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Red Star Over China

February 16, 2024

Red Star Over China is a 1937 book by Edgar Snow. It is an account of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that was written when it was a guerrilla army and still obscure to Westerners. Along with Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth (1931), it was the most influential book on Western understanding of China as well as the most influential book on Western sympathy for Red China in the 1930s.[2]

Red Star Over China
Cover art of the first edition
AuthorEdgar Snow
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Subjectan account of the Chinese Communist Party written when they were a guerrilla army still obscure to Westerners
Published1937
PublisherVictor Gollancz Ltd[1], Random House
Published in English
1937
Pages474
Mao Zedong in 1931

Overview edit

In Red Star Over China, Edgar Snow recounts the months that he spent with the Chinese Red Army in 1936. Most of this time, he was at their then-capital Bao'an (Pao An). They moved to the famous Yan'an only after he left.

Snow uses his extensive interviews with Mao and the other top leaders to present vivid descriptions of the Long March, as well as biographical accounts of leaders on both sides of the conflicts, including Zhou Enlai, Peng Dehuai, Lin Biao, He Long, and Mao Zedong's own account of his life.[3]

When Snow wrote, there were no reliable reports reaching the West about what was going on in the communist-controlled areas. Other writers, such as Agnes Smedley, had written in some detail about the Chinese Communists before the Long March, but none of these writers had ever visited them or even conducted first hand interviews with them. Snow's status as an international journalist not previously identified with the communist movement gave his reports the stamp of authenticity. The glowing pictures of life in the communist areas contrasted with the gloom and corruption of the Kuomintang government. Many Chinese learned about Mao and the communist movement from the almost immediate translations of Mao's autobiography, and readers in North America and Europe, especially those with liberal views, were heartened to learn of a movement which they interpreted as being anti-fascist and progressive. Snow reported the new Second United Front which Mao said would leave violent class struggle behind.

Snow made it clear that Mao's ultimate aim was control of China. Only by taking Snow's thoughts out of context, concluded one scholar, was it possible for Harold Isaacs to claim that Red Star Over China was the origin of the myth that the Chinese Communists were "agrarian reformers."[4]

Snow's Preface to the revised edition in 1968 describes the book's original context:

The Western powers, in self-interest, were hoping for a miracle in China. They dreamed of a new birth of nationalism that would keep Japan so bogged down that she would never be able to turn upon the Western colonies—her true objective. Red Star Over China tended to show that the Chinese Communists could indeed provide that nationalist leadership needed for effective anti-Japanese resistance. How dramatically the United States' policy-making attitudes have altered since then ... It provided not only for non-Chinese readers, but also for the entire Chinese people—including all but the Communist leaders themselves—the first authentic account of the Chinese Communist Party and the first connected story of their long struggle to carry through the most thoroughgoing social revolution in China's three millenniums of history. Many editions were published in China ...[5]

Publishing history edit

Snow was not available to read proofs of the initial London and New York editions, but he revised the text of the 1939 and 1944 editions. The Publisher's Note of the 1939 edition explains that Snow added a "substantial new section" of six chapters to include the Xi'an Incident, bringing the narrative up to July 1938 as well as "many textual changes." Snow made the textual changes partly to polish but he also responded to friends and reviewers. Some of them felt Snow's account of party history had been too critical of Soviet policy, and others felt that he had given too much credit to Mao for independent Chinese strategies. Snow toned down but did not remove the implicit criticisms of Stalin.[6] The 1944 edition was allowed to go out of print in the 1950s, but Snow made substantial revisions and annotations for the Grove Press reprint of 1968.[7]

Edgar Snow, Red Star over China London: Left Book Club, Victor Gollancz, 1937; this edition reprinted as Red Star Over China – The Rise of the Red Army. (2006; ISBN 1-4067-9821-5).

--, (New York: Random House, 1938). Some changes from the London edition.

--, (Garden City, 1939) "Revised", with six extra chapters.

--, (New York: Modern Library, 1944).

--, (New York: Grove, 1968) Extensive revisions, with notes and annotations added.

