Zhang Side Zhang Side ( ) ( April 19 , 1915 – September 5 , 1944 ) was a soldier of the People ' s Liberation Army . Zhang Side was born in a poor tenant - peasant family of Hanjiawan , Liuhechang , Yilong County , Sichuan Province on April 19 ( the sixth day of third lunar month ) , 1915 . Before he was one year old , his mother died . He was brought up by his aunt . When he was 12 years old , he began to feed the cattle and mow grasses for the landlord . In September 1933 , the Red Army came to his hometown and established the revolutionary regime . He actively joined the Young Pioneers of China and was elected a team leader . He was conscientious in assisting the Red Army and militia to stand guard and search bad person . He joined the Red Army in December 1933 and before long the Communist Youth league of China . In October 1937 , he joined the Communist Party of China ( CPC ) . In a fight against the six - side siege , his legs were injured twice but he still rushed into the enemy ' s position to capture two machine guns . In June 1935 , the 4th Front Red Army joined force with the Central Red Army in Maogong of Sichuan and continued to march north . During the Long March , he had crossed the snow mountains and grasslands two times . After he arrived in the North Shanxi , he was selected as leader of the Communication squad of the Guard Battalion of the Central Military Commission . For several years , he worked hard and outstandingly fulfilled his duties . In the early summer of 1940 , the Kuomintang ' s diehards carried out the military " encirclements " and economic blockade in the border areas . To resolve the heating problem of the central organs in winter , he led his squad to burn charcoals in Tuhuanggou north to Yan ' an . After three months of hard work , he successfully delivered 40 tons of charcoals to Yan ' an . In 1941 , the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression came into the hardest period . In order to get over the economic difficulty of enemy ' s blockade , he opened up a wasteland in Nanniwan along with the guard battalion . He led the squad to overcome many difficulties during that period and complete production tasks given by the superior . Meanwhile , he also shouldered the communication work as usual , working hard at day and sending message on foot at night regardless of fatigue for the sake of fulfilling the task of communication In the winter of 1942 , he returned to Yanan from Nanniwan . Later a leader transferred him , as head of a squad , to another squad as a common serviceman due to the change of staffing of the troops . But he served the needs of revolution without any complaint and thought of individual success and failure . In early summer of 1943 , he was transferred to Zaoyuan Internal Guard Squad and worked as one of the guards for Chairman Mao Zedong . In 1944 , the Party organization assigned him to burn charcoal in Ansai County . On September 5 , when he was working in the kiln , the kiln suddenly collapsed and he was killed . In the afternoon of September 8 , 1944 , the organs directly under the CPC Central Committee held a grand funeral ceremony , at which Chairman Mao Zedong inscribed the elegiac words of " salute to Comrade Zhang Side who sacrifices his life for the benefit of people " and attended the funeral ceremony in person . At the ceremony , Mao Zedong made the important speech of Serve the People , highly praising his lofty morality of serving the people wholeheartedly that he " died for the benefit of people , and his death is indeed heavier than Mount Tai " . In others books , it was written that Mao Zedong said in his eulogy " Serve the people " : " " All men must die , but death can vary in its significance . The ancient Chinese writer Szuma Chien ( Sima Qian ) said , " Though death befalls all men alike , it may be weightier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather . " [ . . . ] From now on , when anyone in our ranks who has done some useful work dies , be he soldier or cook , we should have a funeral ceremony and a memorial meeting in his honor . This should become the rule . And it should be introduced among the people as well . When someone dies in a village , let a memorial meeting be held . In this way we express our mourning for the dead and unite all the people " " . This speech later became the focal point of a propaganda campaign that in some forms is still actually in use .