Ｓｎｏｗ’ｓ Ｕｎｉｑｕｅ Ｃｏｎｔｒｉｂｕｔｉｏｎｓ

---In Communicating to the World About the Chinese Revolution， in Promoting Sino-US Understanding and Better Ties

We gather here today to mark the 100th birthday of our genuine and esteemed friend Edgar Snow. This year also coincides with the 60th anniversary of the victory of the World’s Anti-Fascist War as well as the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in China. It is against this historical background that I would like to talk about Edgar Snow’s unique contribution of communicating to the world about the Chinese revolution. Edgar Snow is the most widely read and influential American journalist on 20th century China. He was the first American journalist who in 1936 risked his life and broke through the Kuomintang blockade visited Bao’an in the Northwest and gave the first authentic account of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the first connected story of their long struggle to carry through the most thorough-going social revolution in China’s three millenniums of history. With his sharp observation， and the Missouri spirit of show me the facts， i.e. seeking truth from facts， he came to realize why and how of the Chinese revolution and the trend of the development of China’s history. Then he wrote a book entitled Red Star Over China， a classic which remains of great relevance even today. Just as Dr. John K. Fairbank wrote “The remarkable thing about Red Star Over China was that it not only gave the first connected history of Mao and his colleagues and where they had come from， but it also gave a prospect of the future of this little-known movement which was to prove disastrously prophetic. It is very much to the credit of Edgar Snow that his book has stood the test of time on both these counts—as a historical record and as an indication of a trend.”

It was not accidental that Edgar Snow made this unique contribution. First， it was due to Edgar Snow’s personal trait. Snow was a man of moral integrity. As Snow Scholar， Dr. Farnsworth described: “An early and enduring trait was his rejection of money-making as a key aim and standard of success. He wanted wider and more meaningful experience than was promised by his plodding on in his original occupation of advertising toward a fat bank account… He looked not only for surfaces but for essence， and quickly matured as a close， thoughtful， and far-seeing observer and interpreter of major events， persons and historic tides—particularly in China”. (Book Review， Occasional Newsletter， Edgar Snow Memorial Fund， summer， 1997) When Edgar Snow arrived in Shanghai in 1928， the Chinese people were suffering under foreign imperialist domination and feudal oppression. The world was threatened by the growth of fascism and was on the eve of World War II， the anti-fascist war. While in the East the Japanese militarists were stepping up its invasion of China and had already taken the 3 provinces of the Northeast called Manchuria， and was actively preparing to swallow up the whole of China.

Dr. Farnsworth wrote that Snow was principled. His Midwestern American populist upbringing instilled in him a concern for plain people and a rooted dislike of colonialism. “He was anti-fascism including anti-Japanese aggression，” “which impelled him to view events in Asia in a world context and take a position”. (ibid) In Shanghai， Snow was disgusted with the rule of foreign tycoons with gangsters as their lackeys under the protection of Western gunships in the Huangpoo River and extra-territorial rights. The laboring people suffered immensely. In the early ’30s， in one year alone， 28，000 corpses were found on the streets and in adjacent rivers. But the pathetic social and political conditions of the Chinese people were not limited to Shanghai. In Snow’s first job in China with The China Weekly Review in Shanghai， he was assigned to travel by railroad over much of China， writing and photographing and feeling the impact of all that he witnessed in 1929. He wrote: “I was in the baking city of Saratsi， south of the Gobi Desert. There in the Northwest I saw children dying by the thousands in a famine which eventually took more than five million lives. It was an awakening point in my life and remained the most shocking of all my experiences with war， poverty， violence and revolution…” (The Great Drought of 1929， from Edgar Snow’s China， 1981.)

The misery and social injustice suffered by the common people in old China first shocked him to the core， then aroused him to warm sympathy for their revolution. As early as in 1929， in a letter to his father on March 21， he wrote: “Poor China is in a really pitiable condition. …China needs a crusader， a towering pillar of strength， a practical idealist who can lead his people out of the stench and decay， the misery and suffering and national agonies…” (p.12 Ed Snow Before Paoan， by E. Grey Dimond， MD). Then in a letter to his brother Howard on July 20， 1935， he wrote: “They are in revolution. And while revolution is never a pleasant thing， it is sometimes the only thing that can save a people… This revolution is merely an expression of a historic need of the masses， too long suppressed， too long denied， and now become volcanic and catastrophic in its manifestations…” Remember that real revolution in China， just as anywhere else in the world， is tried only when every other means of resolving intolerable situations has been exhausted.”(pp.32-33 ibid)

