Chapter 26 precious photo

Mao Zedong suggested that Snow and Haydham first go to the western front to have a look, and then talk about their personal lives after returning to Zhidan.For this trip to the west, Huang Hua, who had just arrived in Zhidan City, acted as an interpreter, and Li Changlin and Hu Jinkui were responsible for safety and accompanied them.When Huang Hua came to the Northern Shaanxi Soviet Area, he still had 15 yuan left from the money he had borrowed from Mrs. Snow's Nim. He put it in his trouser pocket and gave it to Lin Boqu.Lin Boqu said happily: "Thank you, this is the first personal donation to the treasury in the Soviet area."

On the morning of August 1, the staff sent two sets of brand-new Red Army uniforms, two pistols for self-defense, and two horses.Snow and Haydem put on their red uniforms excitedly, talking and laughing happily. Snow asked Huang Hua, "Look, do I look like a real Red Army?" Everyone said: "Like, it's so similar!" Snow raised his right hand, stretched out two fingers, and gave everyone a military salute. Immediately, everyone present burst into laughter. After tidying up, Snow and Hydem went to Mao Zedong's residence to bid farewell.Mao Zedong was smoking thoughtfully at the entrance of the cave dwelling.The morning sun shone over, and the tall and energetic Mao Zedong looked radiant and extraordinarily heroic. Snow, with his unique news sensitivity, raised the camera on his chest, aimed at Mao Zedong, and said, "Chairman, let me take some photos for you." Like it!"

Mao Zedong raised his head, smiled, smoothed his long hair with his hands, and stood firm.Snow adjusted the focus, pressed the shutter, and took a picture of Mao Zedong. Snow found that Mao Zedong was not wearing a military cap, so he said: "You will look more energetic if you wear a military cap." Mao Zedong said: "I haven't worn my military cap for a long time. I don't know where to put it." Snow said: "The Kuomintang says you are a devil with red hair, green eyes, and long teeth. Only when you wear a red army cap can you show that you are a handsome leader of the Red Army."

The guard next to him, Li Jiujiu, became excited, and hurriedly took off his hat and handed it to Mao Zedong. The hat was too small to wear.Mao Zedong wore other people's hats, still small.Snow took off the hat on his head and handed it over to Mao Zedong, who still fit it well.In this regard, with the Hongshi cave dwelling as the background, Snow took a handsome and wise photo of Mao Zedong.This photo is also the one Mao Zedong was most satisfied with when he was in northern Shaanxi, and it has been widely circulated at home and abroad for a long time. Snow and Haydem visited Wuqi Town and visited the arsenal factory, quilt factory, footwear factory, pharmaceutical factory and textile school set up in the earthen cave dwellings.Lathes, sewing machines, generators and many other equipment in the factory were all brought over from the Long March.Most of the workers in the factory came from Shanghai, Peiping, Guangzhou, and Tianjin, and they were highly skilled technicians. Snow was amazed: even though they lacked the substance of socialist industry, they had the spirit of socialist industry.

Afterwards, Snow and Haydem came to the front line of Yuwangbao and met Peng Dehuai, Commander of the West Route Army, Zuo Quan, Acting Commander of the First Red Army, Nie Rongzhen, Political Commissar, and Zhu Rui, Director of the Political Department.The front headquarters organized thousands of Red Army troops and held a welcome meeting for Snow and Haydham. The representatives of the 4th Division of the First Red Army Corps read out a warm condolence letter to American friends. Assassination, shooting, horse chopping.Snow saw the real Red Army and took a lot of photos.During the days on the front line, Snow and Haydem went deep into the soldiers and the masses to interview, and also met Chen Geng and Xu Haidong, and conducted interviews one by one.In order to get close to the Muslims conveniently, Haydem gave himself a Chinese and Western name—Ma Haide.The surname Ma is a common surname among Hui people, while Hyde has retained his American surname.

