He was an American who had a lifelong, unbroken tie with China. As a dedicated journalist, he risked his life in an Odyssey to the supreme headquarters of the Red Army and completed his exceptionally stunning work-“Red Star over China”. He provided a vivid description of the heads of the Red Army who were once regarded as monsters. To Mao Tse-tung, he was the most reliable western journalist; the autobiography he had written on Mao Tse-tung was the only version that received official recognition by Mao Tse-tung. He was born in Kansas City in the United States but lived in China for over 11 years. He was a messenger between China and the US, carrying messages across the Pacific Ocean. He was Edgar Snow, a notable American journalist who enjoyed tremendous popularity in China. Host: In China, Edgar was called “a friend of the Chinese People”. Likewise, Edgar treated Red China as his confident friend. After his death, half of his ashes were buried by Weiming Lake in Peking University. Coincidentally, the campus of the present Peking University was the campus of Yanching University 50 years ago, and what’s more, Edgar once taught for the Journalism Department, Yanching University in the 1930s. It was from this very place--Weiming lake, that Edgar started his arduous journey to the heart of Red China--Sanbei. Edgar and Weiming Lake have been closely bound thereafter. Edgar loved adventures since childhood. After graduating from the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri at the age of 23, Edgar worked for an advertising company in Wall Street. The money he earned provided him with an opportunity to travel around the world. He came to Shanghai via Japan. His original plan was to stay for 6 weeks. Edgar changed his mind when the then editor-in-Chief for The China Weekly Review, Powell persuaded him to remain in China. Edgar stayed in Shanghai for another 5 years, working as a correspondent and traveling throughout China. Edgar witnessed a China suffering from internal miseries and external threats that turned out to be a source of his dismay. It was at this time that he met Helen Foster, a beautiful lady who came to China with the same dream of becoming a writer. They fell in love at first sight. Edgar told Helen, “I ‘ve never met anyone like you ever since I left Kansas City. You remind me of the girl-next-door. ” One year after their first encounter, they went to Tokyo and got married in the US embassy. Many years later, Edgar told Helen that, “if it was not for you, I would have left China in 1932.” In Shanghai, Edgar got in touch with the leftists and became acquainted with Lady Song Qingling and Lu Xun. He personally respected Song Qinling very much. He set out to translate the novels written by Luxun and took much interest in communism. His trip to Shanbei in 1936 was also under Lady Song Qingling’s help. After their marriage, Edgar and Helen toured around South Eastern Asian countries and settled in Peking in 1933. He wrote articles for AP which provided him with the only stable source of income for 80 dollars per month. Unfortunately, the financial situation at AP was gradually deteriorating and AP finally closed at the end of the year. Under such bedraggled conditions, Edgar still couldn’t enjoy teaching. In a letter he wrote to his father, he mentioned, “I don’t like teaching, I don’t believe I can make it.” Under pressure to earn a living however, he accepted Yanching University’s invitation and worked as a part-time lecturer for the Journalism Department, where he taught writing courses. After getting to know his students and spending some days by the Weiming Lake, Snow came to like this quiet yet passionate university. Host: The office building behind me is the Beigong Building of Yanching University. The north wing of this office building was once where the Journalism Department was. In 1935, Edgar lived in the Armor Factory and commuted to work on the university’s bus. After arriving at the university, he would rest,while waiting for class to commence. He didn’t arouse much attention among his students however. According to Zhang Wending, a student who audited his class, Edgar’s method of teaching was quite unique. In his first class, he made it clear that he was not here to teach but to learn. His class was not lecturing but chatting with the students. During the days of teaching, the Snows had a close contact with the students. The student leaders such as Gongpeng, Huanghua, Yao Yilin, Gong Pusheng, Chen Hanbo were their frequent visitors. Those students described his family as “a window to breathe the fresh air”. In 1935, Japanese army began to invade North China Area and intimidated Ho Yingqin, then the Minister of Military Ministry, into signing a peace agreement. This agreement, however, didn’t mitigate the tension in North China Area. That winter, a Tianjin newspaper revealed a conspiracy between traitors and the Japanese toward a movement regarding North China