Snow gave Xiang Ying a Parker pen

The Military Museum houses a "Pike" fountain pen that Edgar Snow gave to Xiang Ying. This is an old-fashioned "Parker" fountain pen, 12.5 cm long, dark red plastic body plated with gold circles, has been somewhat blackened on the golden yellow pen head can still be seen "PARKERJUOFOLDPEN" words. This old-fashioned "Parker" fountain pen does not survive much, and its special historical value is even more precious.

Edgar Snow is a well-known American journalist and author. He came to China in 1928. As a reporter for the Miller's Review, he visited important towns in the north and south along China's 2,000-kilometer railway line. Later, he worked as a correspondent for the Chicago Tribune in China. From June to October 1936, he risked his life to conduct on-the-spot interviews in the revolutionary base areas in northwest China, and had long conversations with Mao Zedong, collected first-hand information about the Long March of the Red Army, wrote many sensational newsletters for British and American newspapers, and expanded the influence of the Chinese revolution abroad. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1937, he wrote many articles praising the important role played by the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army in the war against Japan. In August 1938, according to Zhou Enlai's arrangement, he interviewed Xiang Ying, deputy commander of the New Fourth Army.

Xiang Ying, who joined the Communist Party of China in April 1922, was an early leader of the workers' movement and the Communist Party of China, and had been engaged in the workers' movement for a long time in Hubei and Shanghai. In the Second Civil Revolutionary War, he successively served as a member of the Central Committee, a standing committee member of the Central Committee, the secretary of the Yangtze River Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, a member and acting secretary of the Central Bureau of the Cpc Soviet Union and the chairman of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, and a vice chairman of the Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic. In October 1934, after the Long March of the main force of the Central Red Army, he was ordered to stay in the Central Base Area to persist in the struggle, and together with Chen Yi and others, he led the Red Army and the people in the southern base areas to carry out a three-year guerrilla war that was extremely arduous, preserved the revolutionary armed forces, and won victories in the struggle against "cleansing and suppression" one after another. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, he and Chen Yi went to various guerrilla areas to convey the instructions of the Party Central Committee on cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China, joint resistance to Japan, and the reorganization of the troops, and organized the Red Army and guerrilla units scattered in the eight southern provinces into the New Fourth Army and rushed to the anti-Japanese battlefield. In the New Fourth Army, Xiang Ying served as deputy commander and assisted commander Ye Ting in leading his troops to carry out fierce blows against the Japanese army in southern Jiangsu, northern Jiangsu, eastern Anhui and other places, creating base areas, and winning one victory after another.

In this interview, Xiang Ying talked to Snow about his own life and revolutionary experience, and told how after the Long March of the Central Red Army, he and Chen Yi and others led the troops to survive through struggle in the three-year guerrilla war, and how they fought with enemies dozens of times larger than themselves. This made Snow sincerely admire him, believing that the Red Army and the guerrillas were a "deadly" unit, and such a unit was the hope of the Chinese nation. After the interview, in order to show his admiration, Snow gave Xiang Ying the "Parker" fountain pen he had brought from Hong Kong. For Snow, a writer and journalist, he saw no better gift than a pen.

Xiang Ying was convinced that Snow was a friend of the Chinese people, and Snow used one of his pens to support the Chinese revolution and the War of Resistance. Therefore, he cherished this pen very much, from August 1938 to his death in 1941, he has always carried this pen with him, that is, he used this pen to draft many documents and write many important articles, such as "The Experience and Lessons of the New Fourth Army's War of Resistance in the Past Year", "On the Current Situation at Home and Abroad", "Speech on the Second Anniversary of the Founding of the Army", etc., which are all famous works during this period.

In January 1941, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized troops to ambush the Northward Moving New Fourth Army headquarters and its subordinate units in the Maolin area of Jing County, Anhui Province, creating the "Anhui Southern Incident" that shocked China and foreign countries. Although the New Fourth Army fought bloodily, it was eventually outnumbered, ran out of ammunition and food, and suffered heavy losses. After that, Xiang Ying led Zhou Zikun and others to hide in the Bee Cave of Chikeng Mountain, preparing to wait for the opportunity to cross north, but unfortunately they were killed by traitors in the early morning of March 14.

After Xiang Ying's sacrifice, his guards bid farewell to Xiang Ying's body with tears, carried this pen, endured hardships, highlighted the enemy's siege, and finally met Zeng Xisheng, political commissar of the newly formed 7th Division of the New Fourth Army. They reported the sacrifice of deputy commander Xiang Ying to Zeng Xisheng and handed over the pen. Zeng Xisheng gave this pen to Hu Lijiao, chief of the communications section of the New Fourth Army Headquarters, for preservation. In 1943, Hu Lijiao gave the pen to Gu Xueqing, the confidential secretary of the military department. After the founding of New China, Gu Xueqing sent this fountain pen, which he had treasured for many years, to the cadre department of the Nanjing Military Region. In 1959, the Nanjing Military Region sent this pen to the Military Museum for collection.