During the Snows’ stay in Shanghai， he and Helen became good friends of Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s widow， Mme Soong Ching Ling， an eminent anti-fascist. Through Soong Ching Ling， the Snows learned about Dr. Sun’s life and revolutionary experience and how Chiang Kai-shek and other right wing elements in the KMT turned against their erstwhile ally in a fascist coup in April 1927. The surviving communists later regrouped in the countryside and organized the peasants into Red Armies to defend themselves. The ensuing civil war had become Chiang Kai-shek’s top priority. The Snows learned from Soong Ching Ling a lot about China and its history that they could never have learnt from books. It was also Soong Ching Ling who later on in 1936 recommended and helped Edgar Snow to get to the Chinese Communist Party’s Red Areas in the Northwest. Edgar and Helen also became friends of Lu Xun and a group of progressive writers. They were hunted and persecuted under Chiang’s reign of “white terror”. While on January 28， 1932， Japan bombed and shelled the Chinese part of Shanghai. The defending Chinese 19th Route Army put up a firm and heroic resistance. The Snows went to interview the Chinese commander， General Cai Tin-Kai. Chiang Kai-shek refused to give General Cai any assistance， for Chiang advocated non-resistance to the Japanese invaders and preferred to fight a civil war against his own people.

The Snows were married in December， 1932 and moved to Beijing in Spring 1933. Ed taught in Yenching University’s Dept. of Journalism. Patriotic student leaders like Huang Hua， Yao Yiling， Zhang Chaoling， and refugee students like Wang Fushih from the Japanese occupied Northeast often came to Snow’s house to get news and discuss the situation. According to James Bertram， the New Zealand journalist， the Snows had a special rapport and sympathy with the “left wing students”. By October 1935， fascist Japan had set up a so-called “anti-Communist government” in East Hebei Province. Then they issued an ultimatum to Chiang Kai-shek demanding that all of North China should become a demilitarized buffer zone under that quisling regime. Chiang Kai-shek’s typical response was to persist in his civil war against the Chinese Communists. His pretext was “internal rebellions must first be quelled before China can resist foreign aggression”. The students in Beijing were enraged by Chiang’s capitulationist position that they took to the streets on Dec. 9， 1935. The wave of protests spread to more than 30 cities throughout the country， rallying the entire nation to resist Japanese aggression. The Snows were anti-fascist and they supported the students’ movement. Moreover， Ed Snow was an activist， ready to encourage worthy causes rather than be a purely passive spectator， as James Bertram wrote: “The Snows’ home became a meeting place and a haven from arrest for patriotic students in Beijing.” The Snows followed the demonstrators wherever they marched and interviewed student leaders， and filed timely reports to western media， thereby breaking the tight news blockade of the KMT. They also helped students translate and publish messages to be sent abroad and be delivered to other foreign correspondents. They went to the hospitals to comfort wounded students. Lu Cui， a blacklisted girl student， hid in their house for some ten days. This student movement had a big influence on the Snows.

As Mr. Huang Hua， the honorary president of the China Society for People’s Friendship Studies， who accompanied Ed’s visit in the Northwest as his interpreter， spoke at a symposium commemorating the 60th anniversary of Edgar Snow’s visit to the Red areas in the Northwest， “By then， some regiments of the Red Army had just accomplished their great， magnificent and world-shaking feat—the Long March， during which the Chinese Communist Party and the Red Army， upholding the banner of patriotism， integrated their efforts to save the nation， to march northward in resistance against the Japanese invasion， and to set up new base areas for the Chinese revolution…thus lifting the Chinese revolution out from the quagmire up to the victory， and opening a new scene for the Chinese revolution and national liberation. It was right at this critical moment that Edgar Snow came to visit that pivotal place of the Chinese revolution.” Despite all hardship of the journey， and the threat to his life， Edgar Snow travelled from Beijing all the way westward to Xi’an， which was under the Manchurian army forces under the young Marshall Zhang Xueliang who was psychologically prepared for some kind of united front with the Communists， Ed was able to cross the lines and finally arrived in Pao’an， the Red Army base in North Shaanxi in early 1936.