autonomy. Zhang Zhaolin, the chairman of student autonomy committee, learned from Edgar that Chiang had assigned Song Zheyuan, Zhang Shizhao, Cao Ruilin to set up an administration commission for Jingcha Area so that Jingcha Area would become a special administrative region on December 12. At that time, neither the students nor Edgar knew that those efforts to mitigate the political tension in North China Area were but a maneuver to delay the Japanese Army’s invasion schedule and allow the Chinese Army to make preparations for the coming war. Anyway, a complicated national storm was inevitable. Zhang Zhaolin and other student leaders decided to demonstrate their objections with action. They planned to organize a huge procession. The detailed plan for this procession were decided in Edgar’s house. Just before the procession, Edgar translated and sent abroad the associated declaration of 15 universities that expressed the objection to Chiang Kai-Shek’s “preventing Communism and Automony” policy. He also translated the telegraph drafted by the students regarding obtaining freedom of assembling, freedom of organizing clubs, and freedom of speech together with the telegraph regarding opposing government’s arrest of students. Edgar also contacted the news reporters from UPI, Chicago Tribune and Times to interview the students the next day. On December 9th, students from various universities set out for Xinhua Gate, the chosen venue for the demonstration where a branch of the Peking Army was stationed. When the procession passed Xidan, the students were stopped by the No.29 Army. Edgar positioned his camera right in front of the soldiers with guns and bullets. The soldiers didn’t take any action for they were reluctant to be caught by a foreign journalist with camera. After some violent struggles, the students finally gathered at Xinhua Gate. Edgar wrote a long article for New York Sun about the demonstration on Dec 9th. He described it as another May 4th movement. 3 days later, the student autonomy committee followed Edgar’s suggestion and held a press conference for foreign journalists in Lin Hu Xuan by Weiming Lake. Two sisters, Gong Pusheng and Gong Peng, hosted the conference. Dozens of foreign journalists from the US, UK, France and other countries who were the correspondents in Peking and Tianjin were invited. Among the invited was Mr. Powell. The conference succeeded in arousing international attention and sympathy to the student movement. December 16th was the day when the administration commission for Jingcha Area came into existence. In the same day, a demonstration larger in scale than the previous one broke out. Edgar wrote a report entitled “Chinese Joan of Arc was arrested” which told the story of Lu Cui, a female student from Tsinghua University. Host: During the December 9th movement, Edgar got to know some Communist Party members including Huang Jin,a student from Peking University. Mr. Huang was,later, an indispensable contact who arranged Edgar’s trip to the Red Area. The fact that communists appreciated his behavior during the student movement facilitated his journey to Shanbei in 1936.Needless to mention, his adventurous trip to Shanbei aiming at reporting the mysterious red army and completing “Red Star over China” was the most glorious period in his life. Edgar had always been interested in the Red Army. In 1934, Publisher Smith invited him to write a book about Chinese communism and paid him 750 dollars in advance. He had a long wait ahead of him, however, for he couldn’t get in touch with the communists and the Red Army, and was unable to obtain first-hand materials. Sophy: The centure goverment needs two persons,one is a journalist,the other is a doctor,because the Red Army has just arrived in North Shenxi.They need a fair journalist to report and a doctor to do some medical care.They sent a telegraph to the underground organization in Shanghai. The underground found these two people through Lady Song Qingling. The first two candidates Lady Song considered were Edgar Snow and George Hatem. In the spring of 1936, General Zhang Xueliang, the vice commander-in-chief of North-West Army Union,secretly negotiated with the communists and both sides reached a ceasefire agreement privately. When Edgar learned of the news, he immediately sought help from Lady Song Qingling. In February, Edgar, Ma Haide and George Hatem, the American doctor, went to Xian for the first time, waiting to enter the Red Area. Cheng Zhongyuan: According to Aili,Edgar and Ma Haide arrived in Xian under the help of Liu Ding.However, Liu Ding didn’t have time to arrange for Edgar’s interview because he would accompany Zhou Enlai to negotiate with General Zhang Xueliang. Edgar and George waited till the middle of April and returned with no result. Although he returned without the desired results, Edgar didn’t give up easily. He submitted a list of 13 interview questions to the Red Area. According to the Communist