- Gordon Dumoulin
Known in China, little known beyond (3) - Edgar Snow 埃德加·斯诺
𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳’𝘴 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢, 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭-𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥-𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 (1921) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦’𝘴 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢 (1949) 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 “𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢, 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥”
𝗘𝗱𝗴𝗮𝗿 𝗦𝗻𝗼𝘄 埃德加·斯诺 (1905–1972) was an American journalist and the first western journalist to give a full account of the history of the Chinese Communist Party following the Long March. He was also the first western journalist to interview many of its leaders, including Mao Zedong. He is best known for his book, Red Star Over China (1937), an account of the Chinese Communist movement from its foundation in 1921 until the late 1930s.
Born in Kansas City, Egard Snow briefly studied journalism at the University of Missouri but left for New York City before graduation to work. In 1928 he decided to go traveling and made it to Shanghai that summer. He started working for the China Weekly Review and became friends with prominent Chinese writers and intellectuals. Married with Helen Foster in 1932, they moved to Beijing in 1933 and taught journalism at the Yenching University while studying Chinese. The couple became acquainted with student leaders of the anti-Japanese December 9th Movement. Through their contacts in the underground communist network, Snow was invited to visit Mao Zedong's headquarters.
Snow was taken through the military quarantine lines to the Communist headquarters in Bao'an (NW Shaanxi province), and spent 4 months with them (until October 1936), interviewing Mao Zedong and other Communist leaders. Upon return to Beijing he started writing his most famous work Red Star of China, published in 1937. The book quickly became a "standard" introduction worldwide to the early Communist movement in China.
Snow became an object of suspicion in the West following World War II. During the McCarthy period, he was questioned by the FBI and asked to disclose his relationship with the Communist Party. Snow left China in 1959 for Switzerland as it was too difficult to make a living as a writer. He returned to China in 1960 and 1964 for new interviews with Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai. Mao Zedong also asked Edgar Snow in 1970 to facilitate a visit by US President Nixon to China but the White House distrusted Snow and his reputation.
Edgar Snow died of cancer on February 15, 1972, the week when Nixon was traveling to China. Half of Snow’s ashes are buried on the campus of Peking University in Beijing.
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Read other episodes of "Known in China, little known beyond" here :
Known in China, little known beyond (1) - Isabel Crook
Known in China, little known beyond (2) - Dwarkanath Kotnis
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