Warrior of Steel Armed with Chairman Mao Thought – Mai Xiande

Image via Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, UofT, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Mai Xiande (born 1945) is a Chinese naval hero in the People’s Liberation Army Navy, celebrated for his extraordinary bravery during a 1965 naval battle and honored with the national title of “People’s Hero.”

Mai Xiande was born into a poor boat family in Raoping County, Guangdong Province, China, in 1945. He left school after completing the first year of junior high in 1961 and joined the local commune labor team. In March 1964, he enlisted in the People’s Liberation Army Navy and attended a naval academy in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province. After graduation, he was assigned as an electromechanical engineer to the corvette Hull No. 611, 4th Squadron of the 41st Corvette Group, where he operated key naval machinery.

On the morning of August 5, 1965, during a confrontation with Taiwanese naval vessels near Dongshan Island, Mai Xiande’s corvette came under heavy fire. The ship sustained severe damage in its engine room, and Mai himself was struck by high-temperature shrapnel in the head. Despite suffering serious brain injury, loss of consciousness, and extreme physical pain, he regained control and worked in the dark, violently shaking engine room to keep the engines operational, ultimately helping his ship maintain speed and contributing to the sinking of the enemy vessels after a three-hour struggle. This extraordinary act of bravery earned him the title of Fighting Hero from the Ministry of National Defense on February 23, 1966, along with a first-class merit citation.

This poster "Warrior of Steel Armed with Chairman Mao Thought – Mai Xiande" was published in 1966.

On the right side of the poster "The General Political Department Appeals to All Soldiers to Learn from the Warrior of Steel Mai Xiande" it says:

"The People's Liberation Army General Political Department issues this announcement to appeal to all officials and soldiers to learn from Mai Xiande.

To learn from Comrade Mai Xiande, we need:

1. to study and apply the works of Chairman Mao in a lively way with deep class consciousness, placing extreme effort on the term "apply". In any work and under any circumstance, we should follow the guide of Chairman Mao. We shall earnestly practice Chairman Mao's teachings of "serving the people whole-heartedly," "proceeding in all cases from the interests of the people," "utter devotion to others without any thought of self," and "enduring hardship precedes enjoying comforts." When the interests of the people are in need, we should give all of ourself without any hesitation.

2. to treat the revolutionary work, military service, and bloodshed and sacrifice in the battle as ways of meeting the obligation of the great enterprise of communism; to have no concern over money, reward, hardship, and glory at work; and to commit the whole life willingly to becoming the proletarian "volunteer soldier" fighting for the communist enterprise.

3. to grip the rifle tightly and "to be ready at all times to wipe out any enemy who dares to invade us"; to be alert to any troubles made by US Imperialism and any other reactionaries; and to carry forward the tradition of revolutionary heroism of our army, having no fear over anything but being brave, tenacious, and invincible, to eventually surmount every difficulty to win victory and trump all enemies.