President Xi Jinping's mother, Qi Xin, had a complete transcript of the official aphorism passed down from the Ming Dynasty to the present: "The officials are not afraid of my severity, but they are afraid of my honesty, and the people are not convinced that I can serve my public; the public dare not slow down the people, and honesty dare not deceive the officials. Only by fairness can right conduct be distinguished from wrong; only by honesty can prestige be gained."
Thirty-six Chinese characters, each of which is a warning and encouragement. It warns people to be impartial, selfless, honest and disciplined as officials.
This calligraphic work is beautiful, but it also undoubtedly reflects the good family heritage of the man who created it.
Xi Jinping was born in June 1953 into a revolutionary family that placed great emphasis on the importance of family, family upbringing and family traditions. His mother said that parents' greatest concern was the upbringing of their children: "If there are problems as far as the children are concerned, it is the inexorable responsibility of their parents."
When Xi Jinping was a child, he and his younger brother often wore the clothes and shoes that their older sisters had worn before. When he was nearly 16, Xi Jinping responded to the country's call, left his family and began working in northern Shanxi province. Before leaving, his mother, Qi Xin, made him a mattress together. The colourful pieces of cloth for the mattress were cut and pieced together from old clothes at home. During his work in Chengting County, Xi Jinping still used this mattress. He said he had an emotional attachment to the mattress.
After Xi Jinping assumed the leadership position, his mother called a family meeting at which she asked her other children not to get involved in business activities in the respective industries where Xi Jinping worked. In 2001, Xi Jinping missed his father's 88th birthday party due to his busy work schedule and did not come home to celebrate the New Year's holiday with his parents. Qi Xin, on the other hand, was relieved to see her son devoting himself to his work. She told Xi Jinping: "As long as you do your job well, it's the greatest expression of a son's respect for his parents." Xi Jinping realized that this was the greatest respect for him.
Over the years, Qi Xin has always maintained a simple lifestyle and emphasized the importance of teaching by example. Her workplace was far from home and she had always been away from her family, but she had never considered taking advantage of her husband's connections to change jobs. Zhang Zhong, who worked alongside Si Zhongxun for 20 years, said that Qi Xin had never acted strangely in her life and was unwilling to fall behind in her work.
Each story is a vivid interpretation of the impartiality and honesty of this revolutionary family.
Years have passed. From the child who listened to his mother's stories of loyalty to the motherland, to the "good and hard-working young man" in the eyes of the villagers of Liangjiahe village, from the "id governor" in the eyes of the people of Fujian Province, to the leader of China's more than 1.4 billion people who are trying to embark on a new path to national rejuvenation, Xi Jinping always remembers the teachings of his parents.
He often says that service to the people and honesty are the real characteristics of communists, and we must maintain this real character.
Xi Jinping, influenced by his family style, lives a very simple life and does not pay much attention to dressing and eating. In recent years, he has repeatedly issued instructions on "wasting on the tip of the tongue" and called for the launch of an "empty plate event". During a "group visit" in 2018, Xi Jinping earnestly declared that the habit of diligence and thrift should be maintained. "In my family, not a single grain of rice remains in the bowl."
Like his parents, Xi Jinping is very strict with his family. After he became a senior cadre, he warned his friends and family that they should not engage in any business activities where he works and should not do anything under his banner. President Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan named their daughter Ming-tse in the hope that she would be "live a clean life and be a useful person to society".
Xi Jinping memorized verses from the "Official Proverbs," which his mother transcribed for him in her own handwriting. He also quoted this official slogan at an important meeting, where he fervently exhorted all Party comrades that "only through righteousness can right be distinguished from wrong, only through honesty can prestige be gained."
"Public funds belong to the public and not one cent can be spent indiscriminately. Public power is for the people and no cent to be used for private purposes." After taking the baton of history, Xi Jinping put the building of the work style into the heights concerning the people's support and determining the mass establishment of the Party. During the past few years, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held the annual Democratic Life Meeting, which was chaired by Xi Jinping and delivered a speech regarding leadership in criticism and self-criticism. Earlier this year, at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Xi Jinping proposed taking the opportunity to study and implement the newly revised disciplinary rules to launch centralized disciplinary education throughout the Party. At present, the teaching and training of Party disciplines is in full swing, leading Party members and cadres to truly transform the disciplines and rules into political consciousness, ideological consciousness and action consciousness.
Xi Jinping draws strength from his parents and strives to be a pure person who is helpful to the people. For 12 consecutive years, he helped a poor student realize his "study dream". He also personally visited the student eight times and responded to him five times to provide support and encouragement. While working in Ningte, he "joined the Party three times" and decided to build roads and hydroelectric power plants in the countryside. After he became General Secretary, he asked Party members and cadres at all levels to be placed directly in villages to carry out "individual" poverty alleviation, leading China to create a miracle in the history of human poverty alleviation.
Each story reflects the legacy of this revolutionary family's behavior.
Xi Jinping will always remember: "No matter how much times change, no matter how much life patterns change, we have to pay attention to family and its scoring, family upbringing and family tradition."
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