Snow was there for four months， “he carried out a series of investigations and interviews earnestly.” He interviewed Mao Zedong who told Snow his life story for the first time in history. Snow also interviewed many other Party leaders， talked to cadres， Red Army commanders， soldiers， intellectuals and peasants. He also went to the battlefront. He was very much impressed by the formidable invincible zeal and spirit of these extraordinary men and women. It was here in contrast to other parts of China under the KMT and warlords he found a new mind， a new people and a new world. And it was here he learned about why and how a revolution was going on in China. He found that the CPC represented the urgent needs， interests and aspirations of the vast majority of the Chinese people. Moreover， he saw in the CPC the future of China. Here Snow “discovered the ‘true charm of the East’ which he engraved into his world-renowned work Red Star Over China.” “This monumental book gave an honest and accurate report on the Chinese revolution and the Red Army at that time， afforded a vista to the world of the dawning revolution in China， in the East of the Globe， predicted an inevitable victory of the revolutionary movement of the Chinese society after the rises and falls， and therefore enlightened and inspired both the Chinese people and the peoples of other countries， the younger generation in particular.”(ibid)

At Ed’s suggestion， Helen followed in Ed’s footsteps and succeeded in getting to Yan’an in April 1937. Both Ed and Helen separately interviewed Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai， but Helen also interviewed Zhu De. They were the first to convey to the world Mao Zedong’s message calling on the KMT to stop the civil war and form a united front to fight the Japanese aggressors. Mao also gave Helen the Communist Party’s Ten-point National Salvation Program for the purpose of completely defeating the Japanese aggressors. Helen wrote a book entitled Inside Red China， which was also a period piece of historical significance.

The book Red Star Over China first published in 1937 by The Left Book Club of Victor Gollanz in Britain， was subsequently translated into Chinese by a group of famous progressive writers headed by Mr. Hu Yutzhi in Shanghai. The book had such a great impact that just as Mme Deng Yingchao wrote in her message to the 1985 symposium commemorating the 50th anniversary of the publication of Red Star Over China: “This book has inspired and encouraged thousands and thousands of Chinese noble-minded youths to join the War of Resistance Against the Japanese Aggression and the cause of the Chinese revolution.” We had many moving speeches and papers delivered at the symposium giving their life stories about how the book changed their lives. Just as Mary Clark Dimond， founder of the US Edgar Snow Memorial Fund wrote in 1982: “A major consequence of this book was， of course， the appreciation of the Chinese people themselves for finally learning something of the nature and dimensions of the organization mobilizing in the northwest which was to take over the country in 1949. Their gratitude extends until this day and he continues to be a hero of the Chinese people… The respect of the Chinese people and their government for the courage of this man who first told the true story of those times is not likely to die.” As a matter of fact， Chairman Mao was among the first Chinese to attach much importance and express thanks to Edgar Snow for communicating to the outside world about the CPC’s call for resistance against Japanese aggression for national salvation and social change. The book and the many speeches made by Ed both in Peiping and Shanghai also heralded a succession of visits to Shaanbei paid by another number of American and western correspondents and writers. It also had an overwhelming appeal in America， because sagacious people like General Stilwell， Carlson and even President Franklin Roosevelt were hoping that the Chinese Communists could indeed provide that nationalistic leadership needed for effective anti-Japanese resistance. At the recommendation of Snow， Evans Carlson visited the guerrilla territories and met Zhu De and was very much impressed and set up a unique organization known as the Marine Raiders which incorporated what he had learned during his experiences with the 8th Route Army. (Journey to the Beginning pp.196-197).

Since then， Edgar Snow has become a life-long great friend of the Chinese people. He loved China and the Chinese people love him.

The Snows returned to the USA in 1941. Events in China just developed as Red Star Over China indicated. The CPC played a leading role in mobilizing and organizing the Chinese people in its 8-year War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and won in 1945. And later on， won the civil war launched by the KMT under the economic and military support of the US government and founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Chiang Kai-shek in his defeat exiled to China’s Taiwan. By 1948， when the imminent collapse of the KMT and the victory of the CPC was already a foregone conclusion， a question that was hotly debated at the time in America was whether more direct intervention by the US and on a larger scale could reverse the trend. The New York Star held a discussion with a group of experts. Two questions were put to them: Why were the Chinese Communists winning? What can and should the US do about it? Snow said that the Chinese Communists were winning “because they put into action programs which satisfied some of the urgent needs of their people for social change such as equalization of land ownership for the broad masses of peasants， …a disciplined popular party then became invincible because it drew its strength from the majority of the people…from all that emerged the most effective military organization in modern China”. The CPC won because they led the people to wage the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and achieved national independence. Snow was against US further intervention. He said: “US should return to its traditional policy of non-intervention in the internal political affairs of China and the right of self-determination.” (p.265 The China Weekly Review， Feb. 12， 1949)

(To be continued in next issue)

The author is vice president of the China Society for People’s Friendship Studies. This article is a speech at the International Symposium “Understanding China: Centennial Commemoration of Edgar Snow’s Birth”， July 19， 2005