Assessments and criticisms edit

The book has been called a "journalistic scoop" and a "historical classic",[8] and the scholar Julia Lovell is among those who argue that the book played a key role in creating Chinese support and Western approval of Mao.[9] Mao himself commented that the book "had merit no less than Great Yu controlling the floods". According to Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, Snow probably believed what he was told to be true, and much of it is still of basic significance, especially the "Autobiography of Mao". They also wrote that Mao omitted key elements from his accounts of party history and Snow missed others.[10] According to Anne-Marie Brady, Snow submitted the transcripts of his interviews to be edited and approved by Party officials and changes in the American edition were made in response to the Communist Party of the United States.[11] Snow's account of the Long March has been criticised by some, while others have maintained that it is basically valid.[12]

In his 1966 biography of Mao, the American Sinologist Stuart R. Schram wrote that Red Star Over China was irreplaceable in learning about Mao's early years[13] and that despite "many errors of detail", it remains "by far the most important single source regarding his life" and offered important insights into "Mao's own vision of his past".[14] John K. Fairbank praised Snow's reporting for giving the West the first articulate account of the Chinese Communist Party and its leadership, which he called "disastrously prophetic". Writing thirty years after the first publication of Red Star Over China, Fairbank stated that the book had "stood the test of time... both as a historical record and as an indication of a trend."[15] Fairbank agrees that Snow was used by Mao, but defended Snow against the allegation that he was blinded by Chinese hospitality and charm, insisting that "Snow did what he could as a professional journalist."[16] In Mao: A Reinterpretation, a work sympathetic to Mao, Lee Feigon criticizes Snow's account for its inaccuracies, but praises Red Star for being "[the] seminal portrait of Mao" and relies on Snow's work as a critical reference throughout the book.[17]

See also edit

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ "Red Star Over China". Rooke Books. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  2. ^ Harold Isaacs, Scratches on Our Minds, (New York: John Day, 1958; rpr. White Plains, 1989): 155 n. 71, 162-163.
  3. ^ Donald Zagoria (September 1997). "Red Star Over China – Book Review". Foreign Affairs, the Magazine. Retrieved 20 October 2015. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  4. ^ Kenneth E. Shewmaker, "The "Agrarian Reformer" Myth," The China Quarterly 34 (1968): 76. [1]
  5. ^ Red Star Over China, Preface to the Revised Edition 1968 ISBN 0-8021-5093-4.)
  6. ^ Snow's revisions are listed in Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes K. M. Anderson, The Soviet World of American Communism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998) pp. 347-341.
  7. ^ S.B. Thomas devotes a chapter to the reception of the book in various quarters and these revisions. Ch 10 "The Strange Life of a Classic," Season of High Adventure,pp. 169- 189.
  8. ^ Donald Zagoria, "Red Star Over China Foreign Affairs (September/October 1997)
  9. ^ Lovell (2019).
  10. ^ Jung, Chang; Halliday, Jon, 2006. Mao: The Unknown Story. Random House, London. ISBN 0-224-07126-2, p. 192
  11. ^ Brady (2003), p. 42-44.
  12. ^ Shuyun Sun, The Long March: The True Story of China's Founding Myth (New York: Doubleday, 2007). Andrew McEwen Ed Jocelyn, The Long March: The True Story Behind the Legendary Journey That Made Mao's China ([London]: Constable & Robinson, 2006).
  13. ^ Schram 1966. p. 10.
  14. ^ Schram 1966. p. 19.
  15. ^ Fairbank, John D. "Introduction". In Snow, Edgar. Red Star Over China: The Classic Account of the Birth of Chinese Communism. New York, NY: Edgar Snow. 1968. ISBN 0-8021-5093-4. p.13
  16. ^ John K. Fairbank (1989-04-27). "Mao and Snow". New York Review of Books. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  17. ^ Feigon, Lee, Mao: A Reinterpretation, Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2002,

References edit

  • Brady, Anne-Marie (2003). Making the Foreign Serve China: Managing Foreigners in the People's Republic. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 0-7425-1861-2.
  • Lovell, Julia (2019). "The Red Star: Revolution By the Book". Maoism: A Global History. London: The Bodley Head. pp. 60–87. ISBN 9781847922502.
  • Schram, Stuart (1966). Mao Tse-Tung. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-020840-5.
  • Thomas, S. Bernard (1996). Season of High Adventure: Edgar Snow in China. Berkeley: University of California Press.

