Huang Baomei, The First Model Worker In New China: Spinning For The People All Her Life

Huang baomei still remembers three important moments in her life: the first was in November 1952. Due to her hard work and outstanding achievements, she became a glorious Communist Party member at the age of 21.

The second was in February 1956, when she met chairman Mao in Shanghai“ The president told me that the textile mills are good, and it is up to you to dress the people of the country. " Since then, she has never been an actress or a cadre, and "spinning for the people" has become her lifelong career.

The third is November 2019. General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Yangpu Binjiang and encouraged her to speak more to young people and strengthen their confidence in the road, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Huang baomei, a 13-year-old child laborer in a Japanese cotton mill, has been rated as a model worker in Shanghai, the Ministry of textile industry and the whole country for seven times, and now she is a host in bilibilibili, giving party lectures to young people. When she is old, Huang baomei, who won the "July 1 Medal", is a "witness, participant and devotee" of the development of new China under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

Huang baomei looks at her old photos of working as a textile woman at her home in Shanghai (taken on June 10). Photo by Liu Ying, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency

　　 "Spinning for the people"

[spinning for the people must work hard]

Huang baomei, 90, had just returned from the community after the second dose of the new coronal vaccine. She was full of silver hair, with a smile on her face, a straight back, full of air in her speech, and she was not old-fashioned at all.

"When I was 13 years old, I worked as a child laborer in a Japanese factory in Shanghai. I got up at 4 a.m. every day and walked dozens of kilometers in the factory." Huang baomei said.

Huang baomei was born in Shanghai in 1931. Her parents were eager to name her "baomei". Unfortunately, when there are internal and external troubles, who can be a "baby"?

In 1944, at the age of 13, she entered the Japanese Yufeng cotton mill as a child laborer“ At that time, I worked 12 hours a day without sunshine. I didn't say that my legs were sore and my fingers were bleeding. If the yarn breaks and doesn't connect, he will be beaten by "namovan" (Foreman). You can't go home until you've been copied at night. " Huang baomei said.

On May 27, 1949, Shanghai was liberated“ The army of the people's Liberation Army is everywhere on the road. " Huang baomei recalled. In Shanghai guomian No.17 factory, she ushered in a rebirth. "At that time, I thought that since the Communist Party was serving the people, spinning was also serving the people, so I worked as hard as I could."

[the first generation of model workers in New China]

At that time, materials were scarce, and Shanghai's textile industry accounted for half of the country's total. Textile mills calculated and calculated, "wasting one or two roller flowers is equivalent to three bowls of white rice.". Huang baomei, as a car stopper, tries to reduce the waste of roller flowers in the spinning process. She has explored the operation method of "single line tour, two-sided care, no turning back", which can not only save one third of manpower, but also enable the machine to run 24 hours without shutdown. After the promotion, the factory implemented an 8-hour working system.

At that time, among all the female workers in the No.17 factory, Huang baomei's roller flowers were the least and the waste was the least. Only 0.3% of the 23 yarns she spun had roller flowers. Because of her outstanding work performance, Huang baomei emerged from hundreds of thousands of spinning workers in Shanghai in 1953 and became a model worker of the Ministry of textile industry of China. In 1956 and 1959, she was twice rated as a national model worker.

"In 1956, I met chairman Mao in Shanghai. Chairman Mao asked me what I do. I said, I'm in a textile mill. Chairman Mao said that if the textile mills are good, it is up to you for the people of the whole country to wear their clothes. " Thinking of her journey to Beijing to attend the meeting on the train, she saw that farmers could only grow crops in the fields without their backs. Huang baomei made this sentence a lifelong commitment: spinning for the people.

　 "Actors do not do, cadres do not do"

"Play yourself" in the movie

"This film is based on the real deeds of Comrade Huang baomei of the 17th national cotton factory in Shanghai, and it is also performed by the person who created these lives."

