Zhang Side
Serve the People!Zhang Side is presented as a soldier of the revolutionary forces who died while serving the people. The novel supplies no detailed account of his life or the circumstances of his death; instead, his significance arrives through Mao Zedong’s commemorative speech, reproduced near the novel’s end. There, his death becomes a measure of revolutionary service—and an ideal whose meaning sits uneasily beside the institutions and personal ambitions that have shaped Wu Dawang’s story.
Identity and Commemoration
The speech identifies Zhang Side as a member of the revolutionary ranks of the Communist Party, the Eighth Route Army, and the New Fourth Army, forces described as devoted to the people’s liberation and interests. It states that he died serving those interests. Beyond this identification, the supplied account does not establish his background, military duties, or personal relationships.
The commemoration is dated 8 September 1944, when Mao Zedong delivered the speech at a meeting of departments reporting directly to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Its occasion is specifically the honoring of Zhang Side’s memory. The framing places his individual name within an official address about the purpose and conduct of the revolutionary forces.
The Meaning Assigned to His Death
The speech distinguishes deaths by the cause they serve. Invoking Sima Qian’s comparison between deaths heavier than Mount Tai and lighter than a feather, it declares Zhang Side’s death weighty because he died in the service of the people. This is the clearest account the novel gives of his significance: his death is not merely an individual loss but an exemplary act interpreted through a political principle.
The speech also connects service to openness to criticism and correction. It argues that shortcomings should be identified and changed, and that proposals should be adopted when they benefit the people, regardless of who makes them. As an example, it cites Li Dingming, who was not a Communist, and his proposal for fewer but better troops and a simplified administration. Zhang Side’s commemoration thus accompanies an argument about collective purpose, practical reform, and the willingness to correct error.
Place in the Novel
The address appears after Wu Dawang’s farewell visit to Liu Lian’s compound: he leaves a letter and a red-silk-wrapped object for her with the sentry, then walks away into the snow. The narrative’s abrupt shift from this private separation to the formal commemorative speech places an ideal of selfless service beside the intimate consequences of military life. The juxtaposition does not make Zhang Side a participant in Wu Dawang’s plot; it makes the speech about him part of the novel’s closing frame.
Earlier scenes show revolutionary language being repeated in military routines, career calculations, and official praise. At Wu Dawang’s farewell, the army publicly honors him as an exemplary servant of the people and links that honor to his city factory job, while the reader has seen how his advancement and departure have been shaped by personal ambition, favor, and the Division’s disbandment. The speech commemorating Zhang Side gives this recurring language a solemn stated measure: service is meaningful when it is directed toward the people. The contrast makes Zhang Side’s example an ethical touchstone, while leaving the distance between the ideal and the novel’s institutional practice visible.
