The Chinese Pioneers

Flying the Pioneer Flag

Hello Gentle Readers. Yesterday at school a very interesting event happened. A group of children, mostly grade 1 and a few grade 2 students were initiated into the Chinese youth movement called the "Pioneers".

The Pioneers are the Chinese equivalent of the Scouting or Guiding movements of the West  The Soviet Union also had its own Pioneers.

The Flag of the Pioneers

Founded in 1949, the Youth and Children movement of China, was set up to ensure that all Chinese children were taught the values of the Communist goverment and ideology of the Chinese under the guidance of Mao Zedung.

Young Pioneers consist of children between the ages of six and fourteen; upon reaching the age of fourteen, members automatically exit the Young Pioneers and may go on to join the Communist Youth League.

Most elementary school students are Young Pioneers by the time they graduate from grade school. Most of the schools require students of the right age to become Young Pioneers.^[There were an estimated 130 million Young Pioneers in China, as of 2002.

The slogan of  the Pioneers is similar to that of the Scouting movement.

Be Prepared, to struggle for the cause of Communism.

When the children joined the Pioneers they had to make a pledge which states "I am a member of the Young Pioneers of China. Under the Flag of the Young Pioneers I promise that: I will love the Communist Party of China, the motherland, and the people; I will study well and keep myself fit always, and to prepare for my contributing effort to the cause of communism."

#chinesepioneers #communism