At the end of September 1936, Snow returned to Zhidan from the front line. Mao Zedong fulfilled his promise, and spent several sleepless nights telling Snow about his family and his studies as a teenager, about the Jiangxi Red Base, and about the Red Army's Long March.Not only did Snow listen with great interest, but He Zizhen also followed their conversation. After completing his interview with Mao Zedong, Snow conducted interviews with other leaders of the Chinese Communist Party and generals of the Red Army.Every day, he meets new friends and hears new stories.Not far from where Snow lived, there was a new recruit training group, who either practiced their steps, played ball, sang, and sometimes acted.Every night, soldiers living in barracks or on the mountainside sang to the foot of the mountain. In the night, Zhidan City echoed loudly and loudly from the former residence of Mao Zedong and He Zizhen in Zhidan.During this time, Snow thought he was living a holiday-like life, either riding horses on the road outside the city, bathing in the Zhou River, or playing tennis on the court.At that time, there were two tennis courts in the city, one was next door to Bogu’s house, that is, next to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and it was a gravel court; the other was near the Red Army University, and it was a grass court.Every morning, after Snow got up, he walked out of the courtyard of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and played ball with Li De, Cai Shufan, and Wu Xiuquan.Cai Shufan and Wu Xiuquan spoke Russian with Li De, Snow spoke English with Li De, and the four spoke in the languages ​​of three countries.

When Snow came to Zhidan, he brought a deck of playing cards. The two-armed Cai Shufan learned quickly and often beat Snow.Woohoo, it's as lively as playing ball.Take it out and teach Cai Shufan how to play "Le Mei".After the wives who lost a leader found out, Snow's residence became a gathering place for the upper class.At night, in the dim light of the oil lamp, Mrs. Zhou Enlai, Mrs. Bogu, Mrs. Kaifeng, Mrs. Deng Fa, and even Mrs. Mao Zedong all gathered on the kang with great enthusiasm, playing poker lively.Even Bogu, Zhang Wentian, Kaifeng, and Li Kenong were attracted to Snow's residence.Play poker with matchsticks as chips.One night, Cai Shufan won Bogut 120,000 yuan to buy a plane for the Red Army, but the plane turned out to be a matchstick, and everyone laughed together.

Cai Shufan repeatedly asked Snow to send him a prosthetic arm when he returned to Peiping; Lu Dingyi asked Snow to buy a fleet of planes for the Red Army with the money he got from selling photos of the Communist Party; Xu Haidong, who fell in love, asked Snow for a pair False teeth... Snow saw Li De's cave dwelling, hanging strings of sausages, and was extremely envious. While reading the newspaper, he read an easy way to make cakes, and remembered that Bogu's house had cocoa powder brought by Long March. After asking for four taels, and getting flour and sugar from the cooperative, Snow started to make the cake himself, but the chocolate cake was not finished, it was burnt and sticky, half-baked, and Snow regretted that he had wasted some good things.

As soon as Snow entered the Northern Shaanxi Soviet Area, he kept hearing a famous name——Liu Zhidan, this "modern Robin Hood" character and his comrades founded the Shaanxi-Gansu Soviet Area, provided a foothold for the Central Red Army, and later sacrificed On the front line of the Eastern Expedition.In Snow's heart, Liu Zhidan is an extraordinary hero, so he wrote in "Westward Journey": "Among the poor, his name brought hope, but among the landlords and old rich, he became the hero of punishing rape and eliminating evil. of the Sky Whip".In Zhidan City, Snow knew that Liu Zhidan's wife, Tong Guirong, and 6-year-old daughter Xiaozhenwa (Liu Lizhen) also lived here. He was very excited and wanted to take pictures of them.Since the death of Liu Zhidan, the comrades of the central government and government agencies have taken special care of the mother and daughter. When the central government established the capital of Zhidan City, they were also brought here and arranged in a stone cave dwelling on the hillside above the Hongshi courtyard.

There is a small road in their residence, which winds down and leads to the small courtyard.Usually, Tong Guirong took Liu Lizhen down the alley to buy some daily necessities on the street, or was invited by the wives of other central leaders to help mend clothes while chatting.At this time, Xiaozhenwa played alone in the yard, often playing hide-and-seek with the little Red Army soldiers.In Zhidan City, Tong Guirong was like returning to his hometown, and many relatives and friends brought their souvenirs to see their mother and daughter.Tong Guirong is very generous, and always gives food brought by relatives and friends to the frail leaders' wives. Therefore, she has a very close relationship with Liu Ying, He Zizhen, Deng Yingchao, etc. They are called sisters and help each other in life.

