!
Since then, two things have been added to the lives of Lankao people: the “Commendation Order for Striving Hard” and the “Revolutionary Tough Bone Team” naming issued by the county party committee and county people’s committee.
When the Masses Are Most in Difficulty, Communist Party Members Must Appear Before Them
Just as the people of Lankao launched a comprehensive offensive against the three disasters of waterlogging, sand, and alkali, an even more severe disaster struck Lankao. In the autumn of 1963, Lankao County experienced thirteen consecutive days of rain, with rainfall reaching 250 millimeters. Large areas of crops were submerged in depressions and drowned. The county had 110,000 mu of autumn crops lost and 220,000 mu affected.
Jiao Yulu and county party committee comrades devoted themselves fully to production and disaster relief.
It was a winter dusk. The north wind blew stronger and stronger, and the snow fell heavier and heavier. Jiao Yulu heard the sound of wind and snow, leaned against the door, and stared blankly at the snowstorm. After a while, he returned and solemnly said to the office comrades: “In this strong wind and heavy snow, how are the poor and lower-middle peasants living? How are the livestock?” Then he required the county party committee office to immediately notify each commune to do several snow-related tasks. He said, “Listen, remember these: First, all rural cadres must go deep into households, visit the poor and ask about their difficulties, arrange for those without housing, and immediately solve the problem of those without food. Second, all comrades engaged in rural work must thoroughly check cattle sheds, care for old, weak, and sick livestock, and ensure no livestock freezes to death. Third, arrange indoor sideline production properly. Fourth, for those participating in transportation, if people or animals are stranded by the snowstorm on the way, the brigade in whose area they are stranded must warmly accommodate them and ensure they have enough food and warmth. Fifth, educate the whole Party that when heavy snow seals doors, go to the masses and share weal and woe with them. Finally, promptly report the inspection and implementation situation to the county party committee.” The office comrades wrote down his words and immediately sent notifications to each commune by phone.
The wind and snow raged outside all night. The electric light in Jiao Yulu’s house also stayed on all night.
The next day, as soon as the window paper became translucent, he called all comrades in the courtyard to a meeting. Jiao Yulu said, “Comrades, look, this snow is falling heavier and heavier, which will bring many difficulties to the masses. When the snow seals the doors, we cannot sit in the office warming by the fire; we should go among the masses. Communist Party members should appear before the masses when they are most in difficulty and care for and help the masses when they most need help.” These few brief words were carved like a knife in every comrade’s heart. Some had moist eyes; some had many words but could not say them. Their hearts flew to the thatched huts in the icy snow. Everyone immediately set out with relief grain and funds in different directions.
The snowstorm came down like a blanket. The north wind whistled sharply, and the snow was half a foot thick. Jiao Yulu faced the storm without any covering; the ear flaps of his locomotive hat flickered in the wind and snow. At that time, his liver pain often flared up; sometimes, when the pain was severe, he pressed his liver with a pen. Now he did not think about these at all, walking with several young men, stepping on the snow, singing loudly “Nanniwan.” He asked the young men if they had seen the movie “Thousands of Rivers and Mountains.” He said, “Look, this scene is just like a shot in ‘Thousands of Rivers and Mountains!’”
That day, Jiao Yulu did not warm the masses by fire nor drink a drop of water with them. In the snowstorm, he visited dozens of poor and lower-middle peasant households in nine villages. In Liangsunzhuang, he entered a low firewood gate. Here lived an elderly couple with no support. The old man was sick and bedridden; the old woman was blind. Jiao Yulu…Entering the house, he sat by the old man’s bedside, asking about the cold and hunger. The old man asked who he was. He said, “I am your son.” The old man asked why he came on such a snowy day. He said, “Chairman Mao asked me to visit you, elder.” The old woman was so moved that she didn’t know what to say, trembling as she touched Jiao Yulu up and down. Tears welled up in the old man’s eyes as he said, “Before liberation, heavy snow blocked the doors, and the landlord came to force rent, driving me to live under others’ eaves and in their cattle sheds.” Jiao Yulu comforted the old man, saying, “Now that power is in our hands, the disaster and poverty in Lankao will surely be changed.”
During this snowy day grain delivery, Jiao Yulu also saw and heard many deeply moving stories from the poor and lower-middle peasants. Who would have thought that in the face of devastating floods, some production teams repeatedly returned the relief grain and funds given by the state? They said: “Give the relief grain and funds to brother teams who are more in need; we can find ways to support ourselves!”
