Carrying Forward Fine Traditions and Transforming Them into Custom — the Red Dish Spirit Has Successors
The "Red First Company" of a certain brigade under the 83rd Group Army carries forward fine traditions and transforms them into custom — the Red Dish Spirit Has Successors
■ Qin Zhaopeng, PLA Daily Special Correspondent Qu Kaiming
As Army Day approached, the "Red First Company" of a certain brigade under the 83rd Group Army organized a storytelling session at its field training site.
College-graduate soldier Dai Zhifei was the first to take the stage, sharing his personal growth experience. When he first arrived at the company, Dai Zhifei noticed something: every night before lights-out, comrades would always be discussing stories from the company's history; the theory books on the reading room shelves had been thumbed through so many times that their edges had curled.
At first, Dai Zhifei could not work up any interest in theoretical study. Whenever the company organized discussion sessions, he would always find ways, consciously or not, to hang back. After one theoretical study session ended, Political Instructor Wu called on him by name to share his thoughts. His face flushed red, and he could not get out a single word for a long time.
A soldier of the "Red First Company" lacking in theoretical grounding — how could that do? The company planned to organize a situational education class (情景教育课) on carrying forward fine traditions, and Political Instructor Wu specifically arranged for Dai Zhifei to play Guo Daxi, a "model soldier in studying Mao Zedong Thought and theory." Dai Zhifei was somewhat reluctant, but agreed nonetheless. In order to portray his company predecessor well, Dai Zhifei searched for clues and traced the threads of the story, and gradually became interested in the question of how Guo Daxi "studied theory well." From initial indifference to full immersive identification by the time of the performance, the Guo Daxi portrayed by Dai Zhifei was evaluated by officers and soldiers as having been "brought to life."
"Before, I always thought that as long as your military skills were solid, that was enough. This experience made me understand that the confidence behind the 'Red First Company's' record of victory in every battle comes from the firm faith and conviction held in the heart," said Dai Zhifei. Soldiers of the "Red First Company" must not only be strong militarily and strict in conduct — their theoretical grounding cannot "drop the chain" either.
The "Red First Company," known as the "birthplace of the military's soul (军魂发源地)," has consistently upheld arming officers and soldiers with the Party's innovative theories and shaping officers and soldiers through the unit's fine traditions. It has explored and developed a "five-study" approach (五学路子) — "branch-organized study, system-promoted study, Party-member-led study, backbone-assisted study, and situational-aided study" — so that theoretical study is integrated into daily life and pursued on a regular basis.
Inside the "Red First Company's" company history museum, a red enamel dish, mottled with age, is quietly displayed. It is known as the company's heirloom — during the Long March, Comrade Mao Zedong once used it to share a meal with the company's officers and soldiers. Treasured for many years, the red dish bears witness to the hard and glorious years of unity between officers and soldiers and sharing of hardships and joys.
This year marks the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army's Long March. At the storytelling session, the company carefully arranged a situational study segment in which officers and soldiers, centering on the theme of "the Red Dish Spirit in my heart," used soldiers' own words to tell stories of the company's officers and soldiers carrying on fine traditions.
On the stage, soldier Liu Yang's sharing resonated with the officers and soldiers present. "The Red Dish Spirit in my heart is reflected in this year's work of constructing the field training camp," Liu Yang said. Field training involves many threads and heavy tasks, but the company's Party member cadres went deep to the front lines of the work, competing to take on the dirty and exhausting jobs, and everyone fought side by side to complete the camp construction ahead of schedule.
Political Instructor Wu told the reporter that the Red Dish Spirit is the company's precious spiritual wealth. Today, the red dish has long since been replaced by individual serving trays, and the red rice and pumpkin soup on the table have given way to five dishes and a soup, but the conduct education (作风教育) of unity between officers and soldiers and sharing of hardships and joys has never been interrupted: every time a company commander is rotated out, the red dish is handed over in the turnover; every time a major task is carried out, the story of the red dish is used to mobilize the troops.
"The best way to carry forward tradition is to bring it into the lives of officers and soldiers and put it into practice," Political Instructor Wu explained. In the practice of carrying on fine traditions, the company has developed a set of distinctive approaches — through such forms as Party members' "five takes the lead (五个带头)" and "standing guard duty in place of soldiers," guiding Party member cadres to translate fine traditions into concrete actions that officers and soldiers can see and feel.