Wen Song Shuang
Snow himself apparently could not have predicted how far-reaching his series of reports on the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese revolution would have reverberated in later years.
Edgar Snow is the author of Journey to the West, also known as The Red Star Shines on China. /Weibo @ Broken Leaf Town Guardian
In the 1930s, a group of Western journalists, including Edgar Snow, recorded what they saw in China with real brushstrokes and lenses and introduced them to the world.
Mao Zedong said of Snow: "When we are forgotten by the whole world, only Snow comes here to know us and tell the outside world about the things here. So we will always remember Snow for his great help to China. ”
State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the 2021 National "Two Sessions" press conference: "Snow is not a communist, but when he looks at the Chinese Communist Party, he does not have ideological bias, always adheres to objective truth, and always pursues a fair conscience." His professionalism and ethics are admirable, and he has devoted his life to improving mutual understanding between the Chinese and American peoples, and Chinese people still miss him today. ”
In 1937, "The Red Star Shines on China" was published, and it has been a bestseller to this day, and Snow's book has become a cross-era classic. Sun Hua, director of the China Edgar Snow Research Center and professor at Peking University, once said in the media: The value of "Red Star Shines on China" lies in the fact that it truly records history while showing historical foresight. When Snow arrived in northern Shaanxi in 1936, the Red Army had just experienced the Long March; 13 years later, the People's Republic of China was founded. "Nobody believed it at the time, but Snow believed it." Sun Hua said.
Sun Hua pointed out that "The Red Star Shines on China" and several news reports by Snow were important ways for the US government to understand the CPC at that time and promoted the development of Sino-US relations to a large extent. Therefore, re-reading the classics today still plays an important role in analyzing the development context of Sino-US relations.
Discover Red China
Snow was born in Missouri in 1905 to a family that ran a small printing house. Although Snow's father wanted his son to inherit the family business and become a printing plant director, it was clear that Snow was not here.
Edgar Snow. /Weibo @ Broken Leaf Town Guardian
Snow was only 23 years old when he came to China. He graduated from the University of Missouri in journalism and later worked as a lecturer in journalism at Yenching University. For the convenience of class, he bought a house next to the school. He wrote: "Haidian's residents are complex, but they all speak beautiful Beijing dialect, so this is the ideal place for foreigners to learn to speak Chinese." ”
In China, Snow made a large number of patriots, and Song Qingling, Lu Xun, Xiao Qian and others became his close friends. Snow said to Xiao Qian, "Mr. Lu Xun is a key to teaching me to understand China. ”
Snow was full of admiration for this great master of Chinese literature, and he wrote after Lu Xun's death: "What makes Lu Xun's image show supreme nobility and dignity is not his large outstanding head with two thick black eyebrows, nor his deep eyes, but the great love poured out to him by the people." Since I came to China, I have never felt the death of a Chinese in the past seven years, and like Lu Xun, I have truly shaken the hearts of the entire nation. ”
To some extent, Chinese People's sincere feelings for Lu Xun infected this American, and also made him feel awe and love for China, a troubled nation.
Having befriended many patriots, Snow gained a deeper understanding of China's social conditions; Snow himself experienced several important events in Chinese history, which changed the course of Chinese society and made Snow see that although the country was in misery, the high morale of the Chinese people was also stimulated, and a revolution was coming.
The events of the "918" incident and the "12.9" movement allowed Snow to witness the crimes of Japanese imperialism and the Kuomintang's hunting, encirclement and suppression of the Chinese Communists, but at the same time, he also saw that Chinese peasants, students, and workers joined the Red Army and the Chinese Communist Party one after another.
In 1939, in Yan'an, Shaanxi, american journalist Edgar Snow entered the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region for the second time to interview Mao Zedong. Photo/Visual China
Snow is keenly aware of the uniqueness of the Chinese Communist Party, and he wants to understand what kind of people the Chinese Communists really are, who their leaders are, why the fighters are so tenacious and brave, and what their goals and ideals are.