Jiao Yulu was deeply moved! He saw that Mao Zedong Thought nourished the hearts of the Lankao people like dew. The spirit of self-reliance and hard work called for by the Party, the tough spirit of heroism in the face of difficulties, had become a material force enabling thousands of masses to bravely fight against the sky and disasters. With this spirit, what great disaster could the Lankao people not overcome?
County Party Secretary Should Be a Good “Team Leader”
Jiao Yulu often said that the county party secretary should be good at being a “team leader,” leading the county party committee team well, which requires the team to have unified thoughts and actions. To unify thoughts and actions, Mao Zedong Thought must be the guiding principle.
He thought this way and acted accordingly.
A leader transferred from a prosperous area to the county people’s committee proposed a plan to redecorate the county party committee and county people’s committee leaders’ offices. They wanted to replace tables, chairs, and tea sets with new ones. To look better, they also planned to fill in a sewage pit in the city and build a row of houses on top. Most county party committee members strongly opposed this plan. Some asked, “Where will the money come from? Can we afford it?” This leader, in charge of finance, said, “I’ll be responsible for the expenses.”
However, Jiao Yulu raised a question: “Can’t we revolutionize sitting on broken chairs?” He explained his opinion: “The disaster area’s appearance hasn’t changed, and they still consume a large amount of state-controlled grain; the masses live in hardship. Luxurious things should not only not be done but even thinking about them is dangerous.”
Later, Jiao Yulu talked to this leader several times to help him recognize his mistake. He told him: Lankao is a disaster area, not comparable to a prosperous area. Even in prosperous areas, such plans should not be made. Jiao Yulu advised this leader to live with poor and lower-middle peasants and observe their thoughts and actions. As the team leader of the county party committee, he never imposed his opinions on others. He was very strict with comrades but reasonable, encouraging them to find the strength to correct mistakes from within. Not long after, the leader recognized his mistake and withdrew the “construction plan” himself.
A commune secretary made a mistake at work. At a county party committee meeting, most members advocated disciplining him. But after careful consideration, Jiao Yulu proposed not to discipline him temporarily. He said this comrade was their class brother; disciplining him was necessary but should aim to cure and save. Changing Lankao’s appearance was a tough struggle, so it was better to send him to the hardest place to test and train him, giving him a chance to correct mistakes and contribute to the Party’s cause. Wouldn’t that be better?
The county party committee agreed and decided to send this comrade to the severely affected Zhaoduolou for stationed work. Before leaving, Jiao Yulu invited him, strictly criticized him, kindly expressed hope, and finally said: “Think about it, being a weak soldier, a communist who forgets the people’s interests, how dangerous and shameful that is! Our martyrs shed blood and gave their lives to liberate Lankao; can we not build this place well? Can we be scared or deserters in the face of natural disasters?”
Jiao Yulu’s words struck deeply in this comrade’s heart. The weight of these words was heavier than the harshest disciplinary decision but also filled him with fighting passion. The class and revolutionary comradeship and the Party’s warmth stirred in his heart. With tears in his eyes, he said, “Comrade Jiao Yulu, please rest assured…”
After arriving at Zhaoduolou, this comrade immediately joined the masses in fighting sand and water control. He found the masses’ difficulties and proposed selling his bicycle to help them. The county party committee stopped him and pointed out that the most urgent issue was to ideologically arm the members and lead them to self-reliantly fight the disaster; a bicycle could not solve the problem. Later, Jiao Yulu also went to Zhaoduolou. He cared for the 2,000 or so members there and also cared for this erring class brother.
That winter, the 24 sand dunes that had plagued farmland for years in Zhaoduolou were sealed with yellow clay beneath the sand by the members. They also dug channels to control waterlogging. This team, which had eaten state-controlled grain for seven consecutive seasons, turned over in one season and sold surplus grain.
That same winter of Zhaoduolou’s “turnaround,” the erring comrade also had a change of heart. He took the lead in the disaster resistance struggle and showed great courage. He did not disappoint the Party or Jiao Yulu’s expectations.
Jiao Yulu was born into a poor peasant family in Zibo, Shandong. His father was forced to hang himself by the Kuomintang reactionaries before liberation. He escaped famine as a child, herded cattle for landlords, carried loads, and was even captured by Japanese invaders to dig coal in Northeast China. Carrying family hatred and class hatred, he joined the revolutionary ranks, working at grassroots levels in the army, countryside, and factories. From joining the revolution until becoming county party secretary, he always maintained the character of the working people. He often worked openly and simply among the masses, rolling up his pants. He had as much dirt on him as the poor peasants. His socks were patched repeatedly; when his wife wanted to buy him new ones, he said, “Compared to the poor peasants, what I wear is quite good.” In summer, he didn’t even buy a cooling mat, only spending 40 cents on a reed mat.