External links edit

  • Red Star Over China at the Internet Archive
  • Behind Red Star over China (2006 account from China Daily)
  • There has also been a Chinese screen adaptation [2], which was however rejected by Edgar Snow's widow [3].
  • Georgi Dimitrov and the Chinese Revolution

February 16, 2024
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Red Star Over China is a 1937 book by Edgar Snow It is an account of the Chinese Communist Party CCP that was written when it was a guerrilla army and still obscure to Westerners Along with Pearl S Buck s The Good Earth 1931 it was the most influential book on Western understanding of China as well as the most influential book on Western sympathy for Red China in the 1930s 2 Red Star Over ChinaCover art of the first editionAuthorEdgar SnowCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishSubjectan account of the Chinese Communist Party written when they were a guerrilla army still obscure to WesternersPublished1937PublisherVictor Gollancz Ltd 1 Random HousePublished in English1937Pages474Mao Zedong in 1931 Contents 1 Overview 2 Publishing history 3 Assessments and criticisms 4 See also 5 Footnotes 6 References 7 External linksOverview editIn Red Star Over China Edgar Snow recounts the months that he spent with the Chinese Red Army in 1936 Most of this time he was at their then capital Bao an Pao An They moved to the famous Yan an only after he left Snow uses his extensive interviews with Mao and the other top leaders to present vivid descriptions of the Long March as well as biographical accounts of leaders on both sides of the conflicts including Zhou Enlai Peng Dehuai Lin Biao He Long and Mao Zedong s own account of his life 3 When Snow wrote there were no reliable reports reaching the West about what was going on in the communist controlled areas Other writers such as Agnes Smedley had written in some detail about the Chinese Communists before the Long March but none of these writers had ever visited them or even conducted first hand interviews with them Snow s status as an international journalist not previously identified with the communist movement gave his reports the stamp of authenticity The glowing pictures of life in the communist areas contrasted with the gloom and corruption of the Kuomintang government Many Chinese learned about Mao and the communist movement from the almost immediate translations of Mao s autobiography and readers in North America and Europe especially those with liberal views were heartened to learn of a movement which they interpreted as being anti fascist and progressive Snow reported the new Second United Front which Mao said would leave violent class struggle behind Snow made it clear that Mao s ultimate aim was control of China Only by taking Snow s thoughts out of context concluded one scholar was it possible for Harold Isaacs to claim that Red Star Over China was the origin of the myth that the Chinese Communists were agrarian reformers 4 Snow s Preface to the revised edition in 1968 describes the book s original context The Western powers in self interest were hoping for a miracle in China They dreamed of a new birth of nationalism that would keep Japan so bogged down that she would never be able to turn upon the Western colonies her true objective Red Star Over China tended to show that the Chinese Communists could indeed provide that nationalist leadership needed for effective anti Japanese resistance How dramatically the United States policy making attitudes have altered since then It provided not only for non Chinese readers but also for the entire Chinese people including all but the Communist leaders themselves the first authentic account of the Chinese Communist Party and the first connected story of their long struggle to carry through the most thoroughgoing social revolution in China s three millenniums of history Many editions were published in China 5 Publishing history editSnow was not available to read proofs of the initial London and New York editions but he revised the text of the 1939 and 1944 editions The Publisher s Note of the 1939 edition explains that Snow added a substantial new section of six chapters to include the Xi an Incident bringing the narrative up to July 1938 as well as many textual changes Snow made the textual changes partly to polish but he also responded to friends and reviewers Some of them felt Snow s account of party history had been too critical of Soviet policy and others felt that he had given too much credit to Mao for independent Chinese strategies Snow toned down but did not remove the implicit criticisms of Stalin 6 The 1944 edition was allowed to go out of print in the 1950s but Snow made substantial revisions and annotations for the Grove Press reprint of 1968 7 Edgar Snow Red Star over China London Left Book Club Victor Gollancz 1937 this edition reprinted as Red Star Over China The Rise of the Red Army 2006 ISBN 1 4067 9821 5 New York Random House 1938 Some changes from the London edition Garden City 1939 Revised with