Working with Snow
We arrived at Bao'an County (Zhidan County today) after
a day's journey and I was reunited with Snow and Hatem.
With permission from
the writer, the article is translated and excerpted by Lin Wusun from
Huang Hua's memoir, soon to be published by the World Knowledge Publishing
House. [China Daily] |
Snow told me he had had several interviews with Chairman Mao Zedong. Mao
spoke mostly about the current situation in China and the CPC's efforts to form
a national united front in the fight against Japanese aggression, as well as its
preparations for national resistance. He also told Snow his personal history.
Snow felt he had gathered a rich load of information. In fact, he had already
used up several notebooks. Afraid that he might have missed out on some major
policy issues and names of people and places, he wanted me to help him check and
make enquiries, if necessary.
Along with another colleague, I went to see Chairman Mao.
Mao told me he had received the journal with Lu Xun's letter forwarded by
Zhou Enlai, and he was very happy that Lu Xun had made such a high evaluation of
the Red Army's struggles.
While in Bao'an, Snow also talked to 100 or so CPC leaders and Red Army
commanders.
During his interviews, some of the top CPC officials spoke to him directly in
English.
At the town of Wuqi, where the Red Army's arsenal and several factories were
situated, and at its maintenance base, Helianwan, Snow interviewed many workers,
managerial personnel and engineers. He took exhaustive notes of the answers he
got, including those about the women workers' pay and maternity leave.
In late August, Snow was about to head for the front in Ningxia. There, the
Red Army was confronted by 200,000 Kuomintang troops and battles were frequent.
I accompanied Snow when he went to say goodbye to Chairman Mao. Snow suggested
that he take a photo of the Chairman.
As we stepped out of the cave, Mao looked quite smart in the sun. His clothes
were neat but his hair was somewhat ruffled. So Snow took off his own brand new
army cap with the red star and suggested the Chairman wear it. This was a shot
that Snow was most proud of and which had become well known to most Chinese
people.
Before we left Bao'an, Mao asked me to tell Snow to have his notes on his
sessions with Mao about the establishment of a national united front against
Japanese aggression and the CPC's relevant policies written out so that I could
have the whole thing translated into Chinese.
Mao wanted to have it sent back to him in Bao'an by a special courier so that
he could go over it himself. So, on our way to the front, we used the midday
rest period to do that. We would sit in the open, under the sun.
Snow would type out his notes while I translated page by page into Chinese.
As soon as one piece was finished, I put the translation into an envelope and
had an army courier rush back to Bao'an with it.
It took us three sessions to accomplish this special task.
At Yuwangbao on the Ningxia front, Snow saw how the
troops were drilled and trained against air raids. He witnessed the parade and
performance of 1,000 cavalrymen, the most impressive of which was the camouflage
display, when at the word of command from their leader, the horses and their
riders all "disappeared," turning into a vast piece of farmland covered with
green foliage.