Once, he found his child came home late. Upon asking, he found out the child had gone to watch a play. He asked, “Where did you get the ticket?” The child said, “The ticket collector asked me for a ticket; I said I didn’t have one. He asked who I was; I said Secretary Jiao is my father. The collector let me in without a ticket.” Jiao Yulu was very angry and immediately called the family to “scold” them, ordering the child to immediately return the ticket money to the theater. Then he suggested the county party committee draft a notice forbidding any cadre from special treatment and forbidding cadres and their children from “watching free plays”…
“Jiao Yulu is a good team leader and a good example for our county party committee,” “Working under Jiao Yulu’s leadership, the direction is clear, confidence is high, daring to make great achievements, and feeling happy even if exhausted,” said his comrades, opponents, and even those who made mistakes.
He Carried All the People in His Heart, Except Himself
A deputy secretary of the county party committee caught a cold in the countryside; Jiao Yulu called several times, asking him to come back and rest. A comrade in the organization department had a chronic illness; Jiao Yulu did not assign him work, asking him to recuperate. A comrade in the finance committee was ill; Jiao Yulu urged him to go to the hospital for checkups multiple times… In his heart, Jiao Yulu carried all Party members and all the people, except himself.
In spring 1964, just as the Party was leading the Lankao people to victory in the fight against floods, sand, and alkali, Jiao Yulu’s liver disease worsened. Many noticed that during meetings and reports, he often placed his right foot on a chair, pressing his right knee against his liver. The second and third buttons of his cotton jacket were undone, and his left hand was often tucked inside. Careful observation revealed he increasingly used his left hand to press his aching liver or propped himself against the right side of the rattan chair with a hard object. Over time, the chair he sat on developed a large hole on the right side. He never cared about his illness. When asked, he said he used a pain suppression method for his liver pain. Party comrades urged him to recuperate, but he smiled and said, “Illness is a coward; if you suppress it, it won’t bully you.” How much pain he endured secretly, even his family did not know. He truly devoted himself wholeheartedly to the struggle to change Lankao’s appearance.
When Jiao Yulu went to a district committee meeting, the responsible comrades advised him to be hospitalized, but he said, “Spring is when the year’s work is arranged; I can’t be absent!” So he didn’t stay. The district committee invited a famous traditional Chinese medicine doctor to diagnose him and prescribed medicine, but he refused to buy it because it was expensive. He said, “The disaster area masses live in hardship; how can I bear to spend so much on medicine?” Party comrades secretly bought three doses and forced him to take them, but he insisted on not taking a fourth.
One day, cadre Zhang Siyi from the county party committee office rode a bicycle with him to Sanyi Village commune. Halfway there, Jiao Yulu’s liver pain flared up, and he couldn’t ride anymore; they had to push the bicycles slowly. Upon arrival, comrades saw he looked unwell and guessed he was ill again. The commune comrades said, “Rest a bit.” He said, “Talk about your situation; I’m not here to rest.”
While reporting, comrades saw Jiao Yulu pressing his belly and taking notes. His liver pain made his fingers tremble, and the pen dropped several times. The reporting comrades held back tears and could not speak, but he deliberately acted calm and said, “Go on, continue.”
In March 1964, the Lankao people’s struggle to eliminate the “three harms” reached a climax, and Jiao Yulu’s liver disease reached a critical point. Lying in bed, his heart surged toward the land being transformed. He passionately sat at the desk, intending to write an article titled “The Lankao People’s Great Aspirations Dare to Teach the Sun and Moon to Change the Sky.” He drafted four subtitles: 1. Imagination is not reality. 2. Changing a backward area starts with changing leadership thought. Without changing leadership thought, foreign experience cannot be absorbed, and local experience cannot be summarized. 3. The power of example is infinite. 4. Spiritual atomic bomb—spirit turns into matter.
Filled with revolutionary optimism, Jiao Yulu foresaw a bright future for new Lankao from the heroic spirit and practical work of the people. But the article only began when illness forced him to put down his pen. The county party committee decided to send him to hospital.
On the day of departure, due to severe liver pain, he bent over walking to the station. How reluctant he was to leave Lankao! In more than a year, he had visited over 120 of the county’s 149 teams. He had devoted his whole body and soul to the Lankao masses and struggle. Like a commander leaving the front lines in the heat of battle, he felt pain, guilt, and unease deep inside. He often looked back affectionately at everything in Lankao city, hoping to recover soon and return with full energy to fight alongside the masses. He told comrades several times he would return soon. Minutes before the train departed, he solemnly arranged the last task, asking the county party committee comrades to prepare materials well and report the disaster struggle results in detail when he returned.