Party Central Committee archives, CPCC held a collective meeting to discuss how to answer the questions on the list. Host:The summer of 1936 arrived. Edgar and Ma Haide went to Xian for the second time and continued their journey to Shanbei. Ma Haide’s real name was George Hatem. He requested Edgar not to mention his name in the book for many of his relatives were in the US at that time. Edgar and Ma Haide moved into Xijing Rest House, the most beautiful hotel in Xian, waiting for Father Dong Jianwu from Shanghai St. Peter Church to contact them. Sophy: Xijing Rest House was the most dangerous place.It was indeed a secret agency of Kuomingdang.All the serveants and rooms were arranged.They didn’t dare to talk much. Mr. Dong Jianwu used Father Wang as an alias. He took some curio to them.Snow looked at these curio,said:"we only have dollers,because we have just arrived." Father Wang replied:"We never want dollars,we want pounds " Then he put five pound s slightly on the table,because they dare to talk.Doctor Ma Haide took out another five half,it was perfect. Edgar went to the ruins of Weiyang Palace outside Xian City where he met the famous labor movement leader,Deng Fa. Edgar described him as the head of secret services for the Communist Party. Mr. Deng was one of the National government’s most-wanted criminals who was worth 50,000 Yuan. He was, however, not the least scared when he came to the dangerous area controlled by the government to meet Edgar. The once grandiose palace which had been built during the reign of Emperor Gao of Han was but a hill now and served as the training ground for the soldiers to practice their shooting. One morning 70 years ago,Edgar and Deng Fa stood on this hill and discussed the details of entering Red Area and Living there. Mr.Deng ensured Edgar that he would receive the warmest welcome. Soon, Edgar and Ma Haide set out to Yanan in a Dodge truck belonging to North East Army and left the area controlled by North East Army. After entering the Red Area, Edgar and Ma haide hired a mule-driven carriage and sent their bedroll,food, two cameras and 24 rolls of film to Ansai, the first outpost of Red Army Guerilla. Ansai was a small town in Shanbei which was famous for the paper-cuts and waist-drum. At that time, it was almost a deserted town with few people and many ruins from the war. Edgar met Zhou Enlai in Bai Jia Ping where he was first captured by boy scouts. Sophy: the encounter with Zhou Enlai was quite dramatic as both Edgar and George were naked. It was very hot in June and the water was cool, so they jumped into the water to take a bath. Both of them were good swimmers. While swimming, they suddenly found themselves being targeted at by several spears. They came up and were told that they were under arrest.Edgar’s Chinese was quite good at that time, but Doctor Ma couldn’t speak a word. Edgar said, “Give us the underwear". So the boys gave them the underwear. After being released from the cave-house, Edgar met Mr. Zhou Enlai with huge beard. He drafted an interview itinerary which lasted for 92 days. It marked in detail all the people and places which should be interviewed. Mr. Zhou promised, “You may report whatever you observe. We will do everything we can to help you.” Host:Edgar stayed at An Sai for a short while, and then he continued to walk towards the west till he arrived at Zhi Dan county, which was then called Bao An county and was the headquarters for the red army. Edgar was warmly welcomed there, just as Deng Fa had promised him. At night, Edgar wrote in his diary, “For the first time in my life that I was greeted by the whole cabinet of a government, and by an entire city. … at that moment, it was really hard to express how excited I was. ” Edgar stayed at the Guesthouse of the Red Army Foreign Affairs Office, not far from Mao Zedong’s cave house,with only one security guard. Mao often invited Edgar to visit his residence either in the morning or in the evening, offering him spicy steam bread or sweets prepared by Mao’s wife, He Zizhen. Mao and Edgar sat by small wooden chairs, and had long conversations, which sometimes lasted till the next morning. Edgar wrote down every word that Mao was trying to deliver to the world and to the Chinese. Sometimes Edgar felt Mao’s dream was quite funny and it seemed to be more unrealistic than Gandhi’s “Power of love”.However, Mao’s absolute confidence impressed him greatly. Talking with Mao aroused Edgar’s interest in him as a person, and he was very eager to know Mao’s experience. However, it was not that easy. For few days, they seemed to play the hide-and-seek. So Edgar tried a new trick. An Wei, “He told Mao what the national party had reported about the communist party. He said that ‘the press says the red army is really evil, that all property is shared including one’s wife, and that you alone have three wives. ’ Mao was silent at the beginning, then he told Edgar what he said was really complicated. In