This book tells the world a "red China"

Source: Overseas Network

Wuzhong City, Ningxia Tongxin County Red Army Western Expedition Memorial Hall "Journey to the West" character sculpture. Image source: China News Network

One

In the summer of 1938, Hua Junwu, who was in his 20s, hid from his family and went to Yan'an alone. Previously, he was a bank clerk in Shanghai. Later, he became a famous Chinese cartoonist. Before making his decision, Hua Junwu had heard many rumors slandering the Communist Party, but a book that made him change greatly—"Journey to the West", that is, "The Red Star Shines on China". He said: "The impact of this book on me is really too great, and everything in Yan'an fascinates me."

Edgar Snow, the author of "Red Star Shines on China," knew little about the Chinese Communist Party before he left for Yan'an, and the political stance of the Miller's Review, the first newspaper he came to China to work for, was still biased toward the Kuomintang. But interviews across China led Snow to become increasingly disillusioned with the Kuomintang government, which he witnessed corruption and inaction, especially the shock of the Suiyuan famine, writing: "In the two towns we visited, about half of the population died within a year. There were so many dead people that they could only dig a horizontal trench outside the walls to bury things, and even then it was difficult to find someone with the strength to dig the ditch. ”

At that time, most of the reports on the Communist Party in the public newspapers published in China were negative or even bizarre. But what Snow heard from leftists such as Soong Ching Ling was all kinds of praise for the CCP, and he also saw workers, peasants, and students risking their lives to join the CCP. What kind of people are the Chinese Communists? Snow decided to go to the Sioux District to get the answer.

Before setting out, though, his heart was still filled with trepidation: "Over the years horror stories of Communist Party atrocities have filled China's subsidized domestic and foreign newspapers, and in this case, I have very little to reassure on my travels..."

Two

In June 1936, with the strong help of Song Qingling and Zhang Xueliang, Snow broke through the blockade line of the Kuomintang army and secretly entered Yan'an, the revolutionary base area of northern Shaanxi, becoming the first Western journalist to cover the red zone.

As soon as he arrived in Yan'an, Snow received Zhou Enlai's promise that "whatever you see, you can report, and we will give you all the help to investigate the Soviet area."

Snow heard the local people refer to the Red Army as "our army", and when he saw the wild apricot forest, the Red Army soldiers scattered to pick wild apricots, filling their pockets one by one, but when they walked through the private orchard, no one touched the fruit inside.

Snow learned more about the Long March from the soldiers. When the commanders and fighters told him about the forced crossing of the Dadu River and the capture of the Luding Bridge, he was fascinated. He called the Long March "one of the great achievements in military history" and "the grandest armed propaganda in history."

Snow not only interviewed Mao Zedong, Peng Dehuai, Zhou Enlai, Lin Boqu and other leaders or generals, but also changed his understanding of the Red Army. In the section "The Real Red Army," there is a statistic that still seems inconceivable: "Sixty to seventy percent of soldiers were literate—that is, they were able to write simple letters, articles, slogans, leaflets, etc." This was much higher than the average of the ordinary army in the white zone, and higher than the average among the peasants in the northwest. Moreover, "all officers above the rank of company commander are literate, although I have met several officers who were unable to read and write before joining the Red Army."

Using 4 months, Snow not only solved the doubts in his heart, obtained first-hand materials, but also felt a unique "oriental magic".

Three

In October 1936, Snow returned to his home in Beiping after a visit and immediately wrote a letter. In 1937, "Red Star Shines on China" caused a sensation in the United Kingdom, selling more than 100,000 copies.

Snow said: "None of this can be created by a writer." These are the rich and splendid essence of human history itself. ”

There is also a dramatic detail of history. Snow's original title of this book was "Red star in China", because the typeset workers mistakenly arranged in as over, Snow felt that it was wrong, and the official title of the English version of the book would be wrong, translated as "Red Star Shines on China" Chinese. After the book was released, it caused a sensation in the world, and Western public opinion spoke highly of it: "The discovery and description of the Chinese communist movement in this book, like Columbus's discovery of the New World, is an achievement that shocked the world." Under the influence of this book, groups of patriotic young people and foreign friends rushed to Yan'an, and the aforementioned Hua Junwu and the Canadian internationalist fighter Bethune were among them.

In November 1937, Snow went to Shanghai to meet with the publisher Hu Yuzhi and other Chinese friends, and presented the English version of "Red Star Shines on China" to Hu Yuzhi. After reading the book, Hu Yuzhi immediately had the idea of translating the book into Chinese publishing.

At that time, the Kuomintang strictly investigated the publication of red books on the situation of the CCP, ranging from suspension of business for rectification and fines of huge sums of money, and arrest of people and imprisonment and closure of publishing houses, so no publishing house dared to publish this book publicly. Hu Yuzhi discussed with everyone whether to run a publishing house by himself, the name of the society is Fushe, and the address of the society is located in Hu Yuzhi's home. Just in case, the title of the book did not use the original title of "Red Star Shines on China", but adopted a more implicit title- "Journey to the West". The publication of "Journey to the West" has allowed more people to see the true image of the Communist Party of China and the Red Army, and also to see the future of New China.

Although Snow left China after the war, he was always concerned about the growth of New China and visited New China three times. He named his daughter "Xi'an". After Snow's death, in accordance with his last wishes, part of his ashes were buried on the shores of the unnamed lake of Peking University.

Edit/Crane Ming

Source: People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, Guangming Daily, People's Political Consultative Conference Daily, Xinhua Net, News Enthusiast Magazine, etc

Source: "Study Group" WeChat public account