It has been 80 years since the publication of U.S. journalist Edgar Snow's Red Star Over China as well as the photo he took of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong in his octagonal, red-star cap. As a senior citizen approaching 90, Snow's work has accompanied and constantly inspired me almost all my life.

These two important historical and cultural assets may have become fairly unfamiliar to many people. Therefore, I feel obliged to remind them of that part of history.

I first came across the photo of Mao taken by Snow in the edition of Life magazine published on January 25, 1937 when I was in grade one of junior middle school in Shanghai in 1939. The photo changed the impression of Communist Party of China (CPC) members portrayed by media outlets controlled by the Kuomintang as bandits and gangsters.

I first heard of Red Star Over China when I was in high school in Shanghai from 1945 to 1946. I eagerly looked for a copy in a bookstore near my school, but failed to find one.

When I studied at Tongji University from 1947 to 1949, I learned that my roommates, who were CPC members, possessed a copy of the book. However, since the Kuomintang had prohibited the book's circulation, they dared not lend it to me for fear of being arrested. Nevertheless, I was able to benefit from their recounting of the book's central message.

During the 10 years after the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), I was much too preoccupied with my work to have any time to read the book. It was not until the 1960s, when I was assigned the mandate of researching Mao's military thought, that the book became a reference I frequently resorted to. The description of the Long March, whereby the Red Army overcame a number of difficulties to achieve victory, enabled me to gain courage and spiritual power.

During various stages of China's modern and contemporary history, a large number of foreign friends have come to China to support the Chinese people's righteous cause. They have reported the Chinese people's struggle against foreign invaders in a fair and objective manner and won compassion and support for China globally.

Looking back over the past half a century or so, international friends like Snow have played important roles in spreading a positive national image of China.

They opened a window for the outside world to understand China when China's revolutionary and progressive forces were under the control of the Kuomintang regime. After the founding of the PRC, they corrected the Western media's distorted portrayal of China and presented a healthy and positive image of China to foreigners.

Over a long period, they formed personal relationships of mutual understanding and trust with older-generation Chinese leaders. Such relationships came to have miraculous power, catalyzing major diplomatic events.

For instance, former U.S. President Richard Nixon was able to carry out an official visit to China in the early 1970s, symbolizing the normalization of China-U.S. relations, owing to messages delivered in another of Snow's interviews with Mao, which was also published in Life magazine. In that interview, Mao said he would welcome Nixon to visit China, no matter whether he came as U.S. president or as a tourist.

Reports of China's real situation written by foreign journalists have become historical documents of high value today. These reports recorded China's political, economic, cultural and social situations and the efforts made by China's leaders and the nation's people in pursuit of liberation and progress. These reports are regarded as must-read textbook material for learning about China's modern history.

Many of them were translated into Chinese and inspired young people to join the struggle for national independence and the construction of the PRC.

Snow's efforts to objectively represent China in pursuit of human progress and justice are worth remembering and cherishing by the people of China.

The author is a senior research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences

Copyedited by Chris Surtees

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