17th Edgar Snow Symposium opens in Beijing

By Jesse Anderson
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, October 12, 2016
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The opening ceremony of the 17th Edgar Snow Symposium – which this year is also commemorating the 80th anniversary of Snow's interview with Mao Zedong and the 80th anniversary of the Red Army's Long March – was held in Beijing at the Beijing People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries on the morning of Oct. 11.

Tian Yan, vice president of  Beijing People's Association for friendship with foreign countries, addresses at the opening ceremony of the 17th Edgar Snow Symposium.

Tian Yan, vice president of Beijing People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, addresses at the opening ceremony of the 17th Edgar Snow Symposium.

The biannual event celebrates the life and achievements of American journalist Edgar Snow, who gained worldwide fame for his reporting in China before and during World War II and – more specifically – for his 1937 book "Red Star over China," a detailed account of the early Communist Party of China (CPC). The symposium, which began in 1982, is hosted alternatingly in Beijing and Kansas City, Missouri, Snow's hometown.

The opening ceremony featured a series of short remarks from both Chinese and American attendees – including Nancy Hill, president of the Edgar Snow Memorial Foundation, John Phillips, a member of the Board of Curators at the University of Missouri, and Scott Wagner, a member of the Kansas City Council. The remarks were followed by three key note speeches centering on the significance of Snow's famous interview with Mao.

Ding Xiaoping, author of several books about Snow, delivered the first key note speech and gave a broad overview of the progression of the American journalist's career and life. Sun Hua, a professor at Peking University, gave the second, which emphasized the continuing legacy of Snow's work and the importance of foreign perspectives in understanding a country and its culture. The final speech came from John Kennedy, a professor at the University of Kansas, and focused on the unique impact of "Red Star over China" on Western opinion of the early CPC.

Few foreign journalists affected the course of 20th century China as strongly as Snow did. He first came to China in 1928 after making a small fortune on the New York Stock Exchange, and ended up staying in the country for 13 years. He lived and worked in Shanghai during his first years in China before moving to Beijing in the early 1930's, where he taught journalism at Yencheng University.

Through his friendship with Soong Ching-ling – the second wife of Sun Yat-sen, Snow was able to gain access to CPC headquarters in Bao'an. He spent four months there and was granted a level of access to CPC leaders – including Mao and Zhou Enlai – that was without precedent for a foreign journalist. From his experience at Bao'an, Snow wrote "Red Star over China," a book that not only brought Snow worldwide fame but helped to introduce Mao and the CPC to a broader audience.

Snow continued working in China throughout the early years of World War II – work which included reportage on the Rape of Nanjing – and returned to American in 1941 after writing "Battle for Asia," a book based on his time spent in Japanese-occupied territories. He would later return to Asia as a war correspondent for the Saturday Evening Post and go on to write several books about Russia's involvement in World War II.

After the war, Snow was regarded with suspicion by American authorities for his relationship with the CPC, and was even questioned by the FBI during the McCarthy era. He moved to Switzerland in 1959 and made two trips back to China during the 60's. Snow went to China for the final time in 1970 – a visit during which he had a five hour private meeting with Chairman Mao – before being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and dying in 1972 at the age of 66. One-half of his ashes were buried at Sneden's Landing near the Hudson River, while the other half was buried on the grounds of Peking University. He was the first foreigner to have a funeral at the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square.

The 17th Edgar Snow Symposium is sponsored by Beijing People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the China Society for People's Friendship Studies, Peking University and the Edgar Snow Memorial Foundation, and is co-sponsored by the Tianjin Conservatory of Music. The opening ceremony will be followed by a series of visits to various sites in or around Beijing, including the Song Zhuang Art District, the TCM Hospital, and the Tianjin Conservatory of Music. The symposium ends on Oct. 14.

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