A portrait of Zhang Side
Zhang Side was born in a poor tenant-peasant family of Hanjiawan,
Liuhechang, Yilong County, Sichuan Province on April 19(the sixth day of third
lunar month), 1915. Before he was one year old, his mother died. He was brought
up by his aunt. When he was 12 years old, he began to feed the cattle and mow
grasses for the landlord. In September 1933, the Red Army came to his hometown
and established the revolutionary regime. He actively joined the Young Pioneers
of China and was elected a team leader. He was conscientious in assisting the
Red Army and militia to stand guard and search bad person. He joined the Red
Army in December 1933 and before long the Communist Youth league of China. In
October 1937, he joined the Communist Party of China (CPC). In a fighting
against the six-side siege, his legs were injured twice but he still rushed into
the enemy' position to capture two machine guns. In June 1935, the
4th Front Red Army joined force with the Central Red Army in Maogong
of Sichuan and continued to march north. During the Long March, he had crossed
the snow mountains and grasslands two times.
After he arrived in the North Shanxi, he was nominated as the leader of
Communication squad of the Guard Battalion of the Central Military Commission.
In several years' work, he worked hard and perfectly fulfilled his duties.
In the early summer of 1940, the Kuomintang's diehards carried out the
military "encirclements" and economic blockade in the border areas. To resolve
the heating problem of the central organs in winter, he led his squad to burn
charcoals in Tuhuanggou north to Yan'an. After three-month hard work, he
successfully delivered 40-ton charcoals to Yan'an.
In 1941, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression came into the
hardest period. In order to get over the economic difficulty of enemy's
blockade, he opened up wasteland in Nanniwan along with the guard battalion. He
led the squad to overcome many difficulties in life and complete production
tasks given by the superior. Meanwhile, he also shouldered the communication
work as usual, working hard at day and sending message on foot at night
regardless of fatigue for the sake of fulfilling the task of communication
In the winter of 1942, he retuned to Yanan from Nanniwan. Latter a leader
transferred him, head of a squad, to another squad as a common serviceman due to
the change of staffing of the troops. But he subjected to the needs of
revolution without any complaint and thought of individual success and failure.
In early summer of 1943, he was transferred to Zaoyuan Internal Guard Squad and
worked as a guard for Chairman Mao.
In 1944, the Party organization assigned him to burn charcoal in Ansai
County. On September 5, when he was working in the kiln, the kiln collapsed all
of a sudden, and then he sacrificed his young life.
On the afternoon of September 8, 1944, the organs directly under the CPC
Central Committee held a grand funeral ceremony, at which Chairman Mao Zedong
inscribed the elegiac words of "salute to Comrade Zhang Side who sacrifices his
life for the benefit of people" and attended the funeral ceremony in person. At
the ceremony, Mao Zedong made the important speech of Serve the People
, highly praising his lofty morality of serving the people wholeheartedly that
he "died for the benefit of people, and his death is indeed heavier than Mount
Tai".
(July 12, PLA Daily)
Zhang Side (left) and his buddies are producing charcoal. This
is the only photo of Zhang Side which has ever been discovered.
The bronze statue of Zhang Side
Zhang Side's tomb is situated at Zaoyuan of Yan'an City, Shaanxi
Province. In the front of the tomb is a huge stone on which the inscription
"Serving the People" written by Mao Zedong in his own hand is deeply cut and on
the top of the tomb stands Zhang Side's bust in relief.