the end, he said ‘Let me tell you my personal experiences’, which happened to be what Edgar wanted to know. ” Edgar’s visit was news in Zhi Dan county. He interviewed various people and took a lot of photos,trying to gain a better understanding of the red army.He noticed that Mao had just changed the China’s Workers Farmers and Red Army University to China’s Unti-Japanese Red Army University, which aroused his interest in the red army university. The Red Army University located just outside the Zhi Dan county had over 800 students and the 28-year-old Lin Biao as the headmaster. Edgar described Lin as a shy young man, who blushed when nervous. The classrooms were cave houses, with stones and bricks as desks and chairs and a calcareous wall as a blackboard. This was a university that feared no bombings,and was once described as the worst equipped university with the most advanced thinking. When Edgar visited the first part of the university, it was during entertainment time. The students were playing all kinds of ball games, including tennis, which was rarely seen in north of Shan Xi province. The only difference between the red army university today and then is that the grass field in front of the University has been replaced by road and resident houses. Standing at the mid hill, you can still see the big tree not far away. The tree is dead and only the dry trunk remains. Mao used to stand right by that tree to delivered speeches to the students. The National Party and the Communist Party of China had ceased fire by then, so Yan An then was not as fearsome as imagined. Therefore, after visiting the red army university, Edgar was invited to watch a performance by the People’s Anti-Japanese Troupe. Today, in Zhi Dan county, it is really hard to find where the theatre used to be, because it was an open-air temporary theatre in an old temple. The actors and actresses used to perform by the river; no tickets were required, as there were no balconies or special seats. The communist officials and their spouses sat on the soft grass among the audience. No one noticed them once the show started. There, Edgar met Liu Zhidan’s wife and daughter. The pretty 6-year old girl, Liu Lizhen, is Liu Zhidan’s only daughter. The red army had tailored a uniform for her-----with the belt of an official and a red star on her hat. Everyone loved her there, treating her like a little general. In front of Mao’s cave house Edgar took some pictures for Liu Lizhen and her mom. Liu Lizhen, “When he took my pictures, a lot people stood there watching. I hadn’t gone to school yet then, so they put their pen on my upper right pocket. The guards even tried to make me wear his gun, but I was too short and the gun trailed on ground, which made them laugh. We were so happy that day. ” Mao suggested that Snow should not only see Northern Shan Xi, but that he should also keep going west to see Gan Su and Ning Xia where the battlefronts were. Before he left, Snow took a photo of Mao in front of his wife’s cave house, which was quite popular later on. It was said to be Mao’s favorite picture. Su Fei, Snow want to take a photo of Chairman Mao,but Mao was a person who didn't dress up himself.Mao's hair was in a mass.Snow looked for a while,and asked Mao to wear a hat, so Doctor Ma Haide took Snow's hat on Mao's head. It was perfect. Host:From the western battle fronts to Zhi Dan county till almost October, and again he stayed in the Red Army Guesthouse. By then, Edgar had traveled all over Shan Xi,Gan Su and Ning Xia area, and what he really wanted to know was Mao’s personal experience. Mao kept his promise and told Edgar about his past. Unfortunately,a piece of disturbing news arrived from Xi An, that Chiang Kai-shek was trying to replace the North-East army with his own clique. There was only one way out to Xi An from Zhi Dan county; if the North-East army was replaced, it would be impossible for Edgar to go back to Peking. Mao arranged the departure for Snow. Before leaving,Snow came to say bye. Mao gave him some old photos of the red army before the long march in Jiang Xi province and asked him to make some copies in Peking.Doctor Ma Haide did not leave with Snow but stayed in North of Shan Xi to practice medical treatment. The next year, he met a beautiful female red army solider,Su Fei, who later became his wife. Thirty years later,the couple greeted their old friend Snow at their home in Beijing. 