Jon sez

Learn from Lei Feng: "Although Lei could be termed a nobody, he left behind a diary which became an object of national study after 5 March 1963, when Chairman Mao Zedong called on the nation to learn from the 24-year-old martyr by penning the inscription Xiang Lei Feng tongzhi xuexi (Learn from Comrade Lei Feng). His diary was reprinted for study, photographs of Lei in action all of a sudden turned up, movies were made about his life, stills from these movies were turned into comic strips; posters bearing his image were produced in staggering quantities. It has always been something of a miracle that such an unprepossessing person could have made such an impact, and could have left so many pictures and written materials, even before he died. Recent (2006) scholarship proves that already in September 1960, Lei had been designated as an "Economizing Model Soldier", after which an emulation campaign in the Army was started. For this purpose, most of the materials that later were used in the nation-wide campaign had been prepared."

I've probably just gotten us banned by the Great Firewall of China for quoting scholarship that doubts the validity of a national hero. Oops.