"Let the funeral be simple."
"The relevant subsidies and expenses of the recipients of the 'Republic Medal' shall be paid party dues."
Shen Jilan died of illness on June 28, 2020 in Changzhi City, Shanxi Province at the age of 91. These are the only two last wishes she handed over to her as she lay dying.
Shen Jilan was awarded the titles of "National Model Worker", "National Outstanding Communist Party Member", "Reform Pioneer", "Most Beautiful Struggler", etc. In 2009, he was elected "100 people who have touched China since the founding of New China". In 2019, he was awarded the "Medal of the Republic".
"In her whole life, she never changed her original intention, and the spirit of Jilan, a national hero, has always been famous." The elegiac couplets on both sides of the mourning hall told her all her life.
On January 22, 2019, Shen Jilan walked on the street in Xigou Village, Pingshun County, Shanxi Province. Photographed by Zhan Yan, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency
"We should establish the Party for the public, keep clean hands and be upright"
In the 1990s, when the village started to set up an enterprise, Shen Jilan and the "brigade" went out to investigate. They were reluctant to spend a penny of the village's money to eat noodles. Several people had to run around for a day before they came back to make a fire. In her mind, the interests of the Party, the country and the collective are always ahead of her.
In those days, "Stone Mountain and Stone Head Ditch, everyone worried", she did not shrink back, and led everyone to just turn the stone mountain green; Later, she led everyone to engage in collective economy, and successively introduced and developed aluminum plants, walnut dew enterprises, etc. In response to the call of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to protect the environment and not leave pollution to future generations, Shen Jilan and Xigou villagers decided to demolish the ferroalloy plant that does not meet the national industrial policies and environmental requirements, and look for a new development orientation. She led the villagers to transform and develop, "follow the Party's policies. If it is necessary to shut down, resolutely shut down!" Under her leadership, Xigou Village completed the "track transfer", and the red tourism industry and greenhouse industry accelerated their development.
Every time a group visits Xigou Village to study, Shen Jilan will introduce to everyone at the Xigou Village Hall: the earth shaking changes that have taken place in the countryside under the leadership of the Party in more than half a century. "My words are a farmer's sincere gratitude to the Party."
Shen Jilan's original intention is to follow the Party forever. "The Communist Party is to serve the people wholeheartedly, establish the party for the public, clean hands and be upright." Shen Jilan said, "There is nothing that cannot be done according to the requirements of the party."
On June 13, 2011, Shen Jilan (middle) communicated with villagers in Xigou Village, Pingshun County, Shanxi Province. Photographed by Yan Yan, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency
"Speak and act on behalf of the people"
After being elected for the first time at the age of 25, Shen Jilan is the only deputy to the National People's Congress who has been re elected for 13 consecutive terms. She witnessed the birth and growth of the People's Congress system, and also fulfilled the responsibilities and mission of a NPC deputy.
In 1952, with Shen Jilan's unremitting efforts, Xigou Village realized that "men and women should do the same work and remember the same work points". Then her story was reported, which promoted the inclusion of "equal pay for equal work for men and women" in the Constitution. She also became a "pioneer" and "model worker" in fighting for women's rights.
"I was born in a farmer's family. When I was a deputy to the National People's Congress, I should represent the people, speak on behalf of the people, and act on behalf of the people." Shen Jilan's proposals and suggestions have always focused on the countryside and farmers, from "every village should have access to cement roads" to "building roads should not occupy farmland", from "doing well in water conservancy construction in mountain areas" to "how to get rich in old areas", and from "new rural cooperative medical care" To "improve the quality of rural education", from "rural cadre election" to "tourism development in poor areas" These proposals and suggestions from rural areas and grass-roots units, which have gathered her painstaking efforts, have been constantly adopted and fulfilled. Behind the long suggestions and proposals, there are full of concerns and feelings about speaking for the people.
On the morning of May 22, 2020, Shen Jilan, a NPC deputy, came to the Great Hall of the People early to attend the opening ceremony of the Third Session of the 13th National People's Congress. Photographed by Yao Dawei, reporter of Xinhua News Agency
"My roots are in the countryside, and I am just a farmer"
From 1973 to 1983, Shen Jilan served as the director of Shanxi Provincial Women's Federation for ten years. She insisted on "not changing her household registration, not determining her rank, not receiving salary, not housing, not adjusting her working relationship, and not separating from labor". She insisted that she was just a farmer all her life.
There are many stone piers and stone benches at the gate of Xigou Village Committee and on both sides of the village road. Villagers like to sit on them and chat when they have nothing to do. So does Shen Jilan. Villagers sometimes sit at the roadside with bowls to eat, and occasionally they meet Shen Jilan with bowls.
Standing on the roadside of the village, you can see a small piece of corn field of Shen Jilan. The green seedlings are taller and stronger than those in the surrounding fields. Zhang Xianghe, Shen Jilan's neighbor, said, "She said that farming is the same as being a man. People coax the land, and the land coaxes the belly. When farming, people actually plant the land. When others use fertilizer at home, she insists on throwing dung on her own land."
On March 23, 2019, Shen Jilan (third from left) shared the spirit of the National Two Sessions with villagers in Xigou Village, Pingshun County, Shanxi Province. Photographed by Cao Yang, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency
On the morning of June 27, 2020, Shen Jilan's condition suddenly worsened. After full rescue and conscious, she spent one hour discussing the work arrangement of the village for the last time with Guo Xuegang, then the secretary of the General Party Branch of Xigou Village.
After the death of Shen Jilan, there was still an endless stream of people coming to Xigou Village to visit and study. The worn leather chair in the township government silently told the story and spirit of "Sister Shen"'s loyalty to the party, dedication to the people, dedication, reform and innovation to a group of visitors. Villagers said that although Shen Jilan was gone, her contribution will be remembered forever, her spirit will never end, and her story will always be handed down, echoing in the Taihang Mountains forever.
(Prepared by: Wang Zifeng Source: People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily. com)