Alive, I Did Not Cure the Sand Dunes; Dead, I Will Watch You Cure Them!
Kaifeng Hospital transferred Jiao Yulu to Zhengzhou Hospital, which then transferred him to a hospital in Beijing. Before this iron-willed proletarian fighter, doctors marveled at his tenacity against liver pain. They respectfully stood by his bedside for examinations, many leaving with tears.
It was a cold, gloomy day! Doctors issued the final diagnosis: “Late-stage liver cancer, subcutaneous metastasis.” An incurable disease. Comrade Zhao Wenxuan, who sent him for treatment, refused to believe the diagnosis, dumbfounded, repeatedly asking, “What? What?” The doctor said, “Send him back quickly; Comrade Jiao Yulu has at most twenty days left.”
Zhao Wenxuan was stunned and suddenly burst into tears. He pleaded, “Doctor, I beg you, please cure him! Our Lankao is a disaster area; the whole county depends on him, depends on him!”
Everyone present held back tears. The doctor said, “We know Comrade Jiao Yulu’s work situation from the Party organization when he was admitted. Cancer is still a difficult problem, but please tell the Lankao people that we medical workers will use Comrade Jiao Yulu’s revolutionary spirit in fighting difficulties and disasters to strive to overcome this peak as soon as possible.”
Thus, Jiao Yulu was transferred to the affiliated hospital of Henan Medical College in Zhengzhou.
After news of Jiao Yulu’s critical illness reached Lankao, many comrades went to Zhengzhou to visit him. When people came, he never talked about his illness but first asked about county work. He asked if the sand dunes in Zhangzhuang were sealed, if the crops in Zhaoduolou were flooded, how the wheat grew on the saline-alkali land in Qinzhai, how many paulownia trees were planted in old Hanling land…
Once, he specially instructed a county party committee office cadre: “Go back and tell the county party committee comrades to finish the article I didn’t complete; also bring me a handful of wheat ears from the saline-alkali land in Qinzhai so I can see!”
In early May, Jiao Yulu’s condition worsened. At this time, his close comrade, county party committee deputy secretary Zhang Qinli hurried to Zhengzhou to visit him. When Jiao Yulu held Zhang Qinli’s thin hand and looked at him with deep affection in his vacant eyes, Zhang Qinli’s tears rolled down uncontrollably.
Jiao Yulu asked, “I heard it rained heavily in eastern Henan; how heavy? Was there flooding?”
“No.”
“With such heavy rain, how could there be no flooding? Don’t hide it from me.”
“There was no flooding! The drainage project worked.”
Zhang Qinli answered while suppressing grief, telling him about the Lankao people’s victory in disaster resistance and comforting him to rest and recover. He said the change in Lankao’s appearance might be faster than originally estimated.
At that moment, Zhang Qinli saw Jiao Yulu suppressing severe liver pain, cold sweat beads the size of soybeans dripping from his forehead. He wiped the sweat with difficulty and after a while asked, “How is my illness? Why won’t the doctors tell me?”
Zhang Qinli hesitated and finally said, “It’s a decision from the organization.”
Hearing this, Jiao Yulu nodded calmly and said, “Ah, I understand…”
After a while, Jiao Yulu took a photo of himself from his pocket, trembling as he handed it to Zhang Qinli, then said, “Comrade Qinli, now I have something I must tell you. Go back and tell the comrades that I’m not well; you must lead the Lankao people to fight resolutely. The Party trusts us and sent us to lead; we have confidence. We are a disaster area; if I die, don’t spend much money. After I die, I have only one request: that the organization bring me back to Lankao and bury me on the sand dunes. Alive, I did not cure the sand dunes; dead, I will watch you cure them!”
Zhang Qinli could no longer hold back his grief; he looked at Jiao Yulu, his nose stinging, almost crying out loud. He tearfully bid farewell to his closest class comrade…
No one expected this to be the last farewell between Jiao Yulu and the people and Party organization of Lankao County.
On May 14, 1964, Comrade Jiao Yulu passed away at the age of 42.
In his final moments, two responsible comrades from the Henan Provincial Party Committee and Kaifeng District Committee stayed by his bedside. He intermittently said his last words to these representatives of the higher Party organization: “I… have not… completed… the tasks… entrusted by the Party.”
After his death, two books were found under his pillow: one was the “Selected Works of Mao Zedong,” and the other was “On the Cultivation of Communists.”[2]
He Has Not Died; He Is Still Alive
A year later, in spring 1965, dozens of poor peasant representatives and cadres from Lankao County specially came to Jiao Yulu’s grave. When the poor peasants saw his grave, it was as if they saw their county party secretary, the person they would never forget.
