In the war-torn revolutionary years, a group of Western journalists represented by Edgar Snow either had in-depth contact with the Chinese Communists and ordinary people, or personally experienced the important moments of the Chinese revolution, and wrote revolutionary feats with enthusiasm, unique perspective, realistic attitude and delicate and moving brushstrokes. These works, which record the real course of the revolution, broke the stereotypes of the West on the Chinese revolution at that time, reproduced the heroic deeds of the Communists who could sing and weep, won valuable international support for the success of the Chinese revolution, and had a far-reaching historical impact.
Recently, the "Red Classics (English Edition)" series of books was launched by Shanghai Translation Publishing House, which comprehensively, completely and deeply presents the narrative of the Chinese revolution from a Western perspective. The five English classics including Edgar Snow's "Red Star Shines on China", Agnes Smedley's "Avenue of Life: The Biography of Zhu De" and "The Future of China", and Anna Louise Strong's "One-Fifth of Mankind" and "Tomorrow's China" are all documentary works of the Chinese revolution written by European and American journalists in the 20th century, which have caused great repercussions overseas.
"I was excited because the trip in front of me was to explore a place thousands of years apart in time and space from the magnificence of the Forbidden City: I was going to 'Red China'..." In 1936, at the end of the two-year Long March, Yan'an welcomed Snow, a foreign journalist in his 30s, who wrote about his downstream history of "Red China" and caused a sensation. In "The Red Star Shines on China", Edgar Snow recounted what he had seen in the revolutionary base area in the northwest for more than four months, and the active figure of the Red Army soldiers and the will to fight infected and shocked him. Among them, Chairman Mao's life story, which is faithfully translated in simple English, is particularly real and moving. Since its publication in 1937, "Red Star Shines on China" has been published in more than 20 languages, inspiring thousands of enthusiastic young people to go to Yan'an and devote themselves to the revolution during the War of Resistance Against Japan; Internationally, it is a must-read book for people from all walks of life who pay attention to China, such as diplomatic circles and historians, to understand and understand modern China.
Including Snow, the authors of this series of books, proceeding from their personal experience and practical experience, corrected the prejudice and misreading of the Chinese revolution and communists by the outside world as an outsider and from the perspective of outsiders, and changed the public opinion environment of the Chinese revolution in the West.
For example, the female journalist Smedley's "Avenue of Life: Zhu De's Biography" recounts Zhu De's life experience in a sincere and vivid tone, like a scroll that slowly unfolds. The vivid portrayal of characters and the description of immersive scenes enable readers to rediscover the image of the flesh-and-blood proletarian revolutionaries of the older generation of Chinese in a story as detailed as a novel. "The Future of China" combines the texts written during the visit to China into a book, which has a strong sense of presence and presents a complex social reality with diverse perspectives and delicate narratives.
Strong's "Tomorrow's China" is divided into sections according to the theme, presenting the real life situation of the Yan'an Liberated Area from different angles, and depicting the picture of "Tomorrow's China" living and working in peace and contentment. "One Fifth of Mankind" focuses on the War of Resistance, pays attention to and discusses the women in the War of Resistance, the literature and art of the rear, and is next to the history and geography of China, stripping away the smoke and smoke, with strong readability.
Three Western journalists who came from afar, feeling the purity and firmness of the Chinese communist movement, wrote with great emotion, confessed and directly, and successively left true and moving accounts with clear writing. Outside of the written word, they either applied to join the Chinese Communist Party, or remained steadfast when persecuted and questioned by dissidents, or chose to sleep in the hot land of China, all standing with the Chinese people.
"These five red classics focus on the fate of the Chinese nation, which accounts for one-fifth of the world's population, and faithfully and rigorously report the true story of the Chinese revolution to the outside world." In the view of Zhuang Zhixiang, the curator of the series of books and professor of the Shanghai Times Education publishing research center, re-reading the red classics today and reliving the years of the Chinese revolution is to use history to reflect reality, look at the future from a distance, see clearly why the past can succeed from the cpc's century-long struggle, understand how we can continue to succeed in the future, and absorb its rich language and cultural nutrition while continuing the red gene.
It is reported that the series of books invited Qi Shouhua, a distinguished professor of Yangzhou University, to write a detailed English guide to each volume, and to be annotated by senior scholars in the field of foreign language studies, or to errata the original text, annotate new words, or supplement relevant historical background knowledge, so as to clear the reading barrier and help readers of all ages and different foreign language levels to read the original English red classics.
Author: Xu Yang
Image source: Publisher
Editor: Wang Xiaoli