When Snow proposed to take pictures with Guirong and his mother, the guards in the small courtyard shouted a few times towards the hillside, and it was really announced.Tong Guirong dragged Xiaozhenwa down the path, saw the American Snow with a camera in his hand, knew what was going on, and showed a simple shyness and smile on his face.Usually Xiaozhenwa wears a red army uniform and a military cap, and several Red Army soldiers insisted on dressing up Xiaozhenwa again.A soldier took off the box gun he was wearing and hung it on Xiao Zhenwa's body. Because the belt of the gun was too long, the box gun was dragged on the ground, which felt inappropriate, and everyone laughed.A soldier thought that wearing a hat could not show the beauty of Zhenwa, so he suggested taking off the hat to take a picture, and then went back to the kiln to find a comb, and carefully combed Xiaozhenwa's beautiful hair.With everyone's approval, Snow took this precious photo.However, Snow was careless, and he wrote Xiaozhenwa as a boy in "Westward Journey". "In Bao'an, I saw his (Liu Zhidan's) widow and child, a beautiful 6-year-old boy. The Red Army specially tailored a military uniform for him; he was wearing an officer's belt with a red star on the brim of his hat. He was well-loved by everyone there, like a little marshal, and was immensely proud of his 'bandit' father." Soon, bad news came from Xi'an that the Kuomintang would concentrate five armies to face a new attack.There is only one exit from Zhidan to Xi'an, Luochuan. If the Northeast Army is deployed, it will be very difficult for Snow to return.A few days ago, Snow's wife Nim rushed to Xi'an and wanted to come to Hongdu Zhidan for an interview, but because she failed to break through the blockade, she had to return to Peiping.Facing the ever-changing situation, Snow was restless, waiting for the itinerary to leave Zhidan. On the night before his departure, Snow went to bid farewell to Mao Zedong.Mao Zedong said with concern: You should go back immediately, if Chiang Kai-shek blocks the door, you will not be able to go back.Your wife is also worried about you day and night. Snow said: You gave me the freedom to interview anyone and take whatever footage I chose.You have given me every possible cooperation.My deep gratitude to you and your comrades! Mao Zedong said to Snow: When no one else comes, you are the first foreign reporter to break through the blockade and come to the Soviet area to investigate our situation, and you will make the facts public.You have done a great thing for the Chinese people, and we should thank you. When parting, Mao Zedong took out several silver coins minted by the Chinese Soviet government in Jiangxi and gave them to Snow as souvenirs; he also took out some old photos of the Red Army before the Long March and gave them to Snow.He shook Snow's hand and said, "We are already friends, I hope you will come back in the future!" The guard put on the lantern and led Snow towards the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.At the corner, Snow looked back and saw Mao Zedong still standing at the entrance of the cave waving goodbye frequently. At 9 a.m. on October 12, Snow set off. Many Red Army officers and soldiers in Zhidan City saw Snow off.There was a "Shanxi baby" named Wang Dongping who had been taking care of Snow's life, and when they were about to part, Snow stroked Wang Dongping's head and took the last film for the 12-year-old Little Red Army.Then, he gave the camera to Lu Dingyi who likes photography. The last time I walked through Baoan Street, the closer I got to the city gate, the more reluctant I felt.People stuck their heads out of the office to say goodbye to me.All the members of my poker club came out to see me off, and some "kids" accompanied me to the foot of the security wall.I stopped to take pictures of Lao Xu and Lao Xie, who put their shoulders on each other like elementary school students.Only Mao Zedong did not appear, he was still sleeping. "Don't forget my prosthetic arm!" Cai Shufan shouted. "Don't forget my photo!" Lu Dingyi reminded me. "We are waiting for your aviation team!" Yang Shangkun laughed. "Send me a wife!" Li Kenong demanded. "Bring back the four taels of cocoa!" Bogu scolded. When I walked by the Red Army University, all the students of the Red Army University sat under a big tree and listened to Luo Fu's report.They all came up and shook hands with me, and I murmured a few words.Then I turned and pedaled across the stream, waved them goodbye, and quickly mounted my horse and followed my little caravan.I thought to myself, maybe I was the last foreigner to see them alive.I feel very sad.I feel like I'm not coming home, but leaving home. Among the people seeing him off was Ma Haide, who had decided to stay in the Soviet area to participate in the Chinese revolution, served as a consultant to the Health Department of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, and set up a Red Army hospital in Kangjiagou, 30 miles south of Zhidan City. (In February 1937, Mahid joined the Communist Party of China; on Lunar New Year's Eve in 1940, he married Chinese actress Sophie; in 1950, he became the first American to obtain Chinese citizenship; died on October 3, 1988 .) Hu