The spirit of Norman Bethune
Henry Norman Bethune (1890-1939) was a member of the Canadian Communist Party, an internationalist soldier, and a well-known thoracic surgeon. He joined the Communist Party of Canada in 1935. In 1938 he came to China with medical supplies and joined the Chinese people in their Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. He died in November 1939 of blood poisoning contracted while he was performing an operation.
During his stay of less than two years in China, Dr. Bethune fought 11 battles and experienced combat side by side with the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army. He performed operations on wounded soldiers close to the battlefield and saved numerous lives. In December 1939, Mao Zedong wrote an article “In Memory of Norman Bethune” as a tribute to the doctor, calling on the Chinese people to learn from the absolute selflessness of this great soldier, a man who “is already noble-minded and pure, a man of moral integrity and above vulgar interests, a man who is of value to the people.”
Dr. Bethune displayed his internationalism, medical ethics, and humanitarian principles, his utter devotion to others without any thought of self, and his effort to constantly improve his skills. These were not the ethics of the Canadian doctor alone, but embodied the collective experience and wisdom of numerous revolutionaries in pursuing China’s independence.
Xi Jinping recalled the stories of Dr. Bethune in August 2017, and called on the people to learn from his example and other Chinese models, and have a kind heart as pure as gold. Though the times of Dr. Bethune are very different from the current times, his nobility and devotion provide an example that the Chinese people can still respect and learn from today.
白求恩精神
亨利·諾爾曼·白求恩，加拿大共產黨黨員，國際主義戰士，著名胸外科醫生。1935年加入加拿大共產黨，1938年來到中國參與抗日革命，1939年11月因搶救傷員感染敗血癥而不幸犧牲。
在中國1年多時間里，白求恩出生入死，哪里有危險就戰斗到哪里，直接參加11次戰役戰斗，在戰場最前沿不分晝夜搶救傷員做手術，把大批八路軍傷員從死亡線上拉回來。白求恩逝世后的1939年12月21日，毛澤東主席寫下了《紀念白求恩》，稱其是“一個高尚的人，一個純粹的人，一個有道德的人，一個脫離了低級趣味的人，一個有益于人民的人”。
白求恩精神包含“國際主義精神、救死扶傷的革命人道主義精神、毫不利己專門利人的精神和對技術精益求精的精神”等內容。白求恩精神不是一個人的精神，是包括白求恩在內的無數革命先輩謀求中華民族獨立的實踐經驗和集體智慧的結晶。
2017年8月13日，習近平號召大家學習白求恩等歷史和時代的楷模，要求大家保持一顆金子般發光的心。盡管白求恩所處時代與當今社會已不可同日而語，但他的高尚品德和執著情懷，永遠是我們應該尊崇和學習的楷模。