A year ago, he was still in Lankao, working day and night with the poor and lower-middle peasants on the front lines of the disaster struggle. How could people forget that on those days when heavy snow blocked doors, he brought the Party’s warmth to the poor peasants’ thatched gates; on the days of floods, he leaned on a stick and visited villages despite illness. He held high the red light of Mao Zedong Thought, illuminating the path of self-reliance for the Lankao people; he led them to reverse the situation and inspire revolutionary spirit; he called out to “lock the wind and sand, subdue the floods”; he discovered the revolutionary “hard bone” spirit among the poor peasants and spread it throughout the county… All this was so familiar and dear! Who would have thought such a revolutionary full of vitality would leave Lankao when the people needed him most?
One by one, people stood tearfully at his grave. An old poor peasant sobbed out the voice of 360,000 Lankao people:
“Our good secretary, you worked yourself to death for the Lankao people. You worried about us poor peasants in hard times and suffered with us. Now that we are better off and Lankao has turned around, you are alone here…”
This was the Lankao people’s mourning for their relative and class comrade, and the highest praise for a Communist Party member who gave his life for their interests.
In the year after Jiao Yulu’s death, all Party members and people of Lankao County watered the land with tears and sweat. The blueprint for transforming Lankao’s nature, advocated by Jiao Yulu three years earlier, became reality after three years of hard work. Lankao, a historically grain-deficient county in eastern Henan, achieved preliminary grain self-sufficiency in 1965. Of the county’s 2,574 production teams, except for about 300 teams producing cotton and oil crops, the rest gradually became self-sufficient, with many having grain reserves. In 1965, Lankao endured 68 consecutive days of drought; from winter 1964 to spring 1965, 72 strong winds blew without causing damage to crops from sandstorms. Thousands of forest belts in the 190,000 mu sand area began to lock the wind and sand. That autumn, 384 mm of heavy rain fell continuously, yet no team suffered disaster.
The article Jiao Yulu did not finish was collectively completed by 360,000 Lankao people on Lankao’s land. It is an article full of human smiles and shining with the brilliance of Mao Zedong Thought. In it, the Lankao people laugh at the undulating sand dunes “patched and stitched,” laugh as the raging floods obediently return to the river channels, laugh as the old alkali pits where no grass grew for generations now show green crops, laugh as the natural tyrant that oppressed people for centuries can no longer arbitrarily control their fate in the great Mao Zedong era.
Although Jiao Yulu passed away, the revolutionary seed of self-reliance he sowed in Lankao is sprouting and growing. The red light of Mao Zedong Thought he brought to the people shines brighter and brighter. His noble character of wholeheartedly serving the revolution and the masses has become a model for all cadres and people in the county. All these precious spiritual wealth have now transformed into a powerful material force, pushing the Lankao people to continue bravely advancing on the road of self-reliance and hard work. The change in the Lankao disaster area is only the beginning of the Lankao people’s conquest of nature. In this great struggle to advance toward nature, they not only aim to completely remove the disaster area label but also to continuously revolutionize, gradually transforming most farmland into drought- and flood-resistant stable high-yield fields, gradually achieving the “agricultural development outline” production targets, “crossing the Yangtze River,” and building a new socialist Lankao.
Comrade Jiao Yulu, you did not disappoint the Party’s hopes; you excellently completed the tasks entrusted by the Party. The Lankao people will never forget you. You deserve to be a good Party member nurtured by Mao Zedong Thought, a good cadre of the Party, and a good son of the people! You represent the image of countless Communist Party members and revolutionary heroes among the poor peasants who stand firm in the face of severe natural disasters. You have not died; you will live forever in the hearts of millions!
Wu Lengxi was then the president of the People’s Daily. According to Wikipedia, during the Great Leap Forward, he cooperated with Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping in promoting the “Communist wind” and “satellite” campaigns; after the Cultural Revolution, he was promoted to Guangdong Provincial Party Secretary and then Minister of Radio, Film and Television. He is roughly considered a counter-revolutionary revisionist. ↩︎
This also mentions Jiao Yulu studying Liu Shaoqi’s “On the Cultivation of Communists,” which I suspect might be a deliberate historical distortion by the capitalist roaders. Because if Comrade Jiao Yulu had really studied this poisonous article, the Red Guards would certainly have criticized his errors during the Cultural Revolution. However, according to available online materials, the People’s Daily and Red Flag magazine repeatedly praised Comrade Jiao Yulu’s selfless spirit, so he probably did not study “On the Cultivation of Communists.” ↩︎