According to The Times, Lei Feng and his fellow national heroes are set to officially become less revolutionary “martyrs”:
About 340,000 families across the country currently take pride in a relative who has been awarded the title of “Revolutionary Martyr”. That custom is set to change with the intent of better reflecting the new face of China.
A draft of the new rules, with the word “Revolutionary” removed, has been published for public comment for a week – a move that signals that the change is a foregone conclusion.
Under the new system those put forward for the title of “Martyr” will no longer have to be socialists, and anyone who has died as a publicly accepted hero could qualify for martyrdom. Currently a martyr is someone “killed by his enemy when carrying out revolutionary tasks”.