six extra chapters New York Modern Library 1944 New York Grove 1968 Extensive revisions with notes and annotations added Assessments and criticisms editThe book has been called a journalistic scoop and a historical classic 8 and the scholar Julia Lovell is among those who argue that the book played a key role in creating Chinese support and Western approval of Mao 9 Mao himself commented that the book had merit no less than Great Yu controlling the floods According to Jung Chang and Jon Halliday Snow probably believed what he was told to be true and much of it is still of basic significance especially the Autobiography of Mao They also wrote that Mao omitted key elements from his accounts of party history and Snow missed others 10 According to Anne Marie Brady Snow submitted the transcripts of his interviews to be edited and approved by Party officials and changes in the American edition were made in response to the Communist Party of the United States 11 Snow s account of the Long March has been criticised by some while others have maintained that it is basically valid 12 In his 1966 biography of Mao the American Sinologist Stuart R Schram wrote that Red Star Over China was irreplaceable in learning about Mao s early years 13 and that despite many errors of detail it remains by far the most important single source regarding his life and offered important insights into Mao s own vision of his past 14 John K Fairbank praised Snow s reporting for giving the West the first articulate account of the Chinese Communist Party and its leadership which he called disastrously prophetic Writing thirty years after the first publication of Red Star Over China Fairbank stated that the book had stood the test of time both as a historical record and as an indication of a trend 15 Fairbank agrees that Snow was used by Mao but defended Snow against the allegation that he was blinded by Chinese hospitality and charm insisting that Snow did what he could as a professional journalist 16 In Mao A Reinterpretation a work sympathetic to Mao Lee Feigon criticizes Snow s account for its inaccuracies but praises Red Star for being the seminal portrait of Mao and relies on Snow s work as a critical reference throughout the book 17 See also editAnna Louise Strong Dwarkanath Kotnis Jack Belden Norman Bethune Rewi Alley Helen Foster SnowFootnotes edit Red Star Over China Rooke Books Retrieved 20 October 2015 Harold Isaacs Scratches on Our Minds New York John Day 1958 rpr White Plains 1989 155 n 71 162 163 Donald Zagoria September 1997 Red Star Over China Book Review Foreign Affairs the Magazine Retrieved 20 October 2015 a href Template Cite magazine html title Template Cite magazine cite magazine a Cite magazine requires magazine help Kenneth E Shewmaker The Agrarian Reformer Myth The China Quarterly 34 1968 76 1 Red Star Over China Preface to the Revised Edition 1968 ISBN 0 8021 5093 4 Snow s revisions are listed in Harvey Klehr John Earl Haynes K M Anderson The Soviet World of American Communism New Haven Yale University Press 1998 pp 347 341 S B Thomas devotes a chapter to the reception of the book in various quarters and these revisions Ch 10 The Strange Life of a Classic Season of High Adventure pp 169 189 Donald Zagoria Red Star Over China Foreign Affairs September October 1997 Lovell 2019 Jung Chang Halliday Jon 2006 Mao The Unknown Story Random House London ISBN 0 224 07126 2 p 192 Brady 2003 p 42 44 Shuyun Sun The Long March The True Story of China s Founding Myth New York Doubleday 2007 Andrew McEwen Ed Jocelyn The Long March The True Story Behind the Legendary Journey That Made Mao s China London Constable amp Robinson 2006 Schram 1966 p 10 Schram 1966 p 19 Fairbank John D Introduction In Snow Edgar Red Star Over China The Classic Account of the Birth of Chinese Communism New York NY Edgar Snow 1968 ISBN 0 8021 5093 4 p 13 John K Fairbank 1989 04 27 Mao and Snow New York Review of Books a href Template Cite magazine html title Template Cite magazine cite magazine a Cite magazine requires magazine help Feigon Lee Mao A Reinterpretation Chicago Ivan R Dee 2002 References editBrady Anne Marie 2003 Making the Foreign Serve China Managing Foreigners in the People s Republic Lanham Rowman amp Littlefield Publishers ISBN 0 7425 1861 2 Lovell Julia 2019 The Red Star Revolution By the Book Maoism A Global History London The Bodley Head pp 60 87 ISBN 9781847922502 Schram Stuart 1966 Mao Tse Tung London Penguin Books ISBN 978 0 14 020840 5 Thomas S Bernard 1996 Season of High Adventure Edgar Snow in China Berkeley University of California Press External links editRed Star Over China at the Internet Archive Behind Red Star over China 2006 account from China Daily There has also been a Chinese screen adaptation 2 which was however rejected by Edgar Snow s widow 3 Georgi Dimitrov and the Chinese Revolution Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Red Star Over China amp oldid 1180667115, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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