Jinkui kept sending Snow to Luochuan before breaking up.Snow took off his pen and watch and gave them to Hu Jinkui as a souvenir. On October 19, Snow entered the defense line of the Northeast Army and was escorted to Xi'an by General Zhang Xueliang. At the end of October, Snow quietly returned to Peiping.He developed photos with his wife Nim and rushed to write reports for days.At this time, it was rumored that Snow had been executed by the "red bandits". Several newspapers published the news that Snow had been killed in Xinjiang, and some missionaries said that Snow had died in Gansu, etc., and the city was full of disturbances.When various media got the news that Snow had safely returned to Peiping, they came to visit one after another, making Snow and his wife restless, so they had to go to the US embassy, ​​hold a press conference, and disclose the main facts of their trip to the Soviet area.Submit a series of reports and articles to newspapers in the United Kingdom and the United States for publication, and publish them in newspapers in the Far East. Snow published Mao Zedong's talk about his personal experiences in the Miller Review on November 14, 1936, under the title "Interview with Mao Zedong", and distributed a large photo of Mao Zedong wearing a red military cap. Like a giant bomb that shook China, it also shook the world! The international press flocked to Snow’s exclusive news, and the strongly anti-communist “Daily Herald” also published a series of articles about Snow’s interviews with the Soviet area, and promoted Snow to be the newspaper’s chief reporter in the Far East; the most conservative New York “Sun” Daily News, The Age, Great American Evening Post, The Saturday Evening Post and other newspapers scrambled to ask Snow for a draft.Since then, the Chinese Communist Party and the Red Army led by it have been admired by governments all over the world, and they have won international power for China's resistance against Japan. Snow became a central figure in the news circle of Peking, and there was a wave of "Soviet Area" fever in Peking.People have asked him to speak and talk.He asked to show his films, show his photos, and introduce his experience in the Soviet area and the situation of the Red Army.Wang Fushi and other patriotic young people rushed to translate some articles and manuscripts of Snow's current book "Red Stars Shining on China" into Chinese, adding Smedley's interview with Mao Zedong in Yan'an in January 1937, and Han Weier's interview with Mao Zedong. In April 1937, under the name of Shanghai Ding Chou Society, the book "Impressions of Foreign Journalists in Northwest China" was secretly published in the name of Lianchen (Chen Yun's pseudonym) for his reports on the Red District in Sichuan. The book was printed in 5,000 copies and spread rapidly. It has traveled all over China, and was also listed as a banned book by the Kuomintang government (later, when the People's Liberation Army Literature and Art Publishing House sorted out and reprinted this book, it changed its name to "Random Records of the Former Westward Journey", making it similar to "Random Records of the Westward Journey", "Continued Westward Journey", "Northern Journey" became a set of books). After Snow successfully visited the Northwest Soviet Area, Mrs. Snow couldn't sit still anymore.This woman, unwilling to be outdone and eager to win, is determined to interview important figures in the Red Army that Snow has never met, and write a book comparable to her husband's "Red Stars Over China". In late April 1937, Nim and Wang Fushi arrived in Xi'an together and stayed in the Xijing Guest House.After the Xi'an Incident, the troops of Zhang Xueliang and General Yang Hucheng were transferred from Xi'an by Chiang Kai-shek. The situation changed. The mother disguised herself as a man, climbed out of the window, and absconded.Under the support of the underground workers of the Communist Party, he arrived in Yan'an with Wang Fushi and Chen Hanbo, and was cordially received by Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Zhu De.Nim lived and interviewed in Yan'an for 4 months. In addition to interviewing Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De and many Red Army generals, he also interviewed Cai Chang, Kang Keqing, Liu Ying, He Zizhen, Li Jianzhen, Li Bozhao and many other female revolutionaries.A total of 27 diaries were written, interview records of 34 people, and more than 300 photos were taken. In October 1937, Snow reported on the Chinese Communist Party's documentary monograph "Red Star Shines Over China", which was first published by Golantz Company in London.Immediately after the book was published, it aroused great repercussions in the world. It was reprinted five times in the first year and sold more than 100,000 copies.Soon, the book "Red Stars Shining on China" was translated into Russian, French, Japanese, Swedish, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Indian, Hebrew, Kazakh, Serbian and other languages, and the sales reached one million. More than one book, spread all over the world. In February 1938, the book "Red Star Shines on China" was translated into Chinese in Shanghai and published by "Fushe". Considering the United Front of China after the