Hierarchy Archives - Page 2 of 8

The Leader’s Secretary

In 2014, a report compiled from Xinhua, Outlook Weekly and the Beijing News described the hidden power of the secretaries of leading officials. They are the people closest to the leader, and those who want favors approach them first. It quoted Li Zhen, once known as “Hebei’s first secretary”: “When I was a secretary, someone was in charge of me, but no one supervised me.”

A report of the discipline inspection and supervision authorities, carried by Huanqiu, noted that in bribery cases, “the secretaries, drivers, subordinates and friends of leading cadres are also often involved.”

The General Who Sucked the Wound

As a general, Wu Qi wore the same clothes and ate the same food as the lowest of his soldiers. When one soldier had an abscess, Wu Qi sucked out the pus himself. The soldier’s mother heard of it and wept. Someone asked her why. Her son was a common soldier, and the general himself had sucked his wound.

“It is not that,” she said. “Years ago, Lord Wu sucked his father’s wound. His father never turned back in battle and died at the hands of the enemy. Now Lord Wu has sucked my son’s wound. I do not know where he will die.” (Records of the Grand Historian)

He Gave Me His Clothes

After a heavy defeat, Xiang Yu sent Wu She to persuade Han Xin, now King of Qi, to turn against Liu Bang and divide the realm three ways. Han Xin refused. “When I served Xiang Yu, my post was no more than a guard holding a halberd. My words were not heard and my plans were not used. So I left Chu and went over to Han.”

“The King of Han gave me the seal of supreme general and tens of thousands of men. He took off his clothes to dress me and pushed his food over to feed me. He listened to my words and used my plans. That is how I came this far. When a man trusts me so deeply, betraying him would bring bad fortune. I will not change, even in death.” (Records of the Grand Historian)

Throwing the Child

In chapter 42 of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhao Yun fights his way through Cao Cao’s army at Changban and brings back Liu Bei’s infant son, A Dou. He hands the child to Liu Bei. Liu Bei throws him to the ground. “For this little brat, I nearly lost one of my great generals!” Zhao Yun picks the child up, weeps and bows. “Even if my brains were spilled on the ground, I could not repay this.”

A common two-part saying, a xiehouyu, gives the scene its usual reading. Liu Bei shuai haizi, Liu Bei throws the child, is completed by shoumai renxin, to buy people’s hearts.

Bonuses for the Parents

A 2014 report on the hotpot chain Haidilao described how it looks after its staff. “Every month, the company sends part of the bonus to the parents, back home, of managers and outstanding employees.” The staff dormitories were described as “regular apartments, with air conditioning, heating and internet,” about twenty minutes’ walk from work. The founder Zhang Yong set up a boarding school in Jianyang, Sichuan, for employees’ children.

Since 2005, Haidilao has paid education subsidies to employees’ children. A 2024 report said that its scholarship had gone to 1,443 children of employees over four years, a total of 13.8 million yuan.

Red Envelopes at the Door

On February 26, 2015, after the Spring Festival, employees formed a long line outside Tencent’s headquarters in Shenzhen. They were waiting for the start-of-work red envelopes, kaigong lishi (开工利是), from the company’s senior executives. The CEO Ma Huateng, dressed in red, stood at the office door to receive them. That day he handed out nearly ten thousand cash red envelopes.

In 2024, Tencent moved the envelopes online. A report that year noted that in earlier years Ma had handed them out in person.

Sending Warmth

Around New Year and the Spring Festival, China’s trade unions visit workers in hardship and bring them aid. The campaign is called song wennuan (送温暖), sending warmth. According to Xinhua, it began in 1992 and has now run for more than thirty years.

Over New Year and the Spring Festival of 2025, unions at all levels raised 6 billion yuan for it. They visited 167,000 companies and called on 18.5 million workers.

Red Faces and Sweat

Article 7 of the Communist Party’s Regulations on Intra-Party Supervision, adopted in October 2016, sets out four forms of discipline, from mild to severe. In the first, criticism and self-criticism are to be practiced regularly, with talks and written inquiries, so that “red faces and sweat” (红红脸、出出汗) become the norm.

Light Party penalties and changes of post are to make up most cases. Heavy penalties are to be the minority. Investigation for serious violations and suspected crimes is to be a very small minority.

The Rebels Can Do Nothing

Zhao Gao told the Second Emperor of Qin that a young ruler should not settle matters with his ministers in open court. Any mistake would show his weakness to them. So the emperor stayed inside the palace and decided everything with Zhao Gao. “After that, the high ministers were rarely received.”

Zhao Gao said several times that “the rebels east of the pass can do nothing.” Then Xiang Yu captured the Qin general Wang Li, and most of the east rose against Qin. When the emperor sent word blaming him for the rebellion, Zhao Gao was afraid. (Records of the Grand Historian)

Launching Satellites

On June 8, 1958, People’s Daily reported that five mu of wheat at the Satellite Agricultural Cooperative in Suiping, Henan, had yielded an average of 2,105 jin per mu. Four days later, it reported a “second satellite” from the same cooperative, at more than 3,500 jin. Such record yields became known as fang weixing (放卫星), launching satellites. By late September, the highest rice figure, from Huanjiang in Guangxi, was 130,435 jin per mu.

In November 1958, a report to the Party Center put the year’s grain harvest at about 850 billion jin. The provinces had already cut the figures reported by prefectures and counties generally by ten to thirty percent. The report said that the overall estimate must not be shaken “because of a few cases of false and inflated reporting and some shortcomings and errors.”