7 days later, Snow entered the area of North-East army, where he was greeted by an official sent by Zhang Xue liang. He sent him to Xi An, from where he went back to Peking. In Xi An, Snow almost lost his interview bag. An Wei:the bag was put in a package with weapons. In Xian Yang, people forgot about the interview bag in it, and unloaded the package. Upon Edgar’s arrival in Xi An, he found out that his interview bag was gone, so he went back to Xian Yang to pick it up overnight. The following day, Xi An was in a state of siege, and no one was allowed to get out, because Chiang Kai-shek was coming. You can imagine if he did not go back overnight. It took Snow 4 month to interview the west, during which his wife Helen had no idea where he was. Helen recalled later that he was unshaved, hungry, tired… and was dying for cigarette, coffee, milk and eggs… but he was quite happy…like a cat that just swallowed a canary. His wife helped him to organize the materials that he collected. He wanted to simplify the story and tell it in a narrative way, while Helen insisted to tell the whole story using the first person. Eventually, Edgar gave up. Helen was not just the ex-wife of Edgar, she was also a respectable journalist with amazing experiences. During the second year of Edgar’s journey to the west, Helen took an adventurous trip to Xi An, interviewing Zhu De whom Snow missed a year ago. Some materials and photos in Red Star Over China came from Helen’s interview. After Snow coming back from Yan’an, he became the focus of attention among the press in Peking, and he was invited to deliver speeches, showing his movies, displaying the photos that he took, and telling people his experiences in the red area. On February the 5th of 1937, Snow showed his documentary about the Red Army for the first time in one of the meetings of the Journalism Academy of Yanching University in Lin Hu Xuan by the Wei Ming lake. This impressed the students of Yanching University and the intellectual field of Peking greatly. Host: By then, the central government of China’s Communist Party had moved from Zhi Dan County to Yan’an. Under the inspiration of Edgar, Zhao Rongsheng and other students of Yanching University organized a Peking student team to visit Yan’an. To avoid being noticed by the National Party, the students wore leather jacket and modern cheong-sam, they took 5 to 6 cameras and held the school flag of “Yanching University”. They looked just like tourists from rich families. They arrived in Yan’an in the spring of 1937 following the map drawn by Edgar, and they were warmly greeted by Mao, the army and the people there. Meanwhile, Foreign Journalist Impression on the North West was published in Peking, which was translated by Wang Fushi and other people and considered the original form of Xi Xing Man Ji. Wang Fushi was a Tsinghua University graduate, and he just came back from Japan then. He visited Edgar frequently, who gave him all the materials to translate into Chinese. Wang Fushi, Since Edgar came back to Peking in October, I often visited him. He wanted to publish the Chinese Version soon. I volunteered to take care of it because my dad was in charge of a printing house in Zhong Nan Hai. Guo Da and Li Fang also participated in the translation; we worked really hard to finish it as soon as possible. Half year later, the English version of Red Star Over China was published in UK, soon after it was published in the U.S. In 1938, the Chinese version of it was published in Shanghai, but to avoid the political risks, its name was changed to Xi Xing Man Ji. No one can imagine how influential the book was. During the revolutionary times, many young people went to Yan’an with the book in their hands and participated in the red revolution. In the west, people had to read that book if they wanted to know the Chinese communist party on its early stage, and it was considered an encyclopedia on China’s revolution. Not even 2 months after Edgar left the North Shan Xi, the “Xi’An Incident” took place. To his surprise, the National Party recognized the Chinese Communist Party as a politically valid party, and established the People’s Anti-Japanese front. It seemed that you can count the days to solve the problems in China. Host: The South An’Hui Event made Edgar realize how crucial the reality was, and he felt very depressed, lonely and tired of life. He made such comment on the Chinese in “Journey to the Beginning”, “I am so proud to know those people, but I was never ever part of them.” So he went back to America to stay with his wife. Unfortunately, when the People’s Republic of China was founded, Edgar’s marriage went to its end. Mr. Anwei helped us to understand his marriage in one article called the Mystery of Snow’s Marriage, which Helen said was a master piece of study and understanding. 20 days after his divorce with Helen, He married an actress Lois, after which his family moved to Geneva. Later he visited China for the third time, and he was still considered by Mao and the Chinese as a very good friend. On February 15th 1972, before the normalization of the US-China diploma relation, Edgar died of pancreas cancer in Geneva. According to his will half of his remaining came back to China, and it were buried by Weiming Lake where he used to work. Edgar often said, “I am from Missouri. ” Missourian believes in “Prove with evidence and believe what you witness.” “I am from Missouri.” represent a positivism spirit which will always remain truth.