Anti-Japanese War began, the title of the book was changed to "Westward Journey". Nim (Helen Foster) has also published "Continued Journey to the West", "Yan'an Interview", "Chinese Labor Movement", "Revolutionary Career", "Women in China" and other works. In 1939, as a representative and reporter of the "Gonghe" International Committee, Snow once again arrived in the Northwest Soviet Area and had an important talk with Mao Zedong in Yan'an. In February 1941, Snow left China and returned to the United States, where he had been away for 13 years, to meet his wife Nim. After that, China's Anti-Japanese War became more and more fierce.Snow went to India, Burma, Iran, Iraq, the Soviet Union and China several times for interviews. After 1944, he went to Poland, France, Austria, Germany, North Korea, and Southeast Asia for interviews.Concentrating on his journalism career, Snow divorced Nim (Helen Foster) in 1949 and married actress Lois Wheeler. After the founding of New China, hostile forces in the United States were rampant. Snow suffered political discrimination and faced adversity. He still paid attention to China and wrote and published books such as "Miscellaneous Notes on Red China" and "Journey to the Beginning". In 1959, Snow moved to Switzerland with his wife and children and lived in the countryside by Lake Geneva. From June to November 1960, he visited New China for the first time as a reporter for the American "Prospect" magazine. Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and other Chinese leaders met with him. From October 1964 to January 1965, Snow visited New China for the second time as a reporter for the French weekly "New Straightforward"; from August 1970 to February 1971, Snow and his wife Lois Wheeler visited China for the third time Visited New China, participated in the National Day Ceremony, had an important talk with Mao Zedong, and exchanged views on welcoming US President Nixon to visit China. On September 23, 1970, accompanied by Huang Hua from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Snow and his wife came to Zhidan, the red capital of the year, and were warmly welcomed by the people in the city. He specially took a group photo with Huang Hua standing in front of Mao Zedong's former residence. In the autumn of 1971, Snow was bedridden and diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which was extremely painful.His wife, Ms. Wheeler, felt isolated and wrote letters to her husband's family, her relatives, and their friends around the world, asking for help in hopes of saving Snow's life.Finally, she wrote a letter to Snow's good friend Dr. Ma Haide who lived in China, and soon received replies from Ma Haide and Zhou Enlai. On January 26, 1972, heavy snow fell, and Ma Haide flew to Geneva with Chinese experts. He came to Snow's home and conveyed greetings from the Chinese government, Mao Zedong, and Zhou Enlai. After the expert team checked Snow's body, he confirmed pancreatic cancer He was at an advanced stage and was not suitable for receiving Chinese treatment. On the spot, Snow's home was transformed into a ward, where he was carefully cared for and worked hard to treat him. He reported Snow's condition to Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai every three days. On February 15, 1972, the famous journalist died at the age of 66 at his home in the village of Essins on the shores of Lake Geneva. According to Snow's will, half of his ashes were buried by the Weiming Lake of Peking University in October 1973.Zhou Enlai and other leaders came to attend the funeral ceremony, Deng Yingchao presided over it, and Liao Chengzhi delivered a eulogy on behalf of the Chinese government and people. The other half of Snow's ashes were buried on the banks of the Hudson River in New York State six months later.His final and eleventh book, The Long Revolution, was compiled and published by Lois Wheeler. Ms. Snow's ex-wife, Ms. Helen Foster, has been contributing to the promotion of mutual understanding and friendship between the Chinese and American people. She has published 8 books under the invitation of the Chinese government twice. From November 1972 to February 1973, he visited China, met with Zhu De, went to Yenching University, Shanghai, Nanjing, and Guangzhou where he lived, and also made a special trip to visit Zhidan County, Yan'an, Shaoshan and other places. In 1978, when Helen Foster visited China again, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Zhu De all died one after another, and she couldn't help crying. In September 1991, the Chinese Writers Association and the China Literature Foundation awarded the first "International Literary Award for Understanding and Friendship" to Ms. Helen Foster; the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries awarded her the honorary title of "People's Friendship Envoy".When Ms. Helen was dying, she said with tears in her eyes: "I love China and hope China will get better and better." In September 2007, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Helen Foster's birth, a delegation from the Helen Snow Research Society of the United States made a special trip to visit China. They came to Zhidan County on September 6 and conducted academic exchanges and seminars.