In 1958, the 48 minute black-and-white film Huang baomei, directed by Xie Jin, was shot, which caused a nationwide sensation. Including Huang baomei, who is in her 20s, more than 10 people who are out of production in Shanghai guomian No.17 factory are "acting themselves".

The film tells the story of persistence without "ups and downs": the quality of Huang baomei's yarn is still excellent when she "switches" the machine with other female workers; In the competition, she led the team to eliminate the "white spots" on her head in 4.5 hours to reduce waste; A scene of "switching" machines has triggered a big discussion on "whether people master machines or machines master people" -- Huang baomei believes that people should master machines, but not machines.

[my position will always be in the workshop]

In 1959, "Huang baomei" and "Lin Zexu" and "five golden flowers" were sent to Beijing as gifts for the 10th anniversary of the national day. Many leaders have said that the film "Huang baomei" was made successfully and highly appraised, and suggested that Huang baomei be a professional actress.

Huang baomei knows in her heart that she is not a professional actress, and the director has no high requirements for her“ If you are a professional actor, the requirements will be different. You can't even run the trick. "

At the age of 26, the organization appointed Huang baomei as a cadre. After a few days, she was "not feeling well" and solemnly proposed to return to the garage. Huang baomei has always believed in "professionalism" and "my position is always in the workshop". At the end of 1986 and the beginning of 1987, after working in the workshop for more than 40 years, she retired at the age of 55.

In the 1980s, Huang baomei was also "seconded" to Qidong, Jiangsu Province to help set up Junan cotton spinning factory. At that time, cotton textile raw materials and machinery equipment were in great demand. Huang baomei went to Beijing and Qingdao to run for the enterprise day and night. When she left three years later, the small village factory was already very prosperous. After her retirement, she continued to glow with enthusiasm, participated in the construction of many cotton mills in many places and "free" to help.

Huang baomei looks at her old photos at her home in Shanghai (taken on June 10). Photo by Liu Ying, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency

　　 "Party members never retire"

"Post-90s" in BiliBili

Today, Huang baomei lives with her son and daughter-in-law for four generations. Huang baomei, who has lived in Yangpu Binjiang all her life, witnessed the earth shaking changes in Shanghai and witnessed the transformation of Yangpu Binjiang from "industrial rust belt" to "life show belt". From "Miss Huang" and "mother Huang" to "Granny Huang" with silver hair, she has found a new way to tell the younger generation about the party history.

After returning to the community, she used her "embroidery" efforts to persuade community residents to actively participate in the construction of "good neighborly home"; Since the outbreak of new crown pneumonia, she has played a vanguard and exemplary role, leading her children and grandchildren to donate money together with the residents of the community to send love to the "city Guardian".

As a member of Shanghai's 100 year old moral education lecturer group and Yang Pu District's "golden sunset" veteran cadre's positive energy studio, she often goes to schools and companies to give party lectures. In October 2020, her party class will be broadcast live in Bili Bili. "We should take the baton of our predecessors" and "praise grandma Huang for the people's feelings" -- young netizens said during the live broadcast.

[life and struggle]

On November 2, 2019, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Shanghai. At the "renrenrenwu" party masses Service Station in Yangpu riverside public space, Huang baomei told the general secretary about her life and realized the development and prosperity of new China she witnessed.

"The general secretary told me to talk to young people more in the future." Huang baomei said that when Communist Party members quit, she wanted to mobilize young people to work together to build the country. "People who listen to the class say that I speak well, and that Granny should talk more. Now that's how I am. As long as my energy permits, I will talk more about it. "

Many people who have heard Huang baomei's lecture said: "Granny Huang's life story and moral demeanor is a vivid book. In her, patriotism is no longer abstract and empty, but can be touched and felt

After winning the "July 1 Medal", Huang baomei felt that her responsibility was heavier“‘ It is very heavy on the chest. It represents a kind of spiritual strength and the mission of Party members. " Huang baomei said, "I am an ordinary worker. I never thought that the party and the state would give me such a high honor. I am still in good health. I should continue to take root in Shanghai's grass-roots communities and live and struggle. "

(source: Xinhua)