Source:

02-15-2006 22:15

Edgar and Helen Snow were active participants in the movement against Japanese invasion as journalists sympathetic with the Chinese people. They supported the communists’call for a nationwide movement to fight Japanese aggression. But the Kuomintang’s blockade of the press barred people from knowing more about the communists. This situation made Edgar Snow write the first full report on the Chinese communists and the Red Army. With the help of Soong Ching Ling, he managed to travel to Yan'an, capital of the Chinese Soviet Base Region. There, he was warmly received by the leaders of the Red Army. Having won their trust and friendship, he became the first Western journalist to interview Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai.

In fact, having broken through all the Kuomintang barricades, Edgar Snow and George Hatem eventually arrived at Ansai, the buffer zone between the Northeast and the Red Armies. But even there they were not sure that they were out of danger. The town was full of bandits and their safety was not gauranteed.

This was the first time that Mao Zedong openly talked to a foreign journalist about his attitude toward the revolution, and about his personal experiences. The Times later described Edgar Snow as “the Christopher Columbus who discovered Mao Zedong.” In his classic Red Star over China, Snow wrote the first authorized biography of this great Communist leader, and made the West aware for the first time of the incredible exploits of the Red Army during the Long March.

 

Editor:Wang