Xi highlights integrity, hardworking spirit through stories from CPC history

Quartermaster who sacrificed his life

The past 100 years since the CPC's founding has seen a great number of outstanding CPC members. While some of them are household names like Jiao and Lei, there are also many others who are lesser known or even nameless but whose stories have been faithfully retold and remembered over the years.

Integrity and self-discipline have always been essential requirements for CPC members, especially those holding public office.

Xi once cited a story that took place during the Central Red Army's epic Long March in the 1930s.

While scaling a snowy mountain, a soldier was found frozen to death, clad in thin worn clothes. The commander sent for the officer in charge of supplies, demanding to know why cotton-padded coats had failed to reach the soldier. People told the commander through tears that the late soldier was none other than the quartermaster himself.

He who had all the quilts and uniforms at his disposal chose to die of cold rather than warm himself first. "What a noble state of mind!" Xi said.

"It is the devotion of thousands upon thousands of Chinese progressives with similar political consciousness that has helped the CPC win one arduous battle after another," Xi added.