In the first article of "Red Star Shines on China", "Exploring Red China", Snow recorded 80 questions that he was thinking hard about. He knew that "the only way to get an answer is to go there"!
Mao Zedong in Snow's eyes
Mao Zedong wore a Red Army hat, his eyebrows were slightly locked, his expression was serious, and he looked hesitant and ambitious—this photo became one of the classic images of middle-aged Mao Zedong, and Snow was the photographer of this photo.
On July 15, 1936, Snow received a notice that Mao Zedong would formally receive him. Snow wrote in the book: "He (Mao Zedong) had the simple and innocent character of a Chinese peasant, had a sense of humor, and liked to laugh... But this childish laugh did not shake his inner belief in his goals. "After ten years as a leader of the Red Army, he confiscated the property of landlords, bureaucrats, and tax collectors thousands of times, but all his belongings were still a roll of covers and a few pieces of clothing."
In Snow's pen, Mao Zedong was not only a strategist and leader with great talent and strategy, but also exuded childlike curiosity and cheerfulness. He paced back and forth between the two small rooms, one sitting down, one lying down, one leaning on the table and reading a stack of reports. Mrs. Mao had not yet slept. Suddenly, both of them leaned over and cried out in delight when they saw a moth dying beside the candle. It was indeed a cute little thing, with wings that were a faint apple green with orange and rose color stripes on the sides. Mao Zedong opened a book and clipped this colorful tulle-like wing into it. ”
The cave where Mao Zedong lived was very small, and it was here that Mao and Snow had dozens of all-night chats.
Former residence of Comrade Soong Ching Ling, a photograph of Mao Zedong taken by Edgar Snow. /Weibo @ Where not Qingshan
Because Mao Zedong was accustomed to working at night, the conversation between the two often began at 9 p.m. and continued late into the night. Mao Zedong pointed out to Snow that in the international situation at that time, it was necessary to form a world alliance against aggression, war and fascism. In the ensuing conversation, the two discussed opposition to Japanese imperialism, protracted war, united front issues, strategic and tactical issues, organization and arming of the populace, internal affairs, relations between the Communist International and the Soviet Union, and so on.
After Snow returned to Beiping in October of that year, he published a series of newsletters in The British and American press detailing his experiences in the CCP's revolutionary base areas. In November, Snow published his first report in Yan'an, showing the world for the first time a photograph of Mao Zedong in military uniform, which attracted widespread attention.
His wife, Helen Snow, said: "Before Snow's report, not only did the Soviets not know anything about the Chinese Communists, especially their leader Mao Zedong, but even Chinese themselves, let alone the West. ”
Why did the Chinese Communist Party win?
When Snow first came to the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, he was surprised to find that mao zedong lived in a cave with only a mosquito net that counted as a "luxury", Zhou Enlai slept on tukang, Peng Dehuai wore a vest sewn with a parachute, and Lin Boqu's glasses were broken and tied with rope to his ears...
Although the conditions were harsh, they did not in any way extinguish the high revolutionary enthusiasm and strong optimism of the red army soldiers. Snow was very emotional about this: "No matter how primitive and simple their life is, but at least it is a healthy life, with movement, fresh mountain air, freedom, dignity, hope, all of which have full room for development." ”
On April 24, 2021, in Yan'an, Shaanxi Province, the statue of Snow in front of the cave where Snow lived. Photo/Visual China
Zhou Enlai impressed Snow deeply: "He is calm-headed, good at analytical reasoning, and pays attention to practical experience. The words he spoke with a gentle attitude formed a peculiar contrast with the "ignorant bandits," "robbers," and other abusive words that the Kuomintang had been using for nine years of propaganda to slander the Communists as "ignorant bandits," "robbers," and other people who loved to use them. ”
When Snow asked a peasant boy " what do you think of the Red Army " , he said , " The Red Army is an army of the poor , fighting for the rights of the common people." When Snow asked the soldiers, "How do you know that the peasants really love the Red Army," the soldiers said, "They made a thousand pairs, ten thousand pairs of shoes for us." Every family sent their children to join our Red Army. ”
In interview after interview, Snow's questions were answered, and he felt a unique "oriental magic", he said that the Communists were "the best men and women he had met in China in the past decade", with superior "military discipline, political conviction and will to win", and "tenacity, hard work, and invincibility, which cannot be defeated.".
Snow wrote: "The four months I spent with the Reds were a very exciting experience. The people I met there seemed to be the freest and happiest Chinese I knew. I felt intensely in those who devoted themselves to what they considered perfectly just, and I felt intensely the vibrant hope, enthusiasm, and the invincible power of humanity, and I have not felt it so strongly since. ”
In 1937, "The Red Star Shines on China" was published in England. In the preface to Jack Belden's book "China Shakes the World," the American historian Latimer spoke highly of Snow's book: "In the face of political depression, Snow's Journey to the West is like fireworks, soaring into the sky and breaking through the twilight. The book describes situations that people have never heard of or only vaguely feel. There was no publicity in that book, only reports on the actual situation. It turns out that there is another China! ”
The TV series "Diplomatic Storm" depicts chairman Mao and Snow meeting. / Screenshot of the TV series "Diplomatic Storm"
Snow himself said in the preface to the Chinese edition of "Red Star Shines on China" that the book became popular in all countries, not because of its style and form, but because of its content. These stories were created and written by the young Chinese revolutionaries, and were told by Mao Zedong, Peng Dehuai, Zhou Enlai, and others, who merely gave them original records of their long conversations with "words as clear as spring water." Their unconquerable spirit, that power, that desire, that enthusiasm is the rich and splendid essence of human history itself.
Professor Dong Debing of China's Pudong Cadre College pointed out that these international friends, including Snow, have witnessed and reflected the history of the growth and development of the CPC and the Chinese armed forces with an objective and fair attitude and unpartisan reports, and have also promptly clarified and criticized political rumors such as the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army being a rogue, thus making historic contributions to the Chinese revolution and the world anti-fascist war. Snow realistically publicized the situation of the Chinese Communist Party to the world. After the publication of the writings and memoirs of these international friends and some situations reflecting the Communist Party of China and the Chinese revolutionary army in the United States and other countries, they also became the spiritual link between foreign friends and overseas Chinese and their initial contact with the Chinese Communists. ”
On January 12, 1949, the Miller's Review reprinted the new York Star's invitation to a discussion with several Experts on Far East Issues representing dissidents. They were discussing: Why did the Chinese Communist Party win?
Faced with the first question, Snow pointed out at the symposium that the Communists won because they exercised equal land rights and made the peasants economically profitable in the struggle. It was on this basis that a political alliance was forged between them. Thanks to such an alliance, they launched a mass movement. A moral and cultural force that grew up from the mass movement has created a young and promising leadership team, a party with strict discipline and deep love among the masses. It is invincible because it draws strength from most people and seeks answers to meet their pressing needs. It is on this basis that one of the most effective military organizations in modern China has emerged.
It is true that this party, which "comes from the masses and goes among the masses," has always won the hearts of the Chinese people. When the children of northern Shaanxi call the Red Army "our army", and the peasants talk about the Soviets, they say "our government"; when the Soviet districts set up free schools for poor children to study and read; when people rushed to join the army because "the Red Army helps the poor and can save China"; when there is nothing left, the young soldiers are still full of emotions and spirits, and want to throw their heads and spill their blood for the country, then the victory of the Communist Party of China becomes unsustainable and is the will of the people.
In 1972, on the same week of President Nixon's visit to China, Snow, an American journalist who had shown the world the history of the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese revolution, died of illness. According to his wishes, part of his ashes were buried on the shores of the unnamed lake of Peking University. In this way, Snow remained forever in the China he loved all his life.