Lei Yu, a 10-year-old schoolgirl in Changsha City, capital of the central-south Hunan Province, has won first prize for the cartoon image she created of Lei Feng, a true hero whom even her parents' generation had rarely seen in person.

The fourth-grader's cartoon picture featuring Lei Feng and a group of kids has stood out among hundreds of others drawn by school children in the province, where Lei Feng was born in a peasant family in 1940.

But contrary to the stereotyped image of the model soldier with an air of solemnity, Lei and her peers have all penned the hero as “superman" or "cutie" and adorned him with whatever they deem stunning -- such as a pumpkin hat on a disproportionately big head or a flame-thrower under his feet.

Lei Feng, who had lost both parents by the age of seven, joined the People's Liberation Army at 20 and had since then spent all his spare time and money helping the needy. He died accidentally in 1962 at 22, after being hit on the head by a wooden column accidentally knocked over by a fellow soldier.

Lei Feng became a household name in 1963, when the late Chairman Mao Zedong urged the whole nation to learn from him.

More than 40 years after his death, Lei Feng's boyish smile still beams from posters, newspapers, television and kids' textbooks, and his name is known even to preschoolers.

To the Chinese, the young soldier whose life was cut short at the tender age of 22 has remained alive, and his patriotism, compassion and self-sacrifice have become a part of the moral standards for the 1.3 billion population.

"We never expected today's kids would picture Lei Feng as such comic figures," said Tao Zhongshi, head of the Children's Palace in Changsha and organizer of the cartoon contest.

Tao said the idea to create cartoon pictures of Lei Feng was for a time opposed by many who feared it might smear and tarnish the hero's image.

"We received more than 1,000 cartoons over the past two months, none of which were derogatory," he said. "Obviously, kids today still revere Lei Feng and are ready to learn from him."

As a veteran teacher, Tao said school kids have their own sense of beauty and heroism. "But we often neglect the children's interest and receptivity and simply treat them as adults."

Chen Sai, a 14-year-old junior high student, has referred to Lei Feng as a big boy with a disproportionately big head. "I've always taken him as a big brother who's already ready to help others," said the schoolgirl. "A good guy like him deserves to be lovely."

The exemplary soldier is as cool as a rock'n'roll star in another prize-winning cartoon by Peng Zhongwei, a junior high schoolboy whose sketch of Lei Feng has only two colors, red and white.

"The colors symbolize the revolutionary fiery years when Lei Feng lived," said Peng, "We love heroes and would more readily receive vivid images of heroes who are close to our own life."

Hu Beifen, a senior high student, is a cartoon fan herself and enjoys cartoons made in Japan and the Republic of Korea. The cartoon image of Lei Feng she created, therefore, has an exotic air.

"You might think that we don't think as much of Lei Feng as our parents' generation used to do -- that's not true," said the 15-year-old. "It's true we've got more novelties in our life and have more heroes to look up to. But we'll never forget the good traditions of the Chinese nation."

"It's a pleasure to see kids picture Lei Feng as a big boy from next door," said Zhu Xiaolin, a teacher of fine arts in Changsha. "They're telling us with their pictures that heroes are no deity, but human beings that you and I can always follow."

(Xinhua News